PRAGMATIC CONSTRAINTS IN STYLISTIC STUDIES

Abstract

Effectiveness of language use is principally measured by its communicativeness. In many cases where a foreign language is employed as the vehicle of expressing indigenous socio-cultural experiences, there is bound to be a marked drift in how words are used and what they are used to mean. The paper re-affirms the centrality of p rag m a tic apparatuses in decoding meaning in the true likeness of the speaker's intention using four popular 'Niqerianised' English compliments as reference points. This exercise espouses the symbiotic relationship between pragmatics and stylistics as linguistic disciplines. Ultimately, it is revealed that the mode of text delivery is a major force to reckon with in meaning negotiation processes, most especially at the tertiary level of socio-cultural motivation and Implication of discourse.