AS English Language
ENGB1 – Categorising Texts
SEMANTICS – PRAGMATICS – GRAMMAR
The idea of analysing a text at the level of its meaning – that is, looking at its semantic and pragmatic
aspects – can seem daunting and confusing at this early stage in your course – after all, this is a brand new
topic that seems light years away from your GCSE English work! So what do you need to be able to achieve
in time for your exam?

Semantics is the study of word, phrase and sentence meaning. It’s important that you take on board a
central realisation about meaning: that meaning exists in the mind not in the world. “Form” (that is the
shape and sound of things in the real word: language, objects, etc.) is all that can be perceived by the
mind; thus the form of a thing is perceived by the senses. The mind then processes this perception to
create a conception, that is, an idea, thought and linked emotion or feeling.
Perception gives rise to conception.

But… and it’s a big “but”, an important way in which conception is developed from a perception of form
is that the individual mind “cues” previously met with forms that are similar. Thus the “meaning” we
attribute to a particular thing is always affected by our previous awareness of either the same or a
similar thing. This is why “genre” is so important in creating a particular “mind set” that acts to affect
and judge newly met with texts - in much the same way that stereotyping does. Think through these
ideas and look at a few unseen texts to be sure you are clear how perception and conception operate.
If you can get these ides fixed in your kind and fully understood… the rest of the course will be much
easier!

In practice, under the heading of “semantics”, for the needs of the exam, you’ll be on the lookout for
the ways a writer or speaker chooses words and phrases in ways that are interesting in terms of genre,
context, audience or purpose. The choices made might be because the language user wants to create
meaning that relies on connotation rather than on basic denotation, for example; be sure you
understand the difference between these two key “levels” of meaning and practice finding examples in
texts. A writer or speaker might also choose to create meaning that is intentionally ambiguous or
ironic; again, be sure you understand these two key terms, too, and practice looking for examples in a
variety of texts of the kind that might occur in your exam. A further important way in which meaning
can be created is through the use of idiomatic language.

Pragmatics is an aspect of semantics that gives the linguist a way of searching for the layers of “extra”
and “implied” meanings that arise in a text because of some aspect of its social force. Certain social
contexts tend to give rise to or cause language users to employ pragmatic meaning as a way of
communicating their ideas, thoughts and feelings, rather than being more open and straightforward.
For example, when a manager talks to a subordinate, there is an unspoken but clear level of pragmatics
often operating as the power relationships are implied through the language chosen – even when not
explicit. This means you need to consider the context – the situation - in which the language is used.
This is because our particular society (perhaps all societies) relies on hierarchies of various kinds. In
fact, we seem not to be able to exist in society without these “power distinctions”; we use language as
one means of carrying and indicating these distinctions when we write or converse. Think about how
your word choices vary when you speak to a) your friend b) your parents c) your head-teacher d) a
policeman.

Grammar refers, in general, to two aspects of language. The first is the rules (or “conventions”) we all
agree to follow when we form words from their individual meaningful units called morphemes (e.g. in
the word or lexeme, “unsuccessful”, there are three morphemes: un/success/ful = two “bound”
morphemes, the affixes “Un-“ and “-ful” along with the “free” morpheme, “success”); the second is the
set of rules we follow when we put words together into meaningful strings called phrases. This is called
syntax, e.g. “That crazy young man” = a noun phrase. We then put these basic units of grammar into
longer groups that, if they contain a subject and verb combination, we call clauses and sentences, e.g.
“That crazy young man will always be unsuccessful” = an independent clause or simple sentence.
Look at these examples and at the analyses offered before trying some of your own on text examples
from past papers.
(Teacher stands at front of Assembly Hall just before the exam begins): “Let battle commence!”
Semantic Analysis
Pragmatic/Discourse Analysis
Grammatical Analysis
The teacher has used ‘battle’,
a word from the semantic
field of conflict to serve as a
metaphor for the students’
attempt to answer the
questions. This makes the
exam into a kind of ‘struggle’
against the examiner and
emphasises that some
students will be victorious
and some will be defeated;
however, within this context,
the content, being
metaphorical, adds a touch of
warmth and humour to the
start of the exam.
The teacher and students are
in a hierarchy of power
(power which is both
instrumental and influential).
The teacher’s position in this
hierarchy means that the
students are unable to
answer back. This power
differential means that the
teacher’s words may
sometimes carry more than
just their semantic meaning.
In this example, the teacher is
free to say whatever she or
he likes as an introduction to
the exam and the pupils are
all fully able to infer this from
what he says.
The sentence is cast as an
imperative which means that
its syntax does not need the
subject pronoun, “you” to
make sense. This shortens the
sentence and creates a more
“command-like” exclamatory
style which adds a sense of
urgency and compulsion – all
entirely appropriate to this
particular context.
Also, the grammar makes the
utterance sound like a
quotation from an old play or
film – possibly with echoes of
Shakespeare. It is now almost
a cliché, but one that has not
lost its power in a context
such as this where a certain
humour lightens the
tenseness of the situation.
SJC: ENGB1 Semantics / Pragmatics /Grammar Practice (rev. 06/03/2011)