The Unsaid in Chomsky’s Theory of Language and Pragmatics

There is a common belief among EFL learners and their teachers alike that the unsaid information is a specificity of pragmatics and pragmatics only. In the domain of linguistics it is made clear that semantics and pragmatics are the two disciplines which look at the knowledge used to convey and to...

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Main Author: Salah KAOUACHE
Format: Article
Language:Arabic
Published: University of Constantine 1, Algéria 2015-06-01
Series:Revue des Sciences Humaines
Subjects:
Online Access:https://revue.umc.edu.dz/h/article/view/2110
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author Salah KAOUACHE
author_facet Salah KAOUACHE
author_sort Salah KAOUACHE
collection DOAJ
description There is a common belief among EFL learners and their teachers alike that the unsaid information is a specificity of pragmatics and pragmatics only. In the domain of linguistics it is made clear that semantics and pragmatics are the two disciplines which look at the knowledge used to convey and to extract meaning when speaking or hearing someone speak. It is also clear-cut that, generally speaking, semantics is concerned with meaning that comes from linguistic knowledge, while pragmatics is concerned with meaning that takes into consideration knowledge about the social world. That is, the pragmatic meaning cannot be predicted by linguistic knowledge alone. The aim of this paper, however, is to show that the standpoint that the unsaid information is a property of pragmatics only is debatable. The unsaid information, yet understood, is introduced in Chomsky’s theory of language, namely in his transformational grammar. The only thing is, in pragmatics, the unsaid is understood by implication, whereas in Chomsky’s grammar, the unsaid is understood by intuitions which are part of the speaker’s language.
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spelling doaj-art-39babd3e239d4d8bb72028c51830c1952025-08-20T02:54:59ZaraUniversity of Constantine 1, AlgériaRevue des Sciences Humaines2588-20072015-06-01262The Unsaid in Chomsky’s Theory of Language and PragmaticsSalah KAOUACHE0University of Constantine 1 There is a common belief among EFL learners and their teachers alike that the unsaid information is a specificity of pragmatics and pragmatics only. In the domain of linguistics it is made clear that semantics and pragmatics are the two disciplines which look at the knowledge used to convey and to extract meaning when speaking or hearing someone speak. It is also clear-cut that, generally speaking, semantics is concerned with meaning that comes from linguistic knowledge, while pragmatics is concerned with meaning that takes into consideration knowledge about the social world. That is, the pragmatic meaning cannot be predicted by linguistic knowledge alone. The aim of this paper, however, is to show that the standpoint that the unsaid information is a property of pragmatics only is debatable. The unsaid information, yet understood, is introduced in Chomsky’s theory of language, namely in his transformational grammar. The only thing is, in pragmatics, the unsaid is understood by implication, whereas in Chomsky’s grammar, the unsaid is understood by intuitions which are part of the speaker’s language. https://revue.umc.edu.dz/h/article/view/2110Chomsky’s Theory
spellingShingle Salah KAOUACHE
The Unsaid in Chomsky’s Theory of Language and Pragmatics
Revue des Sciences Humaines
Chomsky’s Theory
title The Unsaid in Chomsky’s Theory of Language and Pragmatics
title_full The Unsaid in Chomsky’s Theory of Language and Pragmatics
title_fullStr The Unsaid in Chomsky’s Theory of Language and Pragmatics
title_full_unstemmed The Unsaid in Chomsky’s Theory of Language and Pragmatics
title_short The Unsaid in Chomsky’s Theory of Language and Pragmatics
title_sort unsaid in chomsky s theory of language and pragmatics
topic Chomsky’s Theory
url https://revue.umc.edu.dz/h/article/view/2110
work_keys_str_mv AT salahkaouache theunsaidinchomskystheoryoflanguageandpragmatics
AT salahkaouache unsaidinchomskystheoryoflanguageandpragmatics