Language has multiple rules. Three sets of rules are relevant to our discussion:
semantic rules, syntactic rules, and pragmatic rules. Semantics is the study of the
way humans use language to evoke meaning in others. Semantics focuses on individual
words and their meaning. Semanticists—people who study semantics—are
interested in how language and its meaning change over time.
While semantics focuses on the defi nition of specifi c words, syntax is the way
in which words are arranged to form phrases and sentences. For example, in the
English language the subject is usually placed before the verb, and the object after
the verb. Other languages have different rules of syntax, including reading from
right to left. You encode by translating your thoughts into words. Syntax changes
the meaning of the same set of words. For example, the declarative statement “I am
going tomorrow” uses syntax to signal that someone is leaving the next day. If you
change the word arrangement to “Am I going tomorrow?” the statement becomes
a question and acquires a different meaning.
Pragmatics is the study of language as it is used in a social context, including
its effect on the communicators. Messages are variable, depending on the situation.
Ambiguous messages such as “How are you?” “What’s new?” and “You’re looking
good” have different meanings, depending on the context. For example, many people
use such phrases as phatic communication—communication that is used to
establish a mood of sociability rather than to communicate information or ideas.
Indeed, they would be surprised if someone offered a serious or thoughtful answer
to such questions or statements. On the other hand, if you are visiting your grandmother
who has been ill, your questions about how she is feeling are sincere and
designed to elicit information. Similarly, you might genuinely be complimenting
another person’s new haircut, new tattoo, or new tongue bolt when you tell him he
is looking good. Pragmatic rules help us interpret meaning in specifi c contexts.