Search results for "Relevance Theory"
showing 10 items of 19 documents
ABDUCTIVE INFERENCES IN PRAGMATIC PROCESSES
2018
Abstract In pragmatic theories, the notion of inference plays a central role, together with the communicative act in which it is activated. Although some scholars, such as Levinson, Sperber and Wilson, propose detailed and accurate analyses of this notion, we will maintain that these analyses can be better systematized if seen through Peirce’s notion of abduction. We will try to maintain that the variety of inferential processes in play in a linguistic act is mostly of an abductive nature. Moreover, we will maintain that the typological tripartition of abductions discussed by Eco (1981) allows to account for a signi cant part of the mechanisms involved in the comprehension of an utterance, …
Default Semantics and the architecture of the mind
2011
In this paper, I explore the relationship between Relevance Theory and Jaszczolt's Default Semantics, framing this debate within the picture of massive modularity tempered by the idea of brain plasticity (Perkins, 2007). While Relevance Theory focuses on processing (see cognitive efforts and contextual effects interplay), Default Semantics focuses on types of sources from which addressees draw information and types of processes that interact in providing it. In particular, I argue that Relevance Theory interacts with default semantics by standardizing inferences which are ultimately compressed (to use a term by Bach, 1998) into a default semantics. I briefly discuss potential obstacles to t…
What Can Modularity of Mind Tell Us about the Semantics/Pragmatics Debate?
2010
In this paper I make connections between two domains of information, research on the semantics/pragmatics debate and on modularity of mind, in the hope that establishing connections and parallel structure may be fruitful in deepening knowledge of the interface between semantics and pragmatics. In particular I want to inquire if modularity of mind can help us move towards the resolution of important theoretical problems like Grice's circle, the cancellability of explicatures/implicatures, the analogy between perceptual enrichments and explicatures due to free enrichments, the routing problem for explicatures (do they strictly take input from implicatures?), and satisficing strategies in prag…
Procedural semantics, metarepresentation, and some particles in Behdini Kurdish
2012
Contemporary studies in the linguistic semantics of particles have been greatly influenced by two ideas: that these items trigger pragmatic processing procedures rather than provide purely conceptual content, and that the procedures that some of them trigger relate to the recovery of metarepresentations. Recent developments in the theory of procedural semantics have introduced some refinements, notably the claim that these procedures may not all relate primarily to comprehension per se but may also relate to the epistemic assessment of communicated claims. This paper discusses three particles in Behdini Kurdish in the light of these theoretical developments: the speech-act particle ka often…
Towards a pragmatics of weblogs
2007
The weblog has emerged as one of the most dynamic means of Internet communication, in which users upload whatever piece of information they consider might arouse other users’ attention. Many articles and books have already addressed this new communicative phenomenon, but so far the weblog has not been addressed in purely cognitive-pragmatic terms. This article provides a first relevance-theoretic pragmatic analysis of the discourse of weblogs and their communicative qualities and limitations. El weblog ha surgido como una de las formas más dinámicas de comunicación, en la cual los usuarios de Internet “cuelgan” cualquier información que consideran que puede atraer la atención de otros usuar…
Comprensione come performance. Modelli pragmatici tra euristiche «fast and frugal»e vincoli biocogntivi
2018
The meaning of an utterance is a logical issue which has to be considered as such regardless of the biocognitive constraints operating in our bodies. This (traditional) thesis assumes a definite notion of rationality that doen’t seem to withstand what we know about the limits of our rationality (Kahneman, Tversky 1979) and what emerges from the empirical evidences of cognitive sciences. These evidences pro- vide a more plausible image of linguistic comprehension, beyond there use in the context of Relevance Theory and in the psycholinguistic perspectives of the Good Enough Approach. Starting from this framework an approach to linguistic compre- hension is outlined where the performative asp…
Immagine e riconoscimento. Modelli pragmatici e iconografia
2020
È possibile applicare i modelli offerti dalla pragmatica del linguaggio, con particolare riferimento ai lavori di Sperber & Wilson, Robyn Carston e Kasia Jaszczolt, alla comprensione delle immagini della pittura figurativa. Il tema, dibattuto soprattutto nell’ambito dei metaphor studies, ha avuto un recente sviluppo: per esempio Forceville e Clark2 (2014) hanno provato ad utilizzare il frame teorico della Relevance theory per descrivere i meccanismi linguistico-cognitivi che utilizziamo nella comprensione di un’immagine. A nostro parere questi tentativi difettano del dialogo con gli strumenti, elaborati nell’ambito della storia dell’arte e dei Visual Studies e e tendono a consegnarci un…
Some thoughts about the conceptual / procedural distinction in translation: a key-logging and eye-tracking study of processing effort
2014
This article builds on the conceptual / procedural distinction postulated by Relevance Theory to investigate processing effort in translation task execution. Drawing on relevance-theoretic assumptions, it assumes that instances related to procedural encodings will require more effortful processing not only in relation to the time spent on the task but also in terms of product indicators such as seconds per word and number of micro translation units per word. Drawing on key-logging and eye-tracking data, the article shows that there are statistically significant differences when conceptual and procedural encodings are analysed in selected areas of interest, with instances related to procedur…
C'è dell'ananas nel vino? Descrizioni enologiche tra parassitaggio e modulazione pragmatica
2019
In questo articolo analizzeremo lo statuto semiotico-cognitivo dei descrittori dei vini comunemente utilizzati per asserire che un determinato vino ha sentore di frutta. Infatti, una delle caratteristiche più evidenti del lessico usato oggi per parlare del vino è la sua parentela con il lessico della frutta. Mostreremo come questa parentela tra lessico enologico e lessico della frutta si basi su un processo di dipendenza e non sia un generico fenomeno di prestito linguistico. Si tratta, infatti di un processo parassitario che trasforma il lessico della frutta da lessico asistematico con funzione denotativa – per cui con il termine “ananas” intendiamo riferirci agli ananas nel mondo – in un …
On the social practice of indirect reports (further advances in the theory of pragmemes)
2010
Abstract This paper deals with the social practice of indirect reports and treats them as cases of language games. It proposes a number of principles like the following: Paraphrasis/Form Principle The that-clause embedded in the verb ‘say’ is a paraphrasis of what Y said, and meets the following constraints: should Y hear what X said he (Y) had said, he would not take issue with it, as to content, but would approve of it as a fair paraphrasis of his original utterance. Furthermore, he would not object to vocalizing the assertion made out of the words following the complementizer ‘that’ on account of its form/style. Furthermore, it connects such principles with Relevance Theory consideration…