Interpreting vague utterances in context

David DeVault; Matthew Stone

Interpreting vague utterances in context

David DeVault, Matthew Stone

School of Arts and Sciences, Computer Science

Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

We use the interpretation of vague scalar predicates like small as an illustration of how systematic semantic models of dialogue context enable the derivation of useful, fine-grained utterance interpretations from radically underspecified semantic forms. Because dialogue context suffices to determine salient alternative scales and relevant distinctions along these scales, we can infer implicit standards of comparison for vague scalar predicates through completely general pragmatics, yet closely constrain the intended meaning to within a natural range.

Original language	English (US)
State	Published - 2004
Event	20th International Conference on Computational Linguistics, COLING 2004 - Geneva, Switzerland Duration: Aug 23 2004 → Aug 27 2004

Conference

Conference	20th International Conference on Computational Linguistics, COLING 2004
Country/Territory	Switzerland
City	Geneva
Period	8/23/04 → 8/27/04

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Computational Theory and Mathematics
Language and Linguistics
Linguistics and Language

Cite this

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title = "Interpreting vague utterances in context",

abstract = "We use the interpretation of vague scalar predicates like small as an illustration of how systematic semantic models of dialogue context enable the derivation of useful, fine-grained utterance interpretations from radically underspecified semantic forms. Because dialogue context suffices to determine salient alternative scales and relevant distinctions along these scales, we can infer implicit standards of comparison for vague scalar predicates through completely general pragmatics, yet closely constrain the intended meaning to within a natural range.",

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AU - DeVault, David

AU - Stone, Matthew

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N2 - We use the interpretation of vague scalar predicates like small as an illustration of how systematic semantic models of dialogue context enable the derivation of useful, fine-grained utterance interpretations from radically underspecified semantic forms. Because dialogue context suffices to determine salient alternative scales and relevant distinctions along these scales, we can infer implicit standards of comparison for vague scalar predicates through completely general pragmatics, yet closely constrain the intended meaning to within a natural range.

AB - We use the interpretation of vague scalar predicates like small as an illustration of how systematic semantic models of dialogue context enable the derivation of useful, fine-grained utterance interpretations from radically underspecified semantic forms. Because dialogue context suffices to determine salient alternative scales and relevant distinctions along these scales, we can infer implicit standards of comparison for vague scalar predicates through completely general pragmatics, yet closely constrain the intended meaning to within a natural range.

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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85119092010&partnerID=8YFLogxK

M3 - Paper

AN - SCOPUS:85119092010

T2 - 20th International Conference on Computational Linguistics, COLING 2004

Y2 - 23 August 2004 through 27 August 2004

ER -

Interpreting vague utterances in context

Abstract

Conference

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

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