Relevance: communication and cognition
Relevance: communication and cognition
Presumptive Meanings: The Theory of Generalized Conversational Implicature
Presumptive Meanings: The Theory of Generalized Conversational Implicature
| Hi-index | 0.00 |
This paper aims to show how general pragmatic pressures, interacting with the context of utterance, can produce specific conversational implicatures -- as well as the lack thereof in nonsupporting environments. Inspired by the work of Merin (1997), Blutner (1998), van Rooy (2003a), Benz et al. (2005), and others, I use probabilities to represent speakers' belief states and the content of their utterances. These values determine an utterance's quality rating and quantity rating. I adapt Roberts' (1996) view of the question under discussion to define a relevance ranking of utterances. These values come together in a definition of felicitous utterance. This definition licenses certain inferences -- relevance implicatures relating to the question under discussion (section 4.1) and a variety of quantity implicatures (sections 4.2-4.3).