Manjeet of Class V speaks in different ways to his teacher, to his friends and…

Concept: Pragmatics is the branch of linguistics that studies how language is used and adapted in social situations - how speakers choose vocabulary, tone, and formality based on the listener, the setting, and the relationship between the speakers, rather than the literal dictionary meaning of the words used.

Application: In the scenario, Manjeet changes his manner of speaking depending on who he is addressing - a more formal register with his teacher, a casual register with friends, and a simplified register with a two-year-old child. This ability to adjust language appropriately for different listeners and social contexts is exactly what pragmatics refers to.

Cross-check - why the other terms do not fit:

• Act of speech (a speech act) names the action performed through an utterance, such as requesting, promising, or warning - a category of communicative acts, not a name for the general skill of adjusting speech style.

• Naturalist describes a person or theory oriented toward nature or naturalistic methods, as used in biology or philosophy - a term with no established meaning in linguistics or language pedagogy.

• Semantics is the study of the literal, dictionary meaning of words and sentences, analysed independently of who is listening or the situation in which they are spoken.

Result: The attribute that lets a speaker vary language appropriately by audience and social context is known as pragmatics.