Grice's Conversational Implicature: a Pragmatics Analysis of Selected
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Some Strands of Wittgenstein's Normative Pragmatism
Some Strands of Wittgenstein’s Normative Pragmatism, and Some Strains of his Semantic Nihilism ROBERT B. BRANDOM ABSTRACT WORK TYPE In this reflection I address one of the critical questions this monograph is Article about: How to justify proposing yet another semantic theory in the light of Wittgenstein’s strong warnings against it. I see two clear motives for ARTICLE HISTORY Wittgenstein’s semantic nihilism. The first one is the view that philosophical Received: problems arise from postulating hypothetical entities such as ‘meanings’. To 27–January–2018 dissolve the philosophical problems rather than create new ones, Wittgenstein Accepted: suggests substituting ‘meaning’ with ‘use’ and avoiding scientism in philosophy 3–March–2018 together with the urge to penetrate in one's investigation to unobservable depths. I believe this first motive constitutes only a weak motive for ARTICLE LANGUAGE Wittgenstein’s quietism, because there are substantial differences between English empirical theories in natural sciences and semantic theories in philosophy that KEYWORDS leave Wittgenstein’s assimilation of both open to criticism. But Wittgenstein is Meaning and Use right, on the second motive, that given the dynamic character of linguistic Hypothetical Entities practice, the classical project of semantic theory is a disease that can be Antiscientism removed or ameliorated only by heeding the advice to replace concern with Semantic Nihilism meaning by concern with use. On my view, this does not preclude, however, a Linguistic Dynamism different kind of theoretical approach to meaning that avoids the pitfalls of the Procrustean enterprise Wittgenstein complained about. © Studia Humanitatis – Universidad de Salamanca 2019 R. Brandom (✉) Disputatio. Philosophical Research Bulletin University of Pittsburgh, USA Vol. -
Semantic Analysis of the First Cities from a Deconstruction Perspective Doi: 10.23968/2500-0055-2020-5-3-43-48
Mojtaba Valibeigi, Faezeh Ashuri— Pages 43–48 SEMANTIC ANALYSIS OF THE FIRST CITIES FROM A DECONSTRUCTION PERSPECTIVE DOI: 10.23968/2500-0055-2020-5-3-43-48 SEMANTIC ANALYSIS OF THE FIRST CITIES FROM A DECONSTRUCTION PERSPECTIVE Mojtaba Valibeigi*, Faezeh Ashuri Buein Zahra Technical University Imam Khomeini Blvd, Buein Zahra, Qazvin, Iran *Corresponding author: [email protected] Abstract Introduction: Deconstruction is looking for any meaning, semantics and concepts and then shows how all of them seem to lead to chaos, and are always on the border of meaning duality. Purpose of the study: The study is aimed to investigate urban identity from a deconstruction perspective. Since two important bases of deconstruction are text and meaning and their relationships, we chose the first cities on a symbolic level as a text and tried to analyze their meanings. Methods: The study used a deductive content analysis in three steps including preparation, organization and final report or conclusion. In the first step, we argued deconstruction philosophy based on Derrida’s views accordingly. Then we determined some common semantic features of the first cities. Finally, we presented some conclusions based on a semantic interpretation of the first cities’ identity.Results: It seems that all cities as texts tend to provoke a special imaginary meaning, while simultaneously promoting and emphasizing the opposite meaning of what they want to show. Keywords Deconstruction, text, meaning, urban semantics, the first cities. Introduction to have a specific meaning (Gualberto and Kress, 2019; Expressions are an act of recognizing or displaying Leone, 2019; Stojiljković and Ristić Trajković, 2018). -
Matrix Decompositions and Latent Semantic Indexing
Online edition (c)2009 Cambridge UP DRAFT! © April 1, 2009 Cambridge University Press. Feedback welcome. 403 Matrix decompositions and latent 18 semantic indexing On page 123 we introduced the notion of a term-document matrix: an M N matrix C, each of whose rows represents a term and each of whose column× s represents a document in the collection. Even for a collection of modest size, the term-document matrix C is likely to have several tens of thousands of rows and columns. In Section 18.1.1 we first develop a class of operations from linear algebra, known as matrix decomposition. In Section 18.2 we use a special form of matrix decomposition to construct a low-rank approximation to the term-document matrix. In Section 18.3 we examine the application of such low-rank approximations to indexing and retrieving documents, a technique referred to as latent semantic indexing. While latent semantic in- dexing has not been established as a significant force in scoring and ranking for information retrieval, it remains an intriguing approach to clustering in a number of domains including for collections of text documents (Section 16.6, page 372). Understanding its full potential remains an area of active research. Readers who do not require a refresher on linear algebra may skip Sec- tion 18.1, although Example 18.1 is especially recommended as it highlights a property of eigenvalues that we exploit later in the chapter. 18.1 Linear algebra review We briefly review some necessary background in linear algebra. Let C be an M N matrix with real-valued entries; for a term-document matrix, all × RANK entries are in fact non-negative. -
