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When some is actually all: scalar inferences in face-threatening contexts
Jean-François Bonnefon1, Aidan Feeney, Gaëlle Villejoubert
1Laboratoire Cognition, Langues, Langage et Ergonomie Maison de la recherche, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, 5 Allées A. Machado, 31058 Toulouse Cedex 9, France. bonnefon@univ-tlse2.fr
The scalar inference from "some" to "not all" is less likely in face-threatening situations. This research explores politeness and informativeness in conversational pragmatics, impacting theories of language use.
Area of Science:
- Psycholinguistics
- Pragmatics
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Scalar inferences, such as deriving 'not all' from 'some', are central to pragmatic theories.
- Understanding contextual factors influencing these inferences is crucial for explaining language use.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how face-threatening contexts affect the endorsement of scalar inferences.
- To differentiate the effects of face-threatening contexts from lower-bound contexts.
Main Methods:
- Empirical testing of the hypothesis across three experiments.
- Analysis of utterance perception in controlled experimental settings.
Main Results:
- Scalar inferences are endorsed less frequently in face-threatening contexts.
- Face-threatening contexts do not confound with lower-bound contexts.
- Saying 'some' when 'all' is true is perceived as underinformative but polite when face is threatened.
Conclusions:
- Face-threatening contexts modulate scalar inference endorsement.
- Findings inform theories of conversational pragmatics, including Relevance Theory and Generalized Conversational Inference.
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