Lecture 2 - Implication (2024) PDF

Implication Jacopo Romoli Heinrich Heine Universität Düsseldorf Introduction to Pragmatics April 12, 2021 What is meaning? Both Semantics and Pragmatics deal with meaning But what does meaning mean? How do we explain it?...

Implication Jacopo Romoli Heinrich Heine Universität Düsseldorf Introduction to Pragmatics April 12, 2021 What is meaning? Both Semantics and Pragmatics deal with meaning But what does meaning mean? How do we explain it? How do we even talk about it? Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 2 What is meaning? Both Semantics and Pragmatics deal with meaning But what does meaning mean? How do we explain it? How do we even talk about it? One good starting point: inference What it is that we know when we understand a sentence An inference is a step of logical reasoning An inference process gets us from some premise(s) to some conclusion(s) Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 2 What is meaning? Both Semantics and Pragmatics deal with meaning But what does meaning mean? How do we explain it? How do we even talk about it? One good starting point: inference What it is that we know when we understand a sentence An inference is a step of logical reasoning An inference process gets us from some premise(s) to some conclusion(s) Socrates is a man premise All men are mortal premise Socrates is mortal conclusion Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 2 Inference Inferences are a good place to start because (at least some) inferences are things people understand quite easily, naturally, but they’re harder to teach to machines And not just classic syllogisms; we make inferences even from single sentences! Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 3 Inference Inferences are a good place to start because (at least some) inferences are things people understand quite easily, naturally, but they’re harder to teach to machines And not just classic syllogisms; we make inferences even from single sentences! (1) Allison owns a dog. ⇝ Allison owns a mammal (2) Phillip is a bachelor. ⇝ Phillip is unmarried Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 3 Inference Inferences are a good place to start because (at least some) inferences are things people understand quite easily, naturally, but they’re harder to teach to machines And not just classic syllogisms; we make inferences even from single sentences! (1) Allison owns a dog. ⇝ Allison owns a mammal (2) Phillip is a bachelor. ⇝ Phillip is unmarried Note the formatting convention: object language in blue, sentences have final punctuation metalanguage in black, needn’t Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 3 Inference We can also cast such inferences as relations between sentences (3) Allison owns a dog. ⇝ Allison owns a mammal. (4) Phillip is a bachelor. ⇝ Phillip is unmarried. Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 4 Inference We can also cast such inferences as relations between sentences (3) Allison owns a dog. ⇝ Allison owns a mammal. (4) Phillip is a bachelor. ⇝ Phillip is unmarried. The sentences on the left imply the sentences on the right The sentences on the right follow from the sentences on the left The sentences on the right are consequences of those on the left The sentences on the right can be inferred from those on the left Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 4 Kinds of inferences So far, we have been neutral about what kind of relation holds between two sentences, and about what kinds of inferential processes get us from one to the other I use “⇝” to stay neutral in this sense Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 5 Kinds of inferences So far, we have been neutral about what kind of relation holds between two sentences, and about what kinds of inferential processes get us from one to the other I use “⇝” to stay neutral in this sense But not all inferences are the same Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 5 Kinds of inferences So far, we have been neutral about what kind of relation holds between two sentences, and about what kinds of inferential processes get us from one to the other I use “⇝” to stay neutral in this sense But not all inferences are the same At least three kinds of relations between sentences to attend to: 1 entailment (semantics) 2 presupposition (semantics/pragmatics) 3 implicature (pragmatics) Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 5 Entailment Entailment is a logical relation Entailment A sentence φ entails a sentence ψ (φ ⊨ ψ) iff whenever φ is true, ψ is true Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 6 Entailment Entailment is a logical relation Entailment A sentence φ entails a sentence ψ (φ ⊨ ψ) iff whenever φ is true, ψ is true This is the only one with a special symbol, but you’ll see it elsewhere so I’m using it here (5) Rex is a dog. ⊨ Rex is a mammal. (6) Rex is a dog. ⊨ Rex is a dog. (7) Rex is cute and it is raining. ⊨ Rex is cute. Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 6 Entailment Entailment is a logical relation Entailment A sentence φ entails a sentence ψ (φ ⊨ ψ) iff whenever φ is true, ψ is true This is the only one with a special symbol, but you’ll see it elsewhere so I’m using it here (5) Rex is a dog. ⊨ Rex is a mammal. (6) Rex is a dog. ⊨ Rex is a dog. (7) Rex is cute and it is raining. ⊨ Rex is cute. (8) Rex is a mammal. ⊭ Rex is a dog. (Rex could be a mouse) (9) Rex is cute. ⊭ Rex is cute and it is raining. (It might be sunny) Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 6 Entailment This might seem like just the same thing as the broader class of inference we already mentioned But in fact, entailment as defined already has some features you might not have realized Because it is about logical truth, entailment has some perhaps surprising behavior when it comes to tautologies and contradictions Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 7 Entailment This might seem like just the same thing as the broader class of inference we already mentioned But in fact, entailment as defined already has some features you might not have realized Because it is about logical truth, entailment has some perhaps surprising behavior when it comes to tautologies and contradictions Tautologies are sentences which are necessarily true (10) It is snowing or it is not snowing. (11) If Allison owns a dog, then Allison owns a dog. Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 7 Entailment This might seem like just the same thing as the broader class of inference we already mentioned But in fact, entailment as defined already has some features you might not have realized Because it is about logical truth, entailment has some perhaps surprising behavior when it comes to tautologies and contradictions Tautologies are sentences which are necessarily true (10) It is snowing or it is not snowing. (11) If Allison owns a dog, then Allison owns a dog. Contradictions are sentences which are necessarily false (12) # It is Tuesday and it is not Tuesday. Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 7 Entailment Entailment A sentence φ entails a sentence ψ (φ ⊨ ψ) iff whenever φ is true, ψ is true Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 8 Entailment Entailment A sentence φ entails a sentence ψ (φ ⊨ ψ) iff whenever φ is true, ψ is true So because tautologies are always true, any sentence entails a tautology (13) I am hungry. ⊨ It is snowing or it is not snowing. Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 8 Entailment Entailment A sentence φ entails a sentence ψ (φ ⊨ ψ) iff whenever φ is true, ψ is true So because tautologies are always true, any sentence entails a tautology (13) I am hungry. ⊨ It is snowing or it is not snowing. And because contradictions are always false, a contradiction entails any sentence (14) It is Tuesday and it is not Tuesday. ⊨ Bridget climbed Mt. Everest. Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 8 Entailment Entailment A sentence φ entails a sentence ψ (φ ⊨ ψ) iff whenever φ is true, ψ is true So because tautologies are always true, any sentence entails a tautology (13) I am hungry. ⊨ It is snowing or it is not snowing. And because contradictions are always false, a contradiction entails any sentence (14) It is Tuesday and it is not Tuesday. ⊨ Bridget climbed Mt. Everest. These might seem odd, as they’re not the sorts of things speakers mean when they speak—but they’re valid inferences! Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 8 Entailment There are many reasons why one sentence might entail another Lexical entailment (definitions of words) (15) Phillip is a bachelor. ⊨ Phillip is unmarried. Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 9 Entailment There are many reasons why one sentence might entail another Lexical entailment (definitions of words) (15) Phillip is a bachelor. ⊨ Phillip is unmarried. Set membership/containment (16) Rex is a poodle. ⊨ Rex is a dog. Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 9 Entailment There are many reasons why one sentence might entail another Lexical entailment (definitions of words) (15) Phillip is a bachelor. ⊨ Phillip is unmarried. Set membership/containment (16) Rex is a poodle. ⊨ Rex is a dog. Distributivity (17) Kim saw Jim and Tim. ⊨ Kim saw Jim. Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 9 Entailment There are many reasons why one sentence might entail another Lexical entailment (definitions of words) (15) Phillip is a bachelor. ⊨ Phillip is unmarried. Set membership/containment (16) Rex is a poodle. ⊨ Rex is a dog. Distributivity (17) Kim saw Jim and Tim. ⊨ Kim saw Jim. Scales (18) Nina owns four cars. ⊨ Nina owns more than two cars. and more! Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 9 Presupposition Another important kind of relation that can hold between sentences is presupposition Presupposition is sometimes called a special kind of entailment Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 10 Presupposition Another important kind of relation that can hold between sentences is presupposition Presupposition is sometimes called a special kind of entailment Presupposition A sentence φ presupposes a sentence ψ iff ψ must be true in order to even judge the truth/falsity of φ Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 10 Presupposition Another important kind of relation that can hold between sentences is presupposition Presupposition is sometimes called a special kind of entailment Presupposition A sentence φ presupposes a sentence ψ iff ψ must be true in order to even judge the truth/falsity of φ (19) Allison’s dog is cute. presupposes Allison has a dog. Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 10 Presupposition Another important kind of relation that can hold between sentences is presupposition Presupposition is sometimes called a special kind of entailment Presupposition A sentence φ presupposes a sentence ψ iff ψ must be true in order to even judge the truth/falsity of φ (19) Allison’s dog is cute. presupposes Allison has a dog. If φ is true, then ψ must also be true—hence, a “kind of entailment” But it seems like we have to already know ψ in order to even have an opinion about φ —hence “special” Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 10 Presupposition “If A presupposes B, then A not only implies B but also implies that the truth of B is somehow taken for granted, treated as uncontroversial.” Chierchia and McConnell-Ginet 2001 “Roughly speaking, the presuppositions of a speaker are the propositions whose truth he takes for granted as part of the background of the conversation. A proposition is presupposed if the speaker is disposed to act as if he assumes or believes that the proposition is true, and as if he assumes or believes that his audience assumes or believes that it is true as well. Presuppositions are what is taken by the speaker to be the common ground of the participants in the conversation, what is treated as their common knowledge or mutual knowledge.” Stalnaker 1978 Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 11 Presupposition Many different expressions give rise to presuppositions Definite noun phrases presuppose the existence of their referent (20) Allison’s dog is cute. presupposes Allison has a dog. = Allison’s dog exists. Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 12 Presupposition Many different expressions give rise to presuppositions Definite noun phrases presuppose the existence of their referent (20) Allison’s dog is cute. presupposes Allison has a dog. = Allison’s dog exists. Definite noun phrases also presuppose uniqueness (in the context) (21) Allison’s dog is cute. presupposes Allison has only one dog. Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 12 Presupposition Many different expressions give rise to presuppositions Definite noun phrases presuppose the existence of their referent (20) Allison’s dog is cute. presupposes Allison has a dog. = Allison’s dog exists. Definite noun phrases also presuppose uniqueness (in the context) (21) Allison’s dog is cute. presupposes Allison has only one dog. Veridical embedding verbs presuppose the truth of their prejacents (22) Fred knows that Allison’s dog is cute. presupposes Allison’s dog is cute. Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 12 Presupposition Many different expressions give rise to presuppositions Definite noun phrases presuppose the existence of their referent (20) Allison’s dog is cute. presupposes Allison has a dog. = Allison’s dog exists. Definite noun phrases also presuppose uniqueness (in the context) (21) Allison’s dog is cute. presupposes Allison has only one dog. Veridical embedding verbs presuppose the truth of their prejacents (22) Fred knows that Allison’s dog is cute. presupposes Allison’s dog is cute. Aspectual verbs carry presuppositions as well (23) Allison’s dog stopped barking. presupposes Allison’s dog had been barking in the past. Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 12 Presupposition Presupposition A sentence φ presupposes a sentence ψ iff ψ must be true in order to even judge the truth/falsity of φ Because ψ must be true in order for φ to be true or false, we get weird behavior when ψ is false. Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 13 Presupposition Presupposition A sentence φ presupposes a sentence ψ iff ψ must be true in order to even judge the truth/falsity of φ Because ψ must be true in order for φ to be true or false, we get weird behavior when ψ is false. (24) The king of France is bald. Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 13 Presupposition Presupposition A sentence φ presupposes a sentence ψ iff ψ must be true in order to even judge the truth/falsity of φ Because ψ must be true in order for φ to be true or false, we get weird behavior when ψ is false. (24) The king of France is bald. Is this false? It’s not true, but, is it false? Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 13 Presupposition Presupposition A sentence φ presupposes a sentence ψ iff ψ must be true in order to even judge the truth/falsity of φ Because ψ must be true in order for φ to be true or false, we get weird behavior when ψ is false. (24) The king of France is bald. presupposes There is a king of France. Is this false? It’s not true, but, is it false? The presupposition of (24) contradicts what we know about the actual world—France has a Prime Minister, but no king! Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 13 Presupposition Presupposition A sentence φ presupposes a sentence ψ iff ψ must be true in order to even judge the truth/falsity of φ Because ψ must be true in order for φ to be true or false, we get weird behavior when ψ is false. (24) The king of France is bald. presupposes There is a king of France. Is this false? It’s not true, but, is it false? The presupposition of (24) contradicts what we know about the actual world—France has a Prime Minister, but no king! We call this a presupposition failure Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 13 Diagnosing presupposition Presupposition A sentence φ presupposes a sentence ψ iff ψ must be true in order to even judge the truth/falsity of φ We can use the icky not-true-not-false feeling we get from a presupposition failure to create a diagnostic for presupposition Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 14 Diagnosing presupposition Presupposition A sentence φ presupposes a sentence ψ iff ψ must be true in order to even judge the truth/falsity of φ We can use the icky not-true-not-false feeling we get from a presupposition failure to create a diagnostic for presupposition If φ presupposes ψ, then a sentence of the form [φ but not ψ] should be degraded Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 14 Diagnosing presupposition Presupposition A sentence φ presupposes a sentence ψ iff ψ must be true in order to even judge the truth/falsity of φ We can use the icky not-true-not-false feeling we get from a presupposition failure to create a diagnostic for presupposition If φ presupposes ψ, then a sentence of the form [φ but not ψ] should be degraded (25) # The king of France is bald but there is no king of France. (26) # Allison’s dog is cute but Allison doesn’t have a dog. Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 14 Diagnosing presupposition Presupposition A sentence φ presupposes a sentence ψ iff ψ must be true in order to even judge the truth/falsity of φ We can use the icky not-true-not-false feeling we get from a presupposition failure to create a diagnostic for presupposition If φ presupposes ψ, then a sentence of the form [φ but not ψ] should be degraded (25) # The king of France is bald but there is no king of France. (26) # Allison’s dog is cute but Allison doesn’t have a dog. The speakers of these sentences are contradicting themselves, saying something nonsensical Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 14 Diagnosing presupposition Presupposition A sentence φ presupposes a sentence ψ iff ψ must be true in order to even judge the truth/falsity of φ We can use the icky not-true-not-false feeling we get from a presupposition failure to create a diagnostic for presupposition If φ presupposes ψ, then a sentence of the form [φ but not ψ] should be degraded (25) # The king of France is bald but there is no king of France. (26) # Allison’s dog is cute but Allison doesn’t have a dog. The speakers of these sentences are contradicting themselves, saying something nonsensical—but entailment behaves the same here (27) # Allison has a dog but Allison doesn’t have a mammal. Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 14 Diagnosing presupposition Presupposition A sentence φ presupposes a sentence ψ iff ψ must be true in order to even judge the truth/falsity of φ There is another diagnostic which can help us to distinguish presupposition from non-presuppositional entailment Remember that the presupposition ψ must be true even for φ to be judged false Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 15 Diagnosing presupposition Presupposition A sentence φ presupposes a sentence ψ iff ψ must be true in order to even judge the truth/falsity of φ There is another diagnostic which can help us to distinguish presupposition from non-presuppositional entailment Remember that the presupposition ψ must be true even for φ to be judged false (28) # My shirt is on fire. The sentence in (28) is false (my shirt is not on fire) but there is no presupposition failure (my shirt exists and is unique) Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 15 Diagnosing presupposition Presupposition A sentence φ presupposes a sentence ψ iff ψ must be true in order to even judge the truth/falsity of φ There is another diagnostic which can help us to distinguish presupposition from non-presuppositional entailment Remember that the presupposition ψ must be true even for φ to be judged false (28) # My shirt is on fire. The sentence in (28) is false (my shirt is not on fire) but there is no presupposition failure (my shirt exists and is unique) And now note that if we negate (28), we will get a sentence which is true—and which carries the same presuppositions! (29) My shirt is not on fire. ≡ It is not the case that my shirt is on fire. Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 15 Diagnosing presupposition Both My shirt is on fire. and its negation, My shirt is not on fire., presuppose the existence and (contextual) uniqueness of my shirt Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 16 Diagnosing presupposition Both My shirt is on fire. and its negation, My shirt is not on fire., presuppose the existence and (contextual) uniqueness of my shirt Definition time: Projection (or projectivity) If a sentence φ carries meaning p, and if a speaker is still committed to p even when φ is embedded under one or more operators O, then we say that p projects from under O, or simply, that p projects (or is projective) Operators include negation (¬), modals (□, ♢), conditionals (→), etc. Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 16 Diagnosing presupposition Both My shirt is on fire. and its negation, My shirt is not on fire., presuppose the existence and (contextual) uniqueness of my shirt Definition time: Projection (or projectivity) If a sentence φ carries meaning p, and if a speaker is still committed to p even when φ is embedded under one or more operators O, then we say that p projects from under O, or simply, that p projects (or is projective) Operators include negation (¬), modals (□, ♢), conditionals (→), etc. So we can say that the presuppositions triggered by my shirt project out from under negation Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 16 Diagnosing presupposition Both My shirt is on fire. and its negation, My shirt is not on fire., presuppose the existence and (contextual) uniqueness of my shirt Definition time: Projection (or projectivity) If a sentence φ carries meaning p, and if a speaker is still committed to p even when φ is embedded under one or more operators O, then we say that p projects from under O, or simply, that p projects (or is projective) Operators include negation (¬), modals (□, ♢), conditionals (→), etc. So we can say that the presuppositions triggered by my shirt project out from under negation And in fact, presuppositions in general tend to project Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 16 Diagnosing presupposition So we can use the Family of Sentences test (?) It tests for projectivity But we can use it as evidence for presupposition Because presuppositions (tend to) project, and non-presuppositional entailments don’t Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 17 Diagnosing presupposition So we can use the Family of Sentences test (?) It tests for projectivity But we can use it as evidence for presupposition Because presuppositions (tend to) project, and non-presuppositional entailments don’t How it works: 1 Identify some sentence φ and some content p that φ carries 2 Embed φ under a number of different operators (typically ¬, ♢, →, ?) 3 If those variants of φ still convey p, then p is projective; If not, then p is not projective And for our purposes, projectivity will be a good piece of evidence in favor of a diagnosis of presupposition This will be easier to see with some examples... Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 17 Diagnosing presupposition (30) Allison’s dog is cute. I’ve told you this presupposes Allison has a dog. Let’s test it out! Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 18 Diagnosing presupposition (30) Allison’s dog is cute. I’ve told you this presupposes Allison has a dog. Let’s test it out! a. Allison’s dog isn’t cute. (¬φ) b. Allison’s dog might be cute. (♢φ) c. If Allison’s dog is cute, I want to meet it. (φ → ψ) d. Is Allison’s dog cute? (?