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This book deals with the notion of pragmatics as applied to characters´ relationship in Wole Soyinka´s play The Lion and the Jewel . The book presents briefly the notion of speech acts and pragmatics as applied to the discourse of drama. It discusses more extensively the view that the theory of speech acts and pragmatics in dramatic dialogue cannot be seen devoid of the relationship between all linguistic features that make up the story line to be evidence for the relationship between characters. The author explains, and illustrates, basic concepts such as Speech Acts, Principles of cooperation, Turn-taking and topic control, Felicity conditions, Politeness phenomena and Schema theory, providing a clear, concise foundation for further studies.

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Mekwanent Tilahun Desta obtained his B.Ed in English in 2006, M.A in Literature in English in 2011 from Mekelle University, Ethiopia. He served the department of Foreign Languages at the same university as an Assistant Lecturer for five years. Currently, he is working as a Lecturer in the department of Foreign Languages, Mekelle University.

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