The book "Meaning in Interaction: an Introduction to Pragmatics" by Jenny Thomas provides a comprehensive introduction to the field of pragmatics. It begins with an overview of what pragmatics is, defining it as the study of meaning in interaction and exploring the transition from abstract to contextual meaning. The book delves into the concepts of utterance meaning and force, and how they are related. It then examines speech acts, including the performative hypothesis and the categories of performatives, and discusses the relationship between utterances and actions. The second part of the book focuses on conversational implicature, introducing H. P. Grice's theory and the Cooperative Principle. It explores the four conversational maxims and how they can be flouted, along with methods for testing implicature. The third section discusses approaches to pragmatics, comparing Grice's informal approach with J. R. Searle's formal approach, and addressing the challenges and limitations of both. The book also covers the role of indirectness in communication, explaining its costs and benefits, and how it is negotiated and interpreted. It explores theories of politeness, including the management of face and the use of principles and maxims to achieve politeness. Finally, it discusses the construction of meaning in situated discourse, highlighting the dynamic and collaborative nature of speech acts and the evidence that counts in pragmatics.The book "Meaning in Interaction: an Introduction to Pragmatics" by Jenny Thomas provides a comprehensive introduction to the field of pragmatics. It begins with an overview of what pragmatics is, defining it as the study of meaning in interaction and exploring the transition from abstract to contextual meaning. The book delves into the concepts of utterance meaning and force, and how they are related. It then examines speech acts, including the performative hypothesis and the categories of performatives, and discusses the relationship between utterances and actions. The second part of the book focuses on conversational implicature, introducing H. P. Grice's theory and the Cooperative Principle. It explores the four conversational maxims and how they can be flouted, along with methods for testing implicature. The third section discusses approaches to pragmatics, comparing Grice's informal approach with J. R. Searle's formal approach, and addressing the challenges and limitations of both. The book also covers the role of indirectness in communication, explaining its costs and benefits, and how it is negotiated and interpreted. It explores theories of politeness, including the management of face and the use of principles and maxims to achieve politeness. Finally, it discusses the construction of meaning in situated discourse, highlighting the dynamic and collaborative nature of speech acts and the evidence that counts in pragmatics.