Part II - Reconstituting pragmatics

Summary

Part I has deconstructed the theoretical foundation on which the field of pragmatics is said to be distinct from grammar. In Part II we show how a grammar/pragmatics division of labor can be reconstructed on new foundations. Chapter 4 defends a code versus inference distinction as a basis for a grammar/pragmatics divide. Chapter 5 then outlines three prominent pragmatic theories, i.e., theories whose goal it is to account for pragmatic inferences. Taken together, the goals of Part II are to demonstrate that there is after all a coherent way to distinguish grammar from pragmatics, and that existing pragmatic theories can account for pragmatic inferences. Part II thus prepares the ground for Part III, where a variety of cases from big-tent pragmatics are mapped into grammatical versus pragmatic issues.