Pragma&csandcommon
groundincomprehension
Language&Psycholinguis1cs
BCS152/LIN217/ASL260/PSY152
“Theydidokonit.”
2
Levelsoflinguis&cprocessing
Pragma&cs
Seman&cs:
soundtomeaning
• sentencemeaning(proposi&onal)
Syntax:
• sentencestructure
Morphology
• smallestchunksofmeaning
Phonology
• sounds
3
“Yeahright”
Yes,correct Noway
SentenceMeaning
Proposi&onalMeaning
Seman&cMeaning
LiteralMeaning
≠
UGeranceMeaning
Pragma&cMeaning
InferredMeaning
SpeakerMeaning
4
Levelsoflinguis&cprocessing
Languageincontext
Speakerinten1on
UIerancemeaning
Pragma&cs
Seman&cs:
soundtomeaning
• sentencemeaning(proposi&onal)
Syntax:
• sentencestructure
Morphology
• smallestchunksofmeaning
Phonology
• sounds
5
Howdoweinferwhatspeakersmean
whentheyproduceanuGerance?
CommonGround
sharedknowledge
“Thereisnopowerrela1onwithoutthe
correla1vecons1tu1onofafieldof
knowledge,noranyknowledgethat
doesnotpresupposeandcons1tuteat
thesame1mepowerrela1ons”
–MichelFoucault,DisciplineandPunish
6
PRAGMATICSANDGRICE
7
Context-dependentmeaningofuGerances
(1)  Zach:IsLindagoingtomeetwithus?
Maryam:ShejustcheckedintoBubbleFusiononYelp.
->ContextA:Zach&MaryamaregoingtoBubbleFusion
meaning:[Yes.]
->ContextB:Zach&Maryamaregoingtoalecture
meaning:[No.]
8
Grice(1967)
≠
Sentencemeaning Speakermeaning
(whatissaid) (whatismeant)
•  “Speakermeaning”consistsofconversa1onal
implicaturesinaddi1ontosentencemeaning
•  Note:animplicatureisnottobeconfusedwithan
implica2on!
9
Implicatures
(a)Suemettheloveofherlifeandgotmarried.
(b)Suegotmarriedandmettheloveofherlife.
Inlogic:
XandY
=
YandX
Sowhyaretheredifferentmeaningshere?
10
TheCoopera&vePrinciple(Grice,1967)
•  “Makeyourconversa1onalcontribu1onsuchasis
required,atthestageatwhichitoccurs,bytheaccepted
purposeordirec1onofthetalkexchangeinwhichyou
areengaged.”
•  Assumeinterlocutorsare:
RATIONAL
COOPERATIVE
11
FactorsofImplicature
•  Whoisthespeaker?WhenandwheredidtheuIerance
occur?
•  Whatarethespeaker’sinten1ons?(Whatdoesheintend
toachievebysayingwhathedoes?)
•  Whatarethespeaker’sandhearer’sbeliefs?Whatisin
thecommonground(sharedbeliefs)?
•  Whatisthefocusoftheconversa1on?
12
GriceanMaxims:QUALITY
•  Trytomakeyourcontribu1ononethatistrue.
•  Truthfulness
–  Donotsaywhatyoubelievetobefalse.
•  Evidencedness
–  Donotsaythatforwhichyoulackadequateevidence
(1)JohnhastwoPhD’s
+>IbelieveJohnhastwoPhD’s,andhaveadequateevidence
thathedoes
13
GriceanMaxims:QUANTITY&RELATION
•  Quan1ty1
–  Makeyourcontribu1onasinforma1veasisrequired(for
thecurrentpurposesoftheexchange).
•  Quan1ty2
–  Donotmakeyourcontribu1onmoreinforma1vethanis
required.
•  Relevance
–  Berelevant.
(1)Nigelhasfourteenchildren
+>[Nigelhasnomorethanfourteenchildren]
14
GriceanMaxims:MANNER
•  Beperspicuous(beclearandconcise).
•  ObscurityAvoidance
–  Avoidobscurityofexpression.
•  AmbiguityAvoidance
–  Avoidambiguity.
•  Brevity
–  Bebrief(avoidunnecessaryexcess).
•  Orderliness
–  BeOrderly.
15
GriceanMaxims:MANNER
(1)  SpeakerA:Howdoyougettocampus?
i. 
ii. 
iii. 
iv. 
SpeakerB:Ibike.
