Scalar Implicatures, Presuppositions, and Discourse Particles: Colloquial Russian –to, že, and ved’ in Combination

2017 ◽  
pp. 101-119
Author(s):  
Svetlana McCoy-Rusanova
Keyword(s):  
Scalar Implicatures ◽  
Discourse Particles

Differentiating scalar implicature from exclusion inferences in language acquisition

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jess Sullivan ◽  
Kathryn Davidson ◽  
Shirlene Wade ◽  
David Barner
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Scalar Implicature ◽  
Scalar Implicatures ◽  
Mutual Exclusivity ◽  
Logical Semantics

When acquiring language, children must not only learn the meanings of words, but also how to interpret them in context. For example, children must learn both the logical semantics of the scalar quantifier some and its pragmatically enriched meaning: ‘some but not all’. Some studies have shown that this “scalar implicature” that some implies ‘some but not all’ poses a challenge even to nine-year-olds, while others find success by age three. We asked whether reports of children’s early successes might be due to the computation of exclusion inferences (like contrast or mutual exclusivity) rather than an ability to compute scalar implicatures. We found that young children (N=214; ages 4;0-7;11) sometimes prefer to compute symmetrical exclusion inferences rather than asymmetric scalar inferences when interpreting quantifiers. This suggests that some apparent successes in computing scalar implicature can actually be explained by less sophisticated exclusion inferences.

scholarly journals Discourse particles in Manado Malay

2000 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 185-198
Author(s):  
Ruben Stoel
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Particles

Phrase Structure and Movement in Japanese

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mamoru Saito
Keyword(s):  
Complex Structure ◽  
Phrase Structure ◽  
Subject Position ◽  
Ample Evidence ◽  
Discourse Particles ◽  
Nominal Structure ◽  
Clausal Comparatives ◽  
The Right ◽  
Case Markers ◽  
Operator Movement

Japanese exhibits some unique features with respect to phrase structure and movement. It is well-known that its phrase structure is strictly head-final. It also provides ample evidence that a sentence may have more complex structure than its surface form suggests. Causative sentences are the best-known example of this. They appear to be simple sentences with verbs accompanying the causative suffix, -sase. But the causative suffix is an independent verb and takes a small clause vP complement in the syntactic representation. Japanese sentences can have a rich structure in the right periphery. For example, embedded clauses may contain up to three overt complementizers, corresponding to Finite (no), Interrogative (ka), and Report/Force (to). Matrix clauses may end in a sequence of discourse particles, such as wa, yo, and ne. Each of the complementizers and discourse particles has a selectional requirement of its own. More research is required to settle on the functional heads in the nominal structure. Among the controversial issues are whether D is present and whether Case markers should be analyzed as independent heads. Various kinds of movement operations are observed in the language. NP-movement to the subject position takes place in passive and unaccusative sentences, and clausal comparatives and clefts are derived by operator-movement. Scrambling is a unique movement operation that should be distinguished from both NP-movement and operator-movement. It does not establish operator-variable relations but is not subject to the locality requirements imposed on NP-movement. It cannot be PF-movement as it creates new binding possibilities. It is still debated whether head movement, for example, the movement of verb to tense, takes place in the language.

Priming enrichment in children

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice Rees ◽  
Ellie Carter ◽  
Lewis Bott
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Scalar Implicatures ◽  
Target Trial ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Adult Sample

Sentences can be enriched by considering what the speaker does not say but could have done. Children, however, struggle to derive one type of such enrichments, scalar implicatures. A popular explanation for this is that they do not know the appropriate alternatives to use to generate the implicature. Namely, children are unaware of the scalar relationship between some and all. We conducted a priming study with N = 72 children, aged 5;1 years, and an adult sample, N = 50, to test this hypothesis. Participants were exposed to prime trials of strong, alternative or weak sentences involving quantifier sentences or ad hoc expressions, and then saw an ambiguous target trial that they could choose to enrich. Consistent with previous studies, children were reluctant to derive implicatures. However, there were two novel findings. (1) Children responded with twice the rate of ad hoc implicature responses than adults, suggesting that the implicature was the developmentally prior interpretation for ad hoc expressions. (2) Children showed robust priming effects, suggesting that children are aware of the scalar relationship between some and all, even if they choose not to derive the implicature.

