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Reasoning with topoi in dialogue

Abstract:
Interacting with others frequently involves making common-sense inferences linking context, background knowledge and beliefs to utterances in the dialogue. We show that topoi are often essential to the production and interpretation of utterances involving inference -- even assuming overarching principles of pragmatic reasoning such as Gricean maxims or the principle of relevance. Drawing on topoi allows a speaker to communicate implicit meaning and sometimes also social meaning.
Research areas:
Year:
2021
Type of Publication:
In Proceedings
Book title:
17th International Pragmatics Conference
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