Question

You witness someone on the phone in public. He is rolling his eyes and making frustrated faces, but he is verbally polite and courteous to the person on the phone. When he hangs up, you hear him exclaim, "Of cooourse, boss, I will come in tomorrow morning, why would I have anything better to do on a Saturday morning?" Knowledge of what kind of linguistic topic would help you understand the context behind the meaning of his words and tone (e.g., sarcasm)?

Answer 1

Answer:

The answer is pragmatics.

Explanation:

Pragmatics is the level of linguistics studies that concerns meaning based on context. It's the other side of semantics, which studies the pure meaning in a given language.

In the example, you should have a minimum of pragmatic competence to understand its true meaning (i.e. the opposite of what's really said), because it depends, among other things, on the time, place and the way it is uttered.