CONTEXT SHAPES MEANING: EXPLORING DEIXIS, PRESUPPOSITION, AND IMPLICATURE IN EVERYDAY COMMUNICATION

Meaning in language is not a fixed property of words and sentences alone; it emerges dynamically from the interplay between linguistic forms and the contexts in which they are used. This article, structured in the IMRAD format, investigates three foundational pragmatic mechanisms—deixis, presupposition, and implicature—that mediate how speakers encode and hearers recover meaning beyond literal expression. Drawing on everyday conversational data and established pragmatic theory (Levinson, 1983; Grice, 1975), we analyze how these phenomena operate in natural communication. The results demonstrate that deixis anchors utterances to the speech event, presupposition packages taken-for-granted background knowledge, and implicature enables the communication of unstated intentions. The discussion highlights the cognitive efficiency and potential for misunderstanding inherent in each mechanism, concluding that pragmatic competence is essential for successful human interaction.