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Jan Kořenský as a proponent of linguistic pragmatics in Czechoslovak linguistics

Publication

Abstract

n the work of Jan Kořenský, pragmatic topics were mentioned as early as in 1970s, first without being termed explicitly. In the most extensive and elaborated version, Kořenský presented his concept of relations among semantics, grammar and pragmatics in the 1984 book Konstrukce gramatiky ze sémantické báze (Construing grammar on the basis of semantics).

In the book, a pragmatic component (pragmatic dimension) is included in the model of grammar as a factor pertaining to the functional properties of lexical and grammatical variables. Also, Kořenský introduced an original approach towards pragmatic interpretation of utterances (semantics of "being said") which can be considered an inspiration for the concept of logophoricity in discourse (a phenomenon broader than the traditional notion of "reported speech").