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On Pragmatic Demarcation of Language

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Part of the book series: Springer Series in Language and Communication ((SSLAN,volume 6))

Abstract

A happy utterance may invoke a variety of rules, of different forms and on distinct grounds. Thus — we are told by William of Sherwood — “the science of discourse… has three parts: grammar, which teaches one how to speak correctly; rhetoric, which teaches one how to speak elegantly; and logic, which teaches one how to speak truly.”1 To be sure, there is more to happiness of utterances than correct phrasing, elegant wording and truth of the matter. Under some circumstances, a happy utterance of “I see strangers in the gallery” will play its standard role within the rule-governed activity of assertion, and under special circumstances it will count as part of a formal proposal to exclude the public from an ongoing parliamentary session.2 The institution of assertion and the parliamentary Order are clearly beyond the explanatory power of grammar, rhetoric and logic.

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References

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© 1979 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Kasher, A. (1979). On Pragmatic Demarcation of Language. In: Bäuerle, R., Egli, U., von Stechow, A. (eds) Semantics from Different Points of View. Springer Series in Language and Communication, vol 6. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-67458-7_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-67458-7_13

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-67460-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-67458-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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