On not-at-issueness in pictures

Abstract

In this paper, I make novel empirical observations about not-at-issue content in pictures, focusing on prohibition signs, and discuss the implications of these observations for our understanding of how meaning works in linguistic and non-linguistic systems. In particular, I show that for certain pieces of pictorial content, the at-issue vs. not-atissue distinction is highly pragmatic, in a way that strongly resembles the restricting vs. non-restricting distinction in natural language modifiers. I, furthermore, demonstrate that such pieces of pictorial content also behave like modifiers for the purposes of ellipsis/anaphora resolution and alternative generation under only. Thus, I argue that the at-issue vs. not-at-issue distinction in these cases should, in fact, be analyzed in terms of restricting vs. non-restricting modification, rather than presuppositions contributed sublexically. These findings point to substantial parallels between pictures and natural language with respect to both pragmatic reasoning and compositional structuring of meaning.

Truth and directness in pictorial assertion

“…13 Thank you to an anonymous referee for suggesting the question-based view. Relatedly, Esipova (2021) argues that the content of pictures is divided into at-issue and not-at-issue content, just like linguistic content. Esipova (2021, 11-12) also argues that the question under discussion is among the factors that determine (or at least help the interpreter figure out) which parts of a picture's content are at-issue.…”

The at-issue status of ideophones in German: An experimental approach

“…Ideophones in German meet the definition given by Dingemanse ( 2019 4 Our thanks go to a reviewer for pointing out this data to us and for providing the example in (8). 5 As an anonymous reviewer highlighted, Esipova (2021) has shown that the at-issue status of pictorial content is highly sensitive to pragmatic considerations, which may be at play for ideophones too. While we acknowledge that pragmatic matters such as contrastive alternatives may affect the at-issue status of ideophones, we do not believe that the at-issueness of ideophones is due solely to their (non)-restrictiveness, as Esipova (2021) argues for pictorial content.…”