scholarly journals Against Grammatical Computation of Scalar Implicatures

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

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.

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.

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.

scholarly journals Comparative modified numerals revisited: scalar implicatures, granularity and blindness to context

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Émile Enguehard
Keyword(s):  
Scalar Implicatures ◽  
Basic Pattern ◽  
Modified Numerals

We present a theory of the pragmatics of comparative modified numerals such as “more than~5”. Our proposal is based on the assumption that they trigger alternatives derived from discrete “granularity scales”. This is sufficient to explain the basic pattern of scalar implicatures from comparative numerals; we then show how extra assumptions of blind exhaustification and QUD uncertainty refine the prediction in that we can explain how and when comparative numerals trigger irrelevance inferences.

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