This collection of papers embodies the dynamism and diversity of the field of pragmatics. Its authors represent ten different countries and exemplify research across all aspects of pragmatics, along with the interrelations between pragmatics proper and such neighboring disciplines as cognitive psychology, philosophy of language, sociolinguistics, bilingualism, and communication. Recent theoretical and empirical advances in these fields has motivated scholars to reexamine and revise some of the central tenets of pragmatics, and it is this reexamination which lies at the heart of the papers in this volume.