Lexical Semantics and Pragmatics
نویسنده
چکیده
In this paper I discuss some general problems one is confronted with when trying to analyze the utterance of words within concrete conceptual and contextual settings and to go beyond the aspects of meaning typically investigated by a contrastive analysis of lexemes within the Katz-Fodor tradition of semantics. After emphasizing some important consequences of the traditional view, several phenomena are collected that seem to conflict with the theoretical settings made by it. Some extensions of the standard theory are outlined that take a broader view of language interpretation and claim to include pragmatic aspects of (utterance) meaning. The models critically considered include Bartsch's indexical theory of polysemy, Bierwisch's two-level semantics and Pustejovsky's generative lexicon. Finally, I argue in favor of a particular account of the division of labor between lexical semantics and pragmatics. This account combines the idea of (radical) semantic underspecification in the lexicon with a theory of pragmatic strengthening (based on conversational implicatures).
منابع مشابه
Lexical Pragmatics
Lexical Pragmatics is a research field that tries to give a systematic and explanatory account of pragmatic phenomena that are connected with the semantic underspecification of lexical items. Cases in point are the pragmatics of adjectives, systematic polysemy, the distribution of lexical and productive causatives, blocking phenomena, the interpretation of compounds, and many phenomena presentl...
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