Metapragmatics is a term commonly associated with the semiotically-informed linguistic anthropology of Michael Silverstein that describes how the effects and conditions of language use themselves become objects of discourse.  Metapragmatic signalling allows participants to construe what is going on in an interaction. Examples include: describing the "correct way" of using language ("I before E except after C."), specifying under which conditions a specific kind of communication are, or should be, used ("You should never tell a dirty joke at a funeral."), signalling, explicitly or implicitly, the type of social event occurring (explicit: "I promise to be there at 3:00 p.m." implicit: "I will be there at 3:00 p.m.") linking speech to another event outside the moment of speaking ("Every day she goes jogging." ). Self-referential, or reflexive, metapragmatic statements are indexical. That is, their meaning comes from their temporal contiguity with their referent: themselves. Example: "This is an example sentence." 
Metapragmatics is a term commonly associated with the semiotically-informed linguistic anthropology of Michael Silverstein that describes how the effects and conditions of language use themselves become objects of discourse. Overview Metapragmatic signalling allows participants to construe what is going on in an interaction. Examples include: describing the "correct way" of using language ("I before E except after C."), specifying under which conditions a specific kind of communication are, or should be, used ("You should never tell a dirty joke at a funeral."), signalling, explicitly or implicitly, the type of social event occurring (explicit: "I promise to be there at 3:00 p.m." implicit: "I will be there at 3:00 p.m.") linking speech to another event outside the moment of speaking ("Every day she goes jogging." ). Self-referential, or reflexive, metapragmatic statements are indexical. That is, their meaning comes from their temporal contiguity with their referent: themselves. Example: "This is an example sentence." See also Metasemantics Metasyntax
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Overview
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See also Metasemantics Metasyntax