Pragmatic Presupposition of Galatians 2:20
Keywords:
stylistics, semantics, pragmatics, presupposition, Paul and contextAbstract
The study examines pragmatic presupposition of Galatians 2: 20, a notable verse of the Scriptures written by Paul, an Apostle. The study aims to investigate that aspect of meaning which is derived not from the formal properties of words and constructions but from the way in which utterances are used and how they relate to the context in which they are uttered (cf. Leech & Short, 1987). The study shuns a superficial analysis by adopting a pragma-stylistic framework. Speech acts, presupposition, inference and mutual contextual beliefs (MCB) were used to interpret the meaning of the text.
As evident from the study, there are several approaches to understanding a text, however, in order to read and interpret in the light of what the text is saying, that is, in terms of its intended purposes, a pragmatic approach becomes inevitable. The analysis has provided more intellectual insights into the theory of language variation and variation in usage. It has also enhanced the frontiers of pragmatics and cognitive linguistics.
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