17.2409, Diss: Semantics: Feng: 'A Theory of Conventional Implicature and Pr...'

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LINGUIST List: Vol-17-2409. Sun Aug 27 2006. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 17.2409, Diss: Semantics: Feng: 'A Theory of Conventional Implicature and Pr...'

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1)
Date: 25-Aug-2006
From: Guangwu Feng < guangwuf at yahoo.com >
Subject: A Theory of Conventional Implicature and Pragmatic Markers in Chinese 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Sun, 27 Aug 2006 12:14:29
From: Guangwu Feng < guangwuf at yahoo.com >
Subject: A Theory of Conventional Implicature and Pragmatic Markers in Chinese  
 


Institution: University of Reading 
Program: Department of Linguistic Science 
Dissertation Status: Completed 
Degree Date: 2006 

Author: Guangwu Feng

Dissertation Title: A Theory of Conventional Implicature and Pragmatic Markers
in Chinese 

Linguistic Field(s): Semantics

Subject Language(s): Chinese, Mandarin (cmn)


Dissertation Director(s):
Yan Huang

Dissertation Abstract:

This thesis presents a fresh approach to our understanding of pragmatic 
markers which differs substantially from those in the contemporary 
literature. It starts with a major re-reading of Grice's overall theory of 
meaning, which challenges both the neo-Gricean and the relevance-
theoretic interpretations of Grice's framework. On the basis of this, it seeks 
to rescue the classical Gricean notion of conventional implicature which has 
been generally rejected by philosophers and linguists. It then proposes a 
theory of conventional implicature by taking Grice's (1961, 1975, 1989) 
sketchy discussions as a point of departure. Conventional implicature is 
defined as a subjective thought with respect to a propositional content. It is 
characterized by non-truth-conditionality, infallibility, occurrency, and 
default speaker-orientation. It is also syntactically dispensable, semantically 
dependent, and pragmatically context-dependent. The proposed theory of 
conventional implicature thus enriches the Gricean theory of meaning 
along Gricean lines on the one hand, and calls for a rethink of Grice's 
overall theory of meaning on the other hand.

The thesis also provides a comprehensive description of pragmatic markers 
in Chinese, a task that has hitherto not been undertaken. This offers some 
empirical support for the theoretical position outlined in the first half of the 
thesis. It is proposed that pragmatic markers be understood as 
conventional implicature potentials, which are substantiated into full 
conventional implicatures on given occasions of use. This approach differs 
substantially from those in the contemporary literature. 

>From a theoretical point of view, the explication of the nature of 
conventional implicature provides implications for an understanding of the 
connections between linguistic meaning and human thought. Empirically, 
the description and analysis of Chinese pragmatic markers can in principle 
be applied to similar expressions in other languages. 




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