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Particularized conversational implicatures and miraculous communication

Research Output:
Contribution to journal
Article
Peer-review

Abstract

I argue that Grice's account of particularized conversational implicatures makes successful implicatures miraculous. Successful conversational implicatures satisfy three conditions. The first is Calculability, that implicatures are able to be calculated. The second is Grasped Content, that the hearer work out the implicature as intended by the speaker. The third is Inferential Path Sameness, that the speaker and hearer work out the implicated proposition from the similar reasons. Many implicatures satisfying these conditions in the actual world fail to do so in a wide range of nearby possible worlds. Operationalizing ‘miraculous communication’ by the modal interpretation of lucky outcomes, communication by particularized implicatures is miraculous.

Bibliographic Information

Output type

Research Output:
Contribution to journal
Article
Peer-review

Original language

English

Article number

101401

Journal (Volume, Issue Number)

Language Sciences (Volume 86)

Publication milestones

  • Published - 07/2021

Publication status

Published - 07/2021

ISSN

0388-0001

Publication IDs

  • Scopus: 85107821978