Pragmatic Namespace
Core Definition
Pragmatic frames encode discourse-level communicative functions — what a speaker does with language rather than what the language describes. The primary semantic content is the communicative act or discourse management role, not a state of affairs in the world. Pragmatic frames are performative and context-anchored: their meaning can only be determined relative to the communicative situation — who is speaking, to whom, at what point in the discourse, and with what intent.
Formal template:
PRAGMATIC_ACT(Emitter, [Hearer], Communicative_Function, [Content/Proposition])
Key participants:
- Emitter — the speaker or writer performing the communicative act (always present, at least implicitly)
- Hearer / Comprehender — the addressee (often implicit)
- Communicative_Function — the discourse role: turn management, deixis, stance, greeting, structuring, etc.
- Content / Proposition — the propositional content being managed (optional; often implicit)
The critical distinction: Pragmatic frames do not describe the world — they organize interaction or express the speaker's stance toward a proposition or interlocutor. An LU like aliás (by the way) signals a discourse move, not a fact about reality.
Scope
Includes:
- Turn management: né (right?/isn't it), viu (you see), bom (well/OK — as turn-yielder)
- Deixis: eu, vocĂŞ, aqui, agora, isto, ontem, anteriormente (person/space/time/discourse anchors)
- Stance and positioning: na minha opinião (in my opinion), acho que (I think), com licença (excuse me)
- Greetings and address: olá (hello), tchau (bye), oi, prezado (dear)
- Discourse structuring: porém (however/contrast), aliás (by the way), em resumo (in summary), primeiro... segundo (first... second — enumeration)
- Face protection: tipo (like/sort of), digamos (let's say), por assim dizer (so to speak)
- Rhetorical patterns: self-answering questions (O que fazer? Estudar.), boasting framing
Excludes — see other namespaces:
- Descriptions of events, states, or changes in the world → Eventive / Stative / Causative / etc.
- Category labels for communicative participants → Entity (falante, destinatário)
- Properties of communicative acts or messages → Attribute (sincero, claro, longo)
- Reporting or describing what was said → Eventive / Action (disse, explicou, perguntou)
Critical boundary — Pragmatic vs. other namespaces: Pragmatic frames are identified by function, not lexical category. A conjunction (mas — but) can be Pragmatic when it organizes discourse (Contraste) but Relational or Eventive when used in argument structure. The test: if the expression's primary role is to manage the interaction or signal the speaker's epistemic/attitudinal stance, it is Pragmatic. If its primary role is to describe the world or connect propositions logically, classify in the appropriate propositional namespace.
Subtypes
By communicative function:
| Subtype | Definition | Example frames |
|---|---|---|
| Turn management | Regulates who holds the conversational floor | Passagem_de_turno, Manutenção_de_turno, Tomada_de_turno, Confirmação_de_turno, Confirmação_de_atenção, Organização_da_conversa |
| Deixis | Anchors reference to the communicative context (person, place, time, discourse) | DĂŞixis_de_pessoa, DĂŞixis_locativa, DĂŞixis_temporal, DĂŞixis_discursiva |
| Stance / Positioning | Speaker expresses attitude, epistemic commitment, or self-positioning | Autoposicionamento, Epistemic_stance, Proteção_de_face, Opinião, Common_ground |
| Greeting / Address | Opens, closes, or establishes contact in an interaction | Cumprimento, Abordagem_inicial, Chamar_a_atenção |
| Discourse structuring | Organizes propositional content across turns or text | ConcessĂŁo, Contraste, Resumir, Enumerar, Coment_metacomunicativo |
| Rhetorical patterns | Strategies that exploit discourse conventions for argumentative or expressive effect | Pergunta_respondida_pela_prĂłpria_pessoa, Gabar-se |
Key distinction within Deixis:
| Deictic type | Anchors to | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Person | Communicative roles (speaker, hearer, third party) | eu, vocĂŞ, ele, nĂłs |
| Locative | Speaker's spatial position | aqui, lá, este, aquele |
| Temporal | Moment of utterance | hoje, ontem, agora, entĂŁo |
| Discursive | Position in the text/discourse | acima, a seguir, anteriormente, o seguinte |
Diagnostic Tests
Test 1 — Performative test
Does the expression perform a communicative act rather than describe a state of affairs?
