MIT Libraries logoDSpace@MIT

MIT
View Item 
  • DSpace@MIT Home
  • MIT Libraries
  • MIT Theses
  • Doctoral Theses
  • View Item
  • DSpace@MIT Home
  • MIT Libraries
  • MIT Theses
  • Doctoral Theses
  • View Item
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Ignorance and grammar

Author(s)
Meyer, Marie-Christine, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Thumbnail
DownloadFull printable version (5.346Mb)
Other Contributors
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Linguistics and Philosophy.
Advisor
Irene Heim.
Terms of use
M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
Metadata
Show full item record
Abstract
In this thesis, I propose a new theory of implicature. I argue that the two main theories available so far - the (Neo-)Gricean pragmatic theory on the one hand (e.g., Sauerland (2004)), and the hybrid grammatical theory of scalar implicatures on the other hand (e.g., Fox (2007)) - cannot provide a satisfactory account of disjunctions like Al drank some or all of the beers. As I will show, the meaning of these sentences is characterized by the presence of grammatical ignorance implicatures. In this they differ from their simpler alternatives. I will show how the proposed Matrix K theory of implicature derives this result. The new theory is a radically grammatical theory in that all kinds of implicatures - weak, scalar, and ignorance implicatures - are derived in the grammar. I will also show how Hurford's constraint can be derived from a general principle of manner in the new theory. I will then turn to logically under-informative statements like Some elephants are mammals and show how their oddness falls out from the Matrix K theory without further stipulations. Next, I argue that the theory extends to infelicitous Hurford disjunctions like Jean is from France or from Paris. Both phenomena can receive a uniform explanation in terms of grammatically derived, contextually inconsistent implicatures, without stipulating obligatory scalar implicatures. Lastly, I turn to the case of implicature suspension and show how the new theory can account for missing implicatures.
Description
Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 2013.
 
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
 
Includes bibliographical references (pages 176-186).
 
Date issued
2013
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/84420
Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Linguistics and Philosophy
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Keywords
Linguistics and Philosophy.

Collections
  • Doctoral Theses

Browse

All of DSpaceCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

My Account

Login

Statistics

OA StatisticsStatistics by CountryStatistics by Department
MIT Libraries
PrivacyPermissionsAccessibilityContact us
MIT
Content created by the MIT Libraries, CC BY-NC unless otherwise noted. Notify us about copyright concerns.