A Relevance-theoretic Account of Metarepresentative Uses in Conditionals

Noh, Eun-Ju

doi:10.1075/pbns.58.12noh

Cited by 14 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 25 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Here are some possible examples: In (37a), the vicar metarepresents an utterance that he wants the bride to produce. In the "speech-act conditional" in (38), the consequent is used to metarepresent an utterance that Mary wants Peter to produce; (38) expresses something like the proposition "If that's John, say I'm not here" (Sweetser 1990;Noh 1998b;van der Auwera 1986). The quiz-show question in (39) might be analysed on similar lines: the host is not producing a regular interrogative, but metarepresenting an utterance he wants the contestant to produce.…”

Section: Non-attributive Casesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In (18a), the causal relation is between two states of affairs; in (18b), it is between a state of affairs and an utterance or thought. In interpreting (18b), the hearer must construct a higher-order representation of the type "she says", or "she thinks", and attribute it as part of the speaker's meaning (Noh 1998b;Papafragou 1998aPapafragou , 1998bSweetser 1990; for developmental studies, see Noveck, Ho & Sera 1996;Papafragou 1998c). In (18b), the inferred higher-order representation may be either epistemic or illocutionary.…”

Section: Decoding and Inference In Linguistic Metarepresentationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Metarepresentation in linguistic communication

Wilson

2012

Meaning and Relevance

147

162

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper is designed to illustrate and consider the relations between three types of metarepresentational ability used in verbal comprehension: the ability to metarepresent attributed thoughts, the ability to metarepresent attributed utterances, and the ability to metarepresent abstract, non-attributed representations (e.g. sentence types, utterance types, propositions). Aspects of these abilities have been separately considered in the literatures on "theory of mind", Gricean pragmatics and quotation. The aim of this paper is to show how the results of these separate strands of research might be integrated with an empirically plausible pragmatic theory. IntroductionSeveral strands of research on metarepresentation have a bearing on the study of linguistic communication. On the whole, there has been little interaction among them, and the possibility of integrating them with an empirically plausible pragmatic theory has not been much explored. This paper has two main aims: to illustrate the depth and variety of metarepresentational abilities deployed in linguistic communication, and to argue that a pragmatic account of these abilities can both benefit from and provide useful evidence for the study of more general metarepresentational abilities.A metarepresentation is a representation of a representation: a higher-order representation with a lower-order representation embedded within it. The different strands of research on metarepresentation that have a bearing on the study of linguistic communication vary in the type of metarepresentations involved and the use to which they are put. First, there is the philosophical and psychological literature on mindreading (or "theory of mind"), which deals with the ability to form thoughts about attributed thoughts

show abstract

Section: Non-attributive Casesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Decoding and Inference In Linguistic Metarepresentationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metarepresentation in linguistic communication

Wilson

2012

Meaning and Relevance

147

162

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Conditionals, on the other hand, are more complex since they consist of two clauses: an antecedent and a consequent of various semantic types. Noh (1996) analyses conditionals from a relevance-theoretic view, arguing that in many cases antecedents are used interpretively to represent a contextually given proposition. The next sub-sections elaborate on each of the three structures.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If we consider that the proposition expressed in the antecedent is a proposition that the reader is probably 'thinking about' at the time of processing the visual stimulus, then its relation to the imperative becomes more plausible. Noh (1996) discusses given antecedents in conditionals as a case of metarepresentative use. In terms of relevance theory, she analyses them as a case of interpretive use since "given antecedents are used to represent another representation in context" (1996: 15).…”

Section: Conditionalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Pragmatics of Arabic Religious Posts on Facebook: A Relevance-theoretic Account

Zaki

2017

RiL

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract Despite growing interest in the impact of computer-mediated communication on our lives, linguistic studies on such communication conducted in the Arabic language are scarce. Grounded in Relevance Theory, this paper seeks to fill this void by analysing the linguistic structure of Arabic religious posts on Facebook. First, I discuss communication on Facebook, treating it as a relevance-seeking process of writing or sharing posts, with the functions of ‘Like’ and ‘Share’ seen as cues for communicating propositional attitude. Second, I analyse a corpus of around 80 posts, revealing an interesting use of imperatives, interrogatives and conditionals which manipulate the interpretation of such posts between descriptive and interpretive readings. I also argue that a rigorous system of incentives is employed in such posts in order to boost their relevance. Positive, negative and challenging incentives link the textual to the visual message in an attempt to raise more cognitive effects for the readers.

show abstract

“…(b) Smith and Smith (1988), Foster-Cohen (1997) and Noh (1996) have applied RT to conditionals. In general, there is some discussion on whether conditionals are similar to the logical "implication" or closer to non-truth-functional words relating the antecedent and the consequent in the sentence.…”

Section: Studies On Grammar From a Relevance-theoretic Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

Grammar: relevance-theoretic concerns

Yus¹

1997

RAEI

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Relevance theory (Sperber and Wilson, 1986) provides an interesting cognitive framework for the study of how interpretation takes place in face-to-face interaction. However, the applicability of this theory extends beyond conversation and this article also outlines how grammar can be analysed from a relevance-theoretic perspective. The purpose of this article is to provide a review of different studies of grammatical aspects of sentences which overlap with more traditional approaches in order to obtain a more accurate and context-centred picture of grammar. The extensive bibliography provided will surely be useful as a starting point for analysts interested in grammar from a pragmatic perspective.

show abstract

A Relevance-theoretic Account of Metarepresentative Uses in Conditionals

Cited by 14 publications

References 25 publications

Metarepresentation in linguistic communication

Metarepresentation in linguistic communication

The Pragmatics of Arabic Religious Posts on Facebook: A Relevance-theoretic Account

Grammar: relevance-theoretic concerns

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About