Prosody of Ojibwe Discourse Markers

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonja Frazier
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Narrative Structure ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Pitch Tracking ◽  
Discourse Particles ◽  
Global Coherence ◽  
Complex Picture ◽  
And Linguistics

Discourse markers (DMs) are optional, sequentially dependent sentence-initial items (Schiffrin, 1987) that are used to bracket units of talk (e.g. oh, well, because, y’know, now ). This research aims to better understand Ojibwe DMs which typically occur as the first or second element of a sentence (Fairbanks, 2016). The proposed analysis seeks to understand the prosody of Ojibwe DMs broadly and specifically their use in narrative structure. The data is drawn from Gakina Dibaajimowin Gwayakwaawan ( All Teachings are Correct ) by Nancy Jones, 2013. The analysis was done by using the programs Audacity and PRAAT to identify individual sentences and their pitch prominences. Through careful listening and pitch tracking, prosodic properties of DMs were found to indicate the following: DMs attract the most prominent pitch in the sentence. DMs are used by the speaker to attract the hearer’s attention; in this sense they are interactional (Franks-Job, 2006). DMs are used by the speaker to structure the narration; as such they interact with topic changes and emphasis (Lenk, 1998) This study creates a more complex picture of Ojibwe DMs and adds to our understanding of the language. References: Fairbanks, B. 2016. Ojibwe Discourse Markers. University of Nebraska Press. Franks-Job, B. 2006. A dynamic-interactional approach to discourse markers. In Approaches to discourse particles, K. Fischer (ed.) pp. 395–413. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Lenk, U. 1998. Discourse markers and global coherence in conversation. Journal of Pragmatics 30(2):246-257 Ogimaawigwaebiik [Nancy Jones] 2013. Gakina Dibaajimowin Gwayakwaawan. In Dibaajimowinaan; Anishinaabe Stories of Culture and respect ; Nigaanigiizhig [Jim Saint-Arnold] (ed.), Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission, 9-10. Raso, Tommaso. 1996. Prosodic constraints for discourse markers. Spoken Corpora and Linguistic Studies. In Spoken Corpora and Linguistics Studies , T. Raso & H. Mello (eds.) 411-467. Benjamins: Amsterdam. Schiffrin, D. 1987. Discourse Markers. doi: 10.1017/cbo9780511611841.

scholarly journals Against Grammatical Computation of Scalar Implicatures

2006 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 361-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Russell
Keyword(s):  
Scalar Implicatures

scholarly journals Complex Inferential Processes Are Needed for Implicature Comprehension, but Not for Implicature Production

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene Mognon ◽  
Simone A. Sprenger ◽  
Sanne J. M. Kuijper ◽  
Petra Hendriks
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Scalar Implicature ◽  
Scalar Implicatures ◽  
Intended Meaning ◽  
Apply Theory ◽  
Bidirectional Optimality Theory ◽  
The Asymmetry ◽  
Variable Performance

Upon hearing “Some of Michelangelo’s sculptures are in Rome,” adults can easily generate a scalar implicature and infer that the intended meaning of the utterance corresponds to “Some but not all Michelangelo’s sculptures are in Rome.” Comprehension experiments show that preschoolers struggle with this kind of inference until at least 5 years of age. Surprisingly, the few studies having investigated children’s production of scalar expressions like some and all suggest that production is adult-like already in their third year of life. Thus, children’s production of implicatures seems to develop at least 2 years before their comprehension of implicatures. In this paper, we present a novel account of scalar implicature generation in the framework of Bidirectional Optimality Theory: the Asymmetry Account. We show that the production–comprehension asymmetry is predicted to emerge because the comprehension of some requires the hearer to consider the speaker’s perspective, but the production of some does not require the speaker to consider the hearer’s perspective. Hence, children’s comprehension of scalar expressions, but not their production of scalar expressions, is predicted to be related to their theory of mind development. Not possessing fully developed theory of mind abilities yet, children thus have difficulty in comprehending scalar expressions such as some in an adult-like way. Our account also explains why variable performance is found in experimental studies testing children’s ability to generate scalar implicatures; moreover, it describes the differences between children’s and adults’ implicature generation in terms of their ability to recursively apply theory of mind; finally, it sheds new light on the question why the interpretation of numerals does not require implicature generation.

scholarly journals The Development of Quantity Implicatures in Mandarin-Speaking Children

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuyan Zhao ◽  
Jie Ren ◽  
Michael C. Frank ◽  
Peng Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
Scalar Implicatures ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Pragmatic Development ◽  
Linguistic Data ◽  
Pragmatic Inference ◽  
Context Dependent ◽  
Children's Development

The present study reports a large, cross-sectional study of Mandarin-speaking children’s ability to compute pragmatic inference. To chart the developmental trajectory of this pragmatic ability, we tested 225 Mandarin-speaking children (aged 4-8 years) on three types of pragmatic implicatures: scalar, context-dependent, and numeral implicatures. The results show that scalar implicatures posed difficulties for young Mandarin-speaking children, and they did not exhibit a consistent success until age 6. In contrast, by four years of age, this group was already able to compute context-dependent and numeral implicatures in an adult-like fashion. The implications of the current findings are discussed concerning children’s development of pragmatic inference as well as the relevance of cross-linguistic data in understanding pragmatic development.

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