Linguistic Relativity Hyp
THE LINGUISTIC RELATIVITY HYPOTHESIS by Michele Nathan A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Social Science in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, Florida December 1973 THE LINGUISTIC RELATIVITY HYPOTHESIS by Michele Nathan This thesis was prepared under the direction of the candidate's thesis advisor, Dr. John D. Early, Department of Anthropology, and has been approved by the members of his supervisory committee. It was submitted to the faculty of the College of Social Science and was accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE: &~ rl7 IC?13 (date) 1 ii ABSTRACT Author: Michele Nathan Title: The Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis Institution: Florida Atlantic University Degree: Master of Arts Year: 1973 Although interest in the linguistic relativity hypothesis seems to have waned in recent years, this thesis attempts to assess the available evidence supporting it in order to show that further investigation of the hypothesis might be most profitable. Special attention is paid to the fact that anthropology has largely failed to substantiate any claims that correlations between culture and the semantics of language do exist. This has been due to the impressionistic nature of the studies in this area. The use of statistics and hypothesis testing to provide mor.e rigorous methodology is discussed in the hope that employing such paradigms would enable anthropology to contribute some sound evidence regarding t~~ hypothesis. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Introduction • 1 CHAPTER I THE.HISTORY OF THE FORMULATION OF THE HYPOTHESIS. -
Grice's Theory of Implicature and the Meaning of the Sentential
Gergely Bottyán The operationality of Grice’s tests for implicature 1. Introduction In less than a decade after its first publication in 1975, Herbert Paul Grice’s paper Logic and conversation becomes one of the classic treatises of the linguistic subdiscipline now standardly referred to as pragmatics. There are at least two reasons for the paper’s success: (i) it can be regarded as the first truly serious attempt to clarify the intuitive difference between what is expressed literally in a sentence and what is merely suggested by an utterance of the same string of words, (ii) the components of the notional and inferential framework that Grice set up to characterize various kinds of utterance content are intuitively appealing (cf. Haberland & Mey 2002). The present paper has two related aims: (i) to give a comprehensive overview of Grice’s theory of implicature, and (ii) to investigate whether it is possible to test the presence of a conversational implicature on the basis of some or all of the properties that Grice attributes to this construct. It will be argued that of the six characteristics listed by Grice, only cancellability is a practical criterion. However, cancellability is not a sufficient condition of the presence of a conversational implicature. Therefore, additional criteria are needed to arrive at an adequate test. 2. Overview of Grice’s theory of implicature Most of the body of Grice 1975=1989a consists in an attempt to clarify the intuitive difference between what is expressed literally in a sentence and what is merely suggested or hinted at by an utterance of the same string of words. -
Conversational Implicatures (And How to Spot Them)
Conversational Implicatures (and How to Spot Them) Michael Blome-Tillmann McGill University Abstract In everyday conversations we often convey information that goes above and beyond what we strictly speaking say: exaggeration and irony are obvious examples. H.P. Grice intro- duced the technical notion of a conversational implicature in systematizing the phenom- enon of meaning one thing by saying something else. In introducing the notion, Grice drew a line between what is said, which he understood as being closely related to the conventional meaning of the words uttered, and what is conversationally implicated, which can be inferred from the fact that an utterance has been made in context. Since Grice’s seminal work, conversational implicatures have become one of the major re- search areas in pragmatics. This article introduces the notion of a conversational implica- ture, discusses some of the key issues that lie at the heart of the recent debate, and expli- cates tests that allow us to reliably distinguish between semantic entailments and conven- tional implicatures on the one hand and conversational implicatures on the other.1 Conversational Implicatures and their Cancellability In everyday conversations our utterances often convey information that goes above and beyond the contents that we explicitly assert or—as Grice puts it—beyond what is said by our utterances. Consider the following examples:2 (1) A: Can I get petrol somewhere around here? B: There’s a garage around the corner. [A can get petrol at the garage around the corner.] (2) A: Is Karl a good philosopher? B: He’s got a beautiful handwriting. -
The Phrasal Implicature Theory of Metaphors and Slurs
