Contrast and the structure of discourse
The semantics of the coordinator <em>but</em> does not fit neatly into the traditional distinction between entailments and conversational implicatures. In its <em>counterexpectational</em> use, <em>but</em> can convey an implication relating its two conjuncts, whi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Linguistic Society of America
2014-04-01
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| Series: | Semantics and Pragmatics |
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| Online Access: | http://semprag.org/article/view/2822 |
| _version_ | 1819264374221570048 |
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| author | Maziar Toosarvandani |
| author_facet | Maziar Toosarvandani |
| author_sort | Maziar Toosarvandani |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The semantics of the coordinator <em>but</em> does not fit neatly into the traditional distinction between entailments and conversational implicatures. In its <em>counterexpectational</em> use, <em>but</em> can convey an implication relating its two conjuncts, which Grice (1975) classifies as a conventional implicature because its behavior diverges from both entailments and conversational implicatures. I propose that this meaning component arises from <em>but</em>’s interaction with the discourse context – specifically, how it makes conventional reference to the <em>question under discussion</em> (QUD) in the sense of Roberts (1996/2012, 2004). This derives the variable interpretation of the implication in the counterexpectational use, as well as its absence in the <em>corrective</em> and <em>semantic opposition</em> uses of <em>but</em>. This account provides a new perspective on the relationship between the different uses of <em>but</em> as a type of modal polysemy (Kratzer 1981, 1991), and it suggests that other expressions that have been argued to have conventional implicatures might also make conventional reference to the QUD.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3765/sp.7.4
<a href="http://semantics-online.org/sp-bib/toosarvandani-2014.bib">BibTeX info</a> |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-23T20:28:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7326a4fee6c041468d63225a53b9eb50 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1937-8912 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T20:28:28Z |
| publishDate | 2014-04-01 |
| publisher | Linguistic Society of America |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Semantics and Pragmatics |
| spelling | doaj.art-7326a4fee6c041468d63225a53b9eb502022-12-21T17:32:18ZengLinguistic Society of AmericaSemantics and Pragmatics1937-89122014-04-017015710.3765/sp.7.42519Contrast and the structure of discourseMaziar Toosarvandani0University of California, Santa CruzThe semantics of the coordinator <em>but</em> does not fit neatly into the traditional distinction between entailments and conversational implicatures. In its <em>counterexpectational</em> use, <em>but</em> can convey an implication relating its two conjuncts, which Grice (1975) classifies as a conventional implicature because its behavior diverges from both entailments and conversational implicatures. I propose that this meaning component arises from <em>but</em>’s interaction with the discourse context – specifically, how it makes conventional reference to the <em>question under discussion</em> (QUD) in the sense of Roberts (1996/2012, 2004). This derives the variable interpretation of the implication in the counterexpectational use, as well as its absence in the <em>corrective</em> and <em>semantic opposition</em> uses of <em>but</em>. This account provides a new perspective on the relationship between the different uses of <em>but</em> as a type of modal polysemy (Kratzer 1981, 1991), and it suggests that other expressions that have been argued to have conventional implicatures might also make conventional reference to the QUD. http://dx.doi.org/10.3765/sp.7.4 <a href="http://semantics-online.org/sp-bib/toosarvandani-2014.bib">BibTeX info</a>http://semprag.org/article/view/2822butcontrastconventional implicaturequestion under discussionmodalitynegation |
| spellingShingle | Maziar Toosarvandani Contrast and the structure of discourse Semantics and Pragmatics but contrast conventional implicature question under discussion modality negation |
| title | Contrast and the structure of discourse |
| title_full | Contrast and the structure of discourse |
| title_fullStr | Contrast and the structure of discourse |
| title_full_unstemmed | Contrast and the structure of discourse |
| title_short | Contrast and the structure of discourse |
| title_sort | contrast and the structure of discourse |
| topic | but contrast conventional implicature question under discussion modality negation |
| url | http://semprag.org/article/view/2822 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT maziartoosarvandani contrastandthestructureofdiscourse |