A graded strength for privileged interactional interpretations

Marit Sternau*, Mira Ariel, Rachel Giora, Ofer Fein

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper investigates the discourse status and psychological reality of three pragmatic levels of interpretation: explicature, strong implicature, and weak implicature. We test the potential of each of these levels to constitute the Privileged Interactional Interpretation, i.e., the most relevant message of an utterance as intended by the speaker and understood by the addressee (Ariel M. J Prag 34(8): 1003–1044, 200; Pragmatics and grammar. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2008). But our hypothesis takes the concept of the Privileged Interactional Interpretation a step further. We propose a scale of pragmatic interpretation strength: Explicature > Implicature[strong] > Implicature[weak]. We argue that the stronger (i.e., left) the representation on the scale, the more likely it is to count as the Privileged Interactional Interpretation.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationPerspectives in Pragmatics, Philosophy and Psychology
PublisherSpringer International Publishing
Pages703-723
Number of pages21
DOIs
StatePublished - 2016

Publication series

NamePerspectives in Pragmatics, Philosophy and Psychology
Volume9
ISSN (Print)2214-3807
ISSN (Electronic)2214-3815

Keywords

  • Discourse
  • Explicature
  • Privileged interactional interpretation
  • Strong implicature
  • Weak implicature

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