This book presents a rhetorical model of pragmatics. Geoffrey Leech argues for a rapprochement between linguistics and the traditional discipline of rhetoric, maintaining that the language system in the abstract must be studied in relation to a fully developed theory of language use.

PrefaceA note on symbols1. Introduction1.1 Historical preamble1.2 Semantics and pragmatics1.3 General pragmatics1.4 Aspects of speech situations1.5 Rhetoric2. A set of postulates2.1 Semantic representation and pragmatic interpretation2.2 Rules and principles2.3 Convention and motivation2.4 The relation between sense and force2.5 Pragmatics as problem-solving2.6 Conclusion3. Formalism and functionalism3.1 Formal and functional explanations3.2 Biological, psychological, and social varieties of functionalism3.3 The ideational, interpersonal, and textual functions of language3.4 The ideational function: discreteness and determinacy3.5 Examples of 'overgrammaticization'3.6 Conclusion4. The interpersonal role of the Cooperative Principle4.1 The Cooperative Principle (CP) and the Politeness Principle (PP)4.2 Maxims and Quantity and Quality4.3 Maxim of Relation4.4 The Hinting Strategy and anticipatory illocutions4.5 Maxim of Manner5. The Tact Maxim5.1 Varieties of illocutionary function5.2 Searle's categories of illocutionary acts5.3 Tact: one kind of politeness5.4 Pragmatic paradoxes of politeness5.5 Semantic representation of ddeclaratives, interrogatives and imperatives5.6 The interpretation of impositives5.7 Pragmatic scales5.8 Tact and condescension6. A survey of the Interpersonal Rhetoric6.1 Maxims and politeness6.2 Metalinguistic aspects of politeness6.3 Irony and banter6.4 Hyperbole and litotes6.5 Conclusion7. Communicative Grammar: an example7.1 Communicative Grammar and pragmatic force7.2 Remarks on pragmatic metalanguage7.3 Some aspects of negation and interrogation in English7.4 Implications of politeness7.5 Conclusion8. Performatives8.1 The Performative and Illocutionary-Verb Fallacies8.2 The speech act theories of Austin and Searle8.3 Illocutionary performatives: descriptive and non-descriptive approaches8.4 Illocutionary performartives and oratio obliqua8.5 The pragmatics of illocutionary performatives8.6 The performative hypothesis8.7 The extended performative hypothesis8.8 Conclusion9. Speech-act verbs in English9.1 Locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary9.2 A survey of speech-act verb clauses9.3 Is there a separate class of performative verbs?9.4 A semantic analysis of some illocutionary verbs9.5 Assertive verbs9.6 Conclusion10. Retrospect and prospectReferencesIndex