✓ "Olá!" — greeting act, not a world-description → PRAGMATIC
✓ "né?" — checking for agreement/attention → PRAGMATIC
✓ "em resumo" — signals a summary move → PRAGMATIC
✗ "João disse que choveu" — describes a speech act but primarily reports content → NOT PRAGMATIC (Eventive)
Test 2 — Context-anchoring test
Does interpretation require knowing the speaker, hearer, or discourse position?
✓ "eu" — refers to the current speaker; changes reference with each new speaker → PRAGMATIC (Dêixis_de_pessoa)
✓ "aqui" — refers to the speaker's location → PRAGMATIC (Dêixis_locativa)
✓ "ontem" — refers to the day before the moment of utterance → PRAGMATIC (Dêixis_temporal)
✗ "João foi ontem" — "João" has fixed reference regardless of who speaks → NOT PRAGMATIC (Entity + Transition)
Test 3 — Discourse-position sensitivity
Does the meaning or function of the expression depend on where it occurs in the discourse?
✓ "porém" (however) — signals contrast with what was said immediately before → PRAGMATIC (Contraste)
✓ "em primeiro lugar" — signals position in an enumeration sequence → PRAGMATIC (Enumerar)
✓ "como mencionado anteriormente" — refers back to a prior discourse segment → PRAGMATIC (Dêixis_discursiva)
✗ "choveu" — truth value does not depend on discourse position → NOT PRAGMATIC (Eventive)
Test 4 — Non-propositional function
Is the primary function to organize interaction or express stance, rather than to assert a fact about the world?
✓ "tipo" (like/sort of) — hedges the precision of what follows → PRAGMATIC (Proteção_de_face)
✓ "na minha opinião" — marks content as the speaker's view → PRAGMATIC (Autoposicionamento)
✓ "com licença" — performs a face-threat mitigation act → PRAGMATIC (Proteção_de_face)
✗ "a porta abriu" — asserts a change of state in the world → NOT PRAGMATIC (Inchoative)
Test 5 — Speaker-involvement
Is the speaker always implicitly or explicitly present as the primary participant?
✓ "eu acho que" — speaker is foregrounded → PRAGMATIC (Autoposicionamento)
✓ "bom..." — speaker signals a turn or discourse move → PRAGMATIC (Passagem_de_turno / Organização_da_conversa)
✓ "não é?" (isn't it?) — speaker solicits confirmation from hearer → PRAGMATIC (Confirmação_de_turno)
✗ "João é alto" — speaker is not foregrounded; sentence describes João → NOT PRAGMATIC (Attribute)
Comparison with Adjacent Namespaces
| Feature | Pragmatic | Entity | Attribute | Stative | Eventive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Describes world | No | No (names types) | Partial (properties) | Yes | Yes |
| Context-anchored | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Speaker always present | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Propositional content | Secondary / absent | Absent | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Dynamic | Varies | No | No | No | Yes |
vs. Entity: Entity frames name types of things, including communicative participant types (falante, destinatário, enunciador). These are Entity because they categorize entities, not because they perform communicative functions. Pragmatic frames are defined by their functional role in discourse, not by naming communicative participants.
vs. Attribute: Attributes of communicative acts or messages (a fala é sincera, a mensagem é curta) belong to Attribute frames (Sinceridade, Volubilidade). Pragmatic frames are not characterizing the quality of a communicative act — they ARE the communicative act, managing the interaction rather than describing it.
vs. Eventive / Action: Speech-act verbs like dizer, explicar, perguntar evoke Eventive or Action frames — they describe events of communication. Pragmatic frames, by contrast, are instantiated by the discourse expressions themselves (aliás, porém, na minha opinião), not by verbs that report what someone said. The distinction: reporting vs. performing.
vs. Stative: Some Pragmatic frames encode epistemic stance (acho que, provavelmente), which overlaps with stative mental states. The difference: Pragmatic stance expressions are speaker-anchored, performative, and context-dependent. A stative psychological frame (JoĂŁo acredita que X) describes someone's mental state in the world; a pragmatic stance marker (na minha opiniĂŁo X) performs a self-positioning act in the discourse.