THE PHRASAL IMPLICATURE THEORY OF METAPHORS AND SLURS Alper Yavuz A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2018 Full metadata for this thesis is available in St Andrews Research Repository at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this thesis: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/13189 This item is protected by original copyright This item is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence The Phrasal Implicature Theory of Metaphors and Slurs Alper Yavuz This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at the University of St Andrews March 2018 Abstract This thesis develops a pragmatic theory of metaphors and slurs. In the pragmatic literature, theorists mostly hold the view that the framework developed by Grice is only applicable to the sentence-level pragmatic phenomena, whereas the subsenten- tial pragmatic phenomena require a different approach. In this thesis, I argue against this view and claim that the Gricean framework, after some plausible revisions, can explain subsentential pragmatic phenomena, such as metaphors and slurs. In the first chapter, I introduce three basic theses I will defend and give an outline of the argument I will develop. The second chapter discusses three claims on metaphor that are widely discussed in the literature. There I state my aim to present a theory of metaphor which can accommodate these three claims. Chapter3 introduces the notion of \phrasal implicature", which will be used to explain phrase- level pragmatic phenomena with a Gricean approach. In Chapter4, I present my theory of metaphor, which I call \phrasal implicature theory of metaphor" and discuss certain aspects of the theory. -
Relevance Implicatures
Relevance Implicatures Robert van Rooy∗ ILLC/University of Amsterdam [email protected] Abstract According to standard pragmatics, we should account for conversational implicatures in terms of Grice’s (1967) maxims of conversation. Neo-Griceans like Atlas & Levinson (1981) and Horn (1984) seek to reduce those maxims to the so-called Q and I-principles. In this paper I want to argue that (i) there are major problems for reducing Gricean pragmatics to these two principles, and (ii) in fact, we can better account for implicatures by means of an exhaustivity operator defined in terms of a relevance-based ordering relation. 1 Introduction In most circumstances we infer from the fact that the (a) sentences of the following examples are uttered that the (b) sentences are true: (1) a. John ate some of the cookies. b. John didn’t eat all of the cookies (2) a. John is coming or Mary is going. b. John is coming or Mary is going, but not both. (3) a. John is walking, if Mary is talking. b. John is walking if and only if Mary is talking. ∗This note reports on work in progress on the use of relevance for the semantic analysis of natural language. Parts of this paper was presented at the second workshop on Optimality Theoretic Semantics at OTS in Utrecht (2000) and at the Formal Pragmatics conference in Berlin (2001). I would like to thank the participants of those events for their comments and suggestions. I would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers, Reinhard Blutner and expecially Katrin Schulz. -
Types of Implicature in Informal Conversations Used by the English Education Study Program Students
Rahayu, Types Of Implicature In Informal… TYPES OF IMPLICATURE IN INFORMAL CONVERSATIONS USED BY THE ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM STUDENTS Endry Sri Rahayu Prof.Safnil M.A,Ph.D. University of Bengkulu W.R. Supratman, Kd. Limun 38371A. Bengkulu, Indonesia Email : [email protected] Email : [email protected] Abstract: Implicature was refers to implied meaning in utterance that can be understood by indirectly expression. In informal conversation was occurred the hidden meaning of what actually said by the speakers. This study was investigated the types of implicature in informal conversations used by the English education study program students. The study was aimed to analyze the types of implicature and how the implicature is carried out in the informal conversations. The method of study was a descriptive qualitative method. The subjects of this study were 25 students of English study program who have informal conversation. The students’ conversation was transcribed and analyzed by using checklist instrument. The results was shown that 1) there were three types of implicature found in the informal conversations; conventional implicature, generalized conversational implicature and particularized conversational implicature, and 2) the implicature is carried out in the informal conversations by the used of generalized conversational implicature and particularized conversational implicature. Moreover, a conclusion is students in the informal conversation have potentially implicature that indicates that their utterance has implied meaning. The suggestions, the study about implicature should be conducted in different area such as movie, drama or others, to give enrichment information in the Pragmatics study. Keywords: Implicature Types, Informal Conversations, English Education Study Program Students. Abstrak: Implikatur mengacu pada makna tersirat pada suatu ujaran yang dapat dipahami dari ekspresi tidak langsung. -