SpeakerB:Thestreets.*
SpeakerB:Iusemybicycletoridethere.*
SpeakerB:FirstItakeLindenstreettoMt.Hope,then
ItakeMcCleantogettotherivertrail.
v.  SpeakerB:FirstIunchainmybikefromits
comfortableandsecureslumber.Irollupmypantleg
forsafety,becausemyfriendoncefellarergesnghis
pantlegstuckinhischain.Iposi1onmyselfononthe
street,mountthebikewithaproudfrown,andstart
pedaling…*
16
Grice’sConversa&onalMaxims
•  Whattheyare:
–  Presump1onsaboutone’sinterlocutorthatcanbeusedin
conversa1on
•  Whattheyarenot:
–  Moralprescrip1onsforhowtocommunicate
–  Descrip1vegeneraliza1onsoflanguage
17
FailingtoFollowtheMaxims
•  Op1ngoutoftheCoopera1vePrinciple
SpeakerA:WhatdidyoutalkaboutwithZach?
SpeakerB:Mylipsaresealed.
•  Violateonemaximtofulfillanother
SpeakerA:Whyareyoulate?
SpeakerB:YesterdayIgotacall[…5minutestory…]and
soIjustgotin.
•  Flou2ngamaximtodrawanimplicature
SpeakerA:Rememberthat2meyouaccidentallypeed
yourpantsinhighschool?
SpeakerB:Anyway,how’sStevedoing?Haven’theard
fromhiminawhile!
18
Flou&ng
•  Flou1ngrequiresablatantviola1on
–  Thepersonflou1ngneedstobelievethehearerwillknow
theyareflou1ng
–  Thehearerneedstobelievethespeakerisfollowingthe
Coopera1vePrinciple
->requiressharedknowledgeofeachother
->flou1ngtodrawanimplicature
19
Viola&onvs.Flou&ng
Lawyer:HaveyoueverhadanybankaccountsinSwitzerland?
Defendant:Thecompanydid.
HiringOfficial:Whatquali1esmakeJohnagoodcandidateforthe
programmingjob?
ProfessionalReference:IthinkheisapreIyfasttypist.
Moviecri1c:Inhisnewmovie,Mr.Snyderproducedaseriesof
shots,someofwhichhadpeopledoingthingsinthem,someof
whichdidnot.Arerwhich,themovieended.That’sallI’llsay.
20
MaximsCan“Look”Different
•  Grice’sprinciplesaregeneral,buthowthey’re“spelled
out”isdifferentindifferentcultures
•  E.g.:Aizuchi(相槌)inJapanese
Japanese:
A:Soyesterday[B:Yes]Iwasgoingtothestore[B:Isee]
andIsawacat[B:Acat,yousay?]anditwassocute![B:
Reeaaalllyyyy!]
German:
A:YesterdayIwasgoingtothestoreandIsawacutecat.
B:Jawohl.
21
COMMONGROUND
22
CommonGround
•  Essen1alhearerassump1onsforimplicatures,
presupposi1ons
•  CommonGround=SharedBeliefs
– 
– 
– 
– 
Worldknowledge
Priordiscourse
Sharedsensoryenvironment
Es1mateofinterlocutor’sepistemic(belief)state
23
Howdoweinferwhatspeakersmean
whentheyproduceanuGerance?
CommonGround
sharedknowledge
“Thereisnopowerrela1onwithoutthe
correla1vecons1tu1onofafieldof
knowledge,noranyknowledgethat
doesnotpresupposeandcons1tuteat
thesame1mepowerrela1ons”
–MichelFoucault,DisciplineandPunish
24
Commonvs.PrivilegedGround
•  CommonGround:
–  Informa1onassumedbyoneinterlocutortobesharedby
theother
•  PrivilegedGround:
–  Informa1onthatisassumedtobeunavailabletotheother
interlocutor
25
ESTABLISHINGCOMMONGROUND
26
EstablishingCommonReference
27
FromClarkandWilkes-Gibbs(1986)
SuccessiveFormsofReference
•  1:Allright,thenextonelookslikeapersonwho’siceska&ng,
exceptthey’res&ckingtwoarmsoutinfront.
•  2:Um,thenextone’sthepersoniceska&ngthathastwo
arms?
• 
• 
• 
• 
3:Thefourthoneisthepersoniceska&ng,withtwoarms.
4:Thenextone’stheiceskater.
5:Thefourthone’stheiceskater.
6:Theiceskater.