φ) The question we’re asking here is: do (30a–d) carry the same meaning p, here, that (the speaker believes that) Allison has a dog? Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 18 Diagnosing presupposition (30) Allison’s dog is cute. I’ve told you this presupposes Allison has a dog. Let’s test it out! a. Allison’s dog isn’t cute. (¬φ) b. Allison’s dog might be cute. (♢φ) c. If Allison’s dog is cute, I want to meet it. (φ → ψ) d. Is Allison’s dog cute? (?φ) The question we’re asking here is: do (30a–d) carry the same meaning p, here, that (the speaker believes that) Allison has a dog? They do! They don’t entail that the dog actually is cute But they all seem to assume that Allison does have a dog This tells us that ‘Allison has a dog’ is projective Which in turn is good evidence that it is a presupposition of (30) Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 18 Diagnosing presupposition (31) Rex is a dog. I’ve told you this entails Rex is a mammal. But is it a presupposition? Let’s test it out! Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 19 Diagnosing presupposition (31) Rex is a dog. I’ve told you this entails Rex is a mammal. But is it a presupposition? Let’s test it out! a. Rex isn’t a dog. (¬φ) b. Rex might be a dog. (♢φ) c. If Rex is a dog, he’ll want this bone. (φ → ψ) d. Is Rex a dog? (?φ) The question we’re asking here is: do (31a–d) all require the speaker to believe that Rex is a mammal? Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 19 Diagnosing presupposition (31) Rex is a dog. I’ve told you this entails Rex is a mammal. But is it a presupposition? Let’s test it out! a. Rex isn’t a dog. (¬φ) b. Rex might be a dog. (♢φ) c. If Rex is a dog, he’ll want this bone. (φ → ψ) d. Is Rex a dog? (?φ) The question we’re asking here is: do (31a–d) all require the speaker to believe that Rex is a mammal? Nope! Any of (31a–d) are fully consistent with Rex being a parrot If Rex is a dog, he’s a mammal, but he needn’t be either! Strong evidence that ‘Rex is a mammal’ isn’t a presupposition of (31) Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 19 Implicature The third kind of relationship between sentences that we will look at in-depth is implicature Where entailment is logical (and thus semantic), implicature is driven by context (and is thus pragmatic) Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 20 Implicature The third kind of relationship between sentences that we will look at in-depth is implicature Where entailment is logical (and thus semantic), implicature is driven by context (and is thus pragmatic) Aside 1: That doesn’t mean it’s ‘illogical’ It is still systematic and predictable (as we will see) It just takes more than truth tables into account Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 20 Implicature The third kind of relationship between sentences that we will look at in-depth is implicature Where entailment is logical (and thus semantic), implicature is driven by context (and is thus pragmatic) Aside 1: That doesn’t mean it’s ‘illogical’ It is still systematic and predictable (as we will see) It just takes more than truth tables into account Aside 2: Crucial not to confuse implicature with implication (32) Allison owns a dog. ⇝ Allison owns a mammal. The sentence on the left implies the one on the right The sentence on the right is an implication of the one on the left imply (v.)/implication(n.) as opposed to implicate(v.)/implicature(n.) Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 20 Implicature Cases of implicature involve a meaning which is conveyed even though it isn’t part of the ‘literal meaning’ of the sentence Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 21 Implicature Cases of implicature involve a meaning which is conveyed even though it isn’t part of the ‘literal meaning’ of the sentence Some typical examples: (33) Carlo ate some of the cookies. ⇝ Carlo ate some but not all of the cookies. (34) Dana has two cats. ⇝ Dana has exactly two cats (and no more). (35) Can you pass the salt? ⇝ Please pass the salt. Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 21 Implicature Cases of implicature involve a meaning which is conveyed even though it isn’t part of the ‘literal meaning’ of the sentence Some typical examples: (33) Carlo ate some of the cookies. ⇝ Carlo ate some but not all of the cookies. (34) Dana has two cats. ⇝ Dana has exactly two cats (and no more). (35) Can you pass the salt? ⇝ Please pass the salt. Explaining these examples will require a lot of unraveling... so that’s what we’ll cover in our next lecture! Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 21 Romoli | HHU | Implication (Introduction to Pragmatics) 22