Lecture 7: Semantics and Pragmatics. Entailments, Presuppositions, Conversational and Conventional Implicatures. Grice's
Formal Semantics, Lecture 7 Formal Semantics, Lecture 7 B. H. Partee, RGGU April 1, 2004 p. 1 B. H. Partee, RGGU April 1, 2004 p. 2 Lecture 7: Semantics and Pragmatics. Entailments, presuppositions, (intentionally or unintentionally) much more than what is literally said by the words of her conversational and conventional implicatures. Grice’s conversational sentence. maxims. An example: (1) A: How is C getting along in his new job at the bank? 1. Grice’s Conversational Implicatures. .................................................................................................................1 B: Oh, quite well, I think; he likes his colleagues, and he hasn’t been to prison yet. 1.1. Motivation. Questions about the meanings of logical words.......................................................................1 1.2. Truth-conditional content (semantics) vs. Conversational Implicatures (pragmatics).................................2 What B implied, suggested, or meant is distinct from what B said. All B said was that C had 1.3. Conversational maxims. (“Gricean maxims”.) ............................................................................................3 not been to prison yet. 1.4. Generating implicatures. General principles. Examples............................................................................4 1.4.1. Characterization of conversational implicature. .............................................................................4 1.4.2. More Examples...............................................................................................................................4 -
Philosophy of Language in the Twentieth Century Jason Stanley Rutgers University
Philosophy of Language in the Twentieth Century Jason Stanley Rutgers University In the Twentieth Century, Logic and Philosophy of Language are two of the few areas of philosophy in which philosophers made indisputable progress. For example, even now many of the foremost living ethicists present their theories as somewhat more explicit versions of the ideas of Kant, Mill, or Aristotle. In contrast, it would be patently absurd for a contemporary philosopher of language or logician to think of herself as working in the shadow of any figure who died before the Twentieth Century began. Advances in these disciplines make even the most unaccomplished of its practitioners vastly more sophisticated than Kant. There were previous periods in which the problems of language and logic were studied extensively (e.g. the medieval period). But from the perspective of the progress made in the last 120 years, previous work is at most a source of interesting data or occasional insight. All systematic theorizing about content that meets contemporary standards of rigor has been done subsequently. The advances Philosophy of Language has made in the Twentieth Century are of course the result of the remarkable progress made in logic. Few other philosophical disciplines gained as much from the developments in logic as the Philosophy of Language. In the course of presenting the first formal system in the Begriffsscrift , Gottlob Frege developed a formal language. Subsequently, logicians provided rigorous semantics for formal languages, in order to define truth in a model, and thereby characterize logical consequence. Such rigor was required in order to enable logicians to carry out semantic proofs about formal systems in a formal system, thereby providing semantics with the same benefits as increased formalization had provided for other branches of mathematics. -
A History of Semantics Naming
1/27 A history of semantics [in Nick Riemer (ed.) Routledge Handbook of Semantics] Naming [M]an “makes” his territory by naming the “things” in it. (Chatwin 1988: 301) Human beings name things in their environment. The name helps to distinguish and identify the denotatum (thing named) and is essential to communication with fellow humans about 1 such denotata. In Plato’s Cratylus (Plato 1997) c. 385 BCE, Socrates advances the hypothesis that the earliest name-giver (onomatourgos) selected a name that captures the essence of its denotatum, that is in some way iconic as with onomatopoeic bird names like cuckoo or whippoorwill. On this hypothesis the meaning of a word would be ‘natural’ because directly recognizable from the form of the word. Many of the Ancients sought to demonstrate that names are far more descriptive than the facts allow. For example Socrates in Cratylus 406c derives the name Dionusos (god of Bacchanalia) from didous ton oinon ‘giving wine’. In De lingua latina V: 101 (c. 45 BCE) Varro suggests that because the fox is fleet-footed, volpes ‘fox’ is a blend of volare ‘fly’ and pes ‘foot’ (Varro 1938). Isidore of Seville suggested c. 625 CE that oratio ‘utterance’ derives from oris ratio ‘the mouth’s reason’. None of these is correct and many such ‘etymologies’ are utterly absurd (see Allan 2010). Indeed, the implausibility of such accounts was recognized by Socrates in Cratylus (426b-427b, 434e- 435c), but a clear statement that names are symbols which denote by convention is first found some 25 years after Cratylus in Aristotle’s On Interpretation 16a3, 16a20 (Aristotle 1984).