28
Howdoesthisstart?
•  Evenbeforethefirstreferencetherewascommon
ground:
–  “Allright,thenextonelookslikeapersonwho’sice
ska1ng,exceptthey’res1ckingtwoarmsoutinfront.”
•  Sharedvisualimage
•  Sharedknowledgeoficeska1ng(andwhatitlookslike)
•  Aspeakerneedstoestablishwhattheirpartnerknows,to
taketheirperspec2ve
29
PERSPECTIVETAKING
30
Perspec&veTaking
•  Speakersneedtotakeintoaccounttheperspec1veof
theiraddresseeforthecommongroundtheorytowork:
–  “Emmaissocool”–thelistenerneedstoknowwho
“Emma”is
•  Butlistenersneedtotakewhatthespeaker’sperspec1ve
intoaccountaswell:
–  Thelistenermayknowacoupledifferent“Emmas”,but
theyknowthatspeakermustbetalkingaboutan“Emma”
thattheybothknow
•  Canwedoallthisinreal1me?
–  Areweearlyperspec2ve-takers?
31
Pragma&cInferenceinRealTime
•  Let’smakeadrink
–  Note:thiswon’ttestperspec2ve-takinginreal1me:just
generalpragma1cinference
AdaptedfromHanna,Tanenhaus,andTrueswell(2003) 32
•  “Passmetheempty…”
AdaptedfromHanna,Tanenhaus,andTrueswell(2003) 33
•  “Passmetheempty…”
AdaptedfromHanna,Tanenhaus,andTrueswell(2003) 34
•  “Passmetheemptyjar.”
AdaptedfromHanna,Tanenhaus,andTrueswell(2003) 35
Results
•  Pre-nominal(beforethenoun)modifierscan
disambiguateitemsinapairbutonlyuseitifthepairis
relevant(followsMaxim2-Quan1ty)
•  Ifyoucanusepragma1cinferenceinreal1me,youcan
gettoearlyinterpreta1onsofstatements
36
Helleretal.(2008)
OneContrast
37
Helleretal.(2008)
TwoContrasts
38
Helleretal.(2008)
Disambigua&onPoint-Shared
Onecontrast
Twocontrasts
39
Helleretal.(2008)
Disambigua&onPointDifference
40
Helleretal.(2008)
PointofDisambigua&on(POD)Difference
disambigua1onisearlier
41
Helleretal.(2008)
•  Socomprehenderscan(anddo)usethemodifier‘big’
earlyifpossible
•  Butwhataboutperspec1ve-taking?
42
Helleretal.(2008)
TwoContrasts-Shared
43
Helleretal.(2008)
TwoContrasts–Privileged
44
Helleretal.(2008)
Disambigua&onPoint
Disambigua&onisearly!
45
Summary
Inspeechwemakemanytypesofinferences:
•  Wecanmake“easier”generalpragma1cinferenceson
thefly
•  Althoughinferencesinvolvingperspec1ve-takingmight
seem“hard,”worksuggestswecans1llmakethese
commonground-basedinferencesinreal1metoo
–  Thinkaboutthesewhenwediscussaudiencedesigninthe
nextlecture
46
Appendix
47
WhatSpeakerAsees
Thesmallcandle
48
WhatSpeakerBsees
Thesmallcandle
49
Perspec&ves
•  Ifthecommongroundtheoryistruethencommon
groundknowledgeshouldsomehowbespecial
–  But,ifnot,thentheremaybe‘egocentrism’in
comprehension
•  “By‘egocentric,’wedonotmeanthatyoursearchfor
referentsisinsensi1vetomutualknowledge,butthatyou
wouldconsiderreferentseventhoughtheyarenotin
commonground”–Keysar,Barr,Balin,Brauner(2000)
50
Keysaretal.(2000)
51
Keysaretal.(2000)
•  Ifcommongroundisspecial:
–  listenersshouldlookonlyattheobjectsthatareshared
•  Ifcommongroundisnot:
–  Andpartnerslooktobothtypesoftheirinforma1on
–  listenersshouldlookatpossibleobjectsregardless
52
Keysaretal.(2000)
•  Keysaretal.suggestthatlistenersdonottreatcommon
knowledgeasspecialduringlanguagecomprehension,at
leastnotimmediately
53
Keysaretal.(2000)
•  Keysaretal.suggestthatlistenersdonottreatcommon
knowledgeasspecialduringlanguagecomprehension,at
leastnotimmediately
54