Noncooperative communication

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

Much of pragmatics is founded on the assumption that interlocutors are disposed to be cooperative. However, communication can still proceed in cases where this assumption is not tenable. In this article I review the extent to which cooperativity is essential to accounts of communication, with particular reference to pragmatic meaning. I discuss how hearers negotiate situations in which speakers are fully or partially uncooperative, and how these situations relate to notions such as lying and misleading. I then consider some subtler cases of potentially misleading behaviour which involve speakers departing from typical patterns of usage, motivated by specific argumentative agendas. Finally, I briefly consider the prospects for encompassing all these situations within a single coherent model of pragmatic inference.
Original languageEnglish
JournalAnnual Review of Linguistics
Volume11
Early online date1 Aug 2024
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 1 Aug 2024

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