Variational Pragmatics 1

Abstract

Variational pragmatics is a field of study that aims to systematically describe synchronic variation in the patterns of human interaction within one language due to such factors as region, gender, socioeconomic status, ethnic identity and age. It is situated at the interface of pragmatics and modern dialectology. Variational pragmatics, like cross-cultural pragmatics, historical pragmatics, intercultural pragmatics, interlanguage pragmatics and postcolonial pragmatics, is a branch of pragmatics. In variational pragmatics, as in modern dialectology, five macro-social factors are distinguished as having a systematic influence on the conventions of language use. These are region, social class, ethnicity, gender and age, although further factors, such as education and religion, may also represent extensions to the list. Variational pragmatics distinguishes five levels of analysis, namely the formal level, the actional level, the interactional level, the topic level and the organisational level, without wanting to exclude alternative levels of analysis. Propositional content is a further important criterion in identifying illocutionary force.