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Scalar Diversity, Negative Strengthening, and Adjectival Semantics
Previous research has demonstrated great variability in the rates of scalar inferences across different triggers (Doran et al., 2009; van Tiel et al., 2016). In the current study, we show that variation is more systematic than previously thought. In particular, we present experimental evidence sugge...
Autores principales: | , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2018
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6146139/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30271360 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01659 |
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author | Gotzner, Nicole Solt, Stephanie Benz, Anton |
author_facet | Gotzner, Nicole Solt, Stephanie Benz, Anton |
author_sort | Gotzner, Nicole |
collection | PubMed |
description | Previous research has demonstrated great variability in the rates of scalar inferences across different triggers (Doran et al., 2009; van Tiel et al., 2016). In the current study, we show that variation is more systematic than previously thought. In particular, we present experimental evidence suggesting that endorsements of scalar implicatures (i) are anti-correlated with the degree of negative strengthening of the stronger scale-mate (e.g., whether John is not stunning is interpreted as conveying that John is rather ugly) and (ii) are affected by the scale structure and the underlying scalar semantics of gradable adjectives (in particular boundedness, polarity, and adjectival extremeness). Overall, our research suggests that scale structure should be taken into account in theories of implicature. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6146139 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2018 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-61461392018-09-28 Scalar Diversity, Negative Strengthening, and Adjectival Semantics Gotzner, Nicole Solt, Stephanie Benz, Anton Front Psychol Psychology Previous research has demonstrated great variability in the rates of scalar inferences across different triggers (Doran et al., 2009; van Tiel et al., 2016). In the current study, we show that variation is more systematic than previously thought. In particular, we present experimental evidence suggesting that endorsements of scalar implicatures (i) are anti-correlated with the degree of negative strengthening of the stronger scale-mate (e.g., whether John is not stunning is interpreted as conveying that John is rather ugly) and (ii) are affected by the scale structure and the underlying scalar semantics of gradable adjectives (in particular boundedness, polarity, and adjectival extremeness). Overall, our research suggests that scale structure should be taken into account in theories of implicature. Frontiers Media S.A. 2018-09-12 /pmc/articles/PMC6146139/ /pubmed/30271360 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01659 Text en Copyright © 2018 Gotzner, Solt and Benz. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
spellingShingle | Psychology Gotzner, Nicole Solt, Stephanie Benz, Anton Scalar Diversity, Negative Strengthening, and Adjectival Semantics |
title | Scalar Diversity, Negative Strengthening, and Adjectival Semantics |
title_full | Scalar Diversity, Negative Strengthening, and Adjectival Semantics |
title_fullStr | Scalar Diversity, Negative Strengthening, and Adjectival Semantics |
title_full_unstemmed | Scalar Diversity, Negative Strengthening, and Adjectival Semantics |
title_short | Scalar Diversity, Negative Strengthening, and Adjectival Semantics |
title_sort | scalar diversity, negative strengthening, and adjectival semantics |
topic | Psychology |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6146139/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30271360 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01659 |
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