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Pragmatics and its Interfaces
Edited by Cornelia Ilie and Neal R. Norrick
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 294] 2018
► pp. 267–290

The interface between pragmatics and internet-mediated communication

Applications, extensions and adjustments

| University of Alicante, Spain
The aim of this chapter is to apply pragmatics to internet-mediated communication. On paper, two broad and apparently incompatible premises constitute the foundation of these distinct applications: (1) internet-mediated communication “makes no difference” for a pragmatic analysis (we do not have specific cognitive mechanisms to interpret online discourses that differ from the ones used offline); and (2) internet “makes all the difference” (the inferential gap-filling made by internet users, intended to turn online texts into valid interpretations, is influenced by the interfaces used for interactions and the range of contextual support that users can access in the interpretation of these online discourses). This chapter will review pragmatic analyses of internet-mediated communication with an emphasis on a cyberpragmatic framework (Yus 2011a).
Keywords: pragmatics, cyberpragmatics, contextual constraint, non-propositional effect, internet-mediated communication
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction: Pragmatics
  • 2.Pragmatics of internet-mediated communication
  • 3.Beyond discourse comprehension: Non-intended non-propositional effects and contextual constraints
  • 4.Layers of pragmatic analysis of internet-mediated communication
    • 4.1Layer 1: User and contextual constraints
    • 4.2Layer 2: User to user by means of discourse
    • 4.3Layer 3: User to user in interaction
    • 4.4Layer 4: User to audience
    • 4.5Layer 5: User in a group of users
    • 4.6Layer 6: User and non-intended no-propositional effects
  • 5.Concluding remarks
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 7 September 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.294.12yus
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