Constraining the derivation of alternatives

Trinh, Tue; Haida, Andreas

doi:10.1007/s11050-015-9115-y

Cited by 69 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…A similar problem to that with (17) arises with the slightly more complex example involving a particularised implicature in (18), adapted from Trinh and Haida (2015). (18) Bill went for a run and didn't smoke.…”

Section: The Problem Of Particularised Scalar Implicaturesmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…In Sect. 2, we review how the structural approach to alternatives solves the symmetry problem with examples like (1a), and its problems pointed out by Romoli (2013) and Trinh and Haida (2015). In Sect.…”

Section: Outlinementioning

confidence: 99%

“…[ Trinh and Haida (2015) modify this version slightly as in (ii) below to extend it to the cases of particularised implicatures that they discuss. Notice that the two definitions are equivalent for a sentence S and alternatives A and S ∧¬A, if A asymmetrically entails S. See also Katzir (2014) for a generalised definition of symmetry.…”

Section: Non-weaker Alternativesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Sect. 3, we critically discuss the proposal by Trinh and Haida (2015) to augment the structural approach with the Atomicity Constraint, and point out further problems it fails to address. In Sect.…”

Section: Outlinementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Adopting the structural approach to alternatives of Katzir (2007) and Fox and Katzir (2011), Trinh and Haida (2015) propose to impose one extra constraint on the construction of formal alternatives, the Atomicity Constraint. The Atomicity Constraint prohibits further substitutions on the expressions in the substitution source.…”

Section: The Atomicity Constraintmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

The symmetry problem: current theories and prospects

et al. 2017

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(2015) proposed to augment the theory with the Atomicity Constraint. Here we show that this constraint falls short of explaining minimal variants of the original problems, and moreover that it runs into trouble with the inferences of sentences involving gradable adjectives like full and empty. We furthermore discuss how the structural approach suffers at times from the problem of 'too many lexical alternatives' pointed out by Swanson (Linguist Philos 33(1): [31][32][33][34][35][36] 2010), and at other times from the opposite problem of 'too few lexical alternatives'. These three problems epitomise the challenge of constructing just enough alternatives under the structural approach to solve the symmetry problem in full generality. Finally, we also sketch another recent attempt at solving the symmetry problem, Bergen et al. as well. We conclude that while important progress has been made in the theory of alternatives for scalar implicatures in the last few years, a full solution to the symmetry problem has not yet been attained.

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Section: The Problem Of Particularised Scalar Implicaturesmentioning

confidence: 86%

Section: Outlinementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Non-weaker Alternativesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Outlinementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Atomicity Constraintmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The symmetry problem: current theories and prospects

et al. 2017

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Quantity Implicatures

Nicolae¹,

Sauerland²

2020

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Semantics

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Quantity implicatures have been intensely debated since Grice's programmatic work more than 50 years ago. Grice assumed quantity implicatures could be derived entirely from general maxims of conversation not specific to language. His approach, however, was seen to be insufficient because of maxim selection, alternative choice, and embedded implicatures. This chapter contrasts Grice's approach with two alternative approaches. First, it discusses the neo‐Gricean approach, which inserts a bit of grammar in the form of lexical scales into Grice's approach. Then it turns to the grammatical approach, which assumes that there is a mechanism akin to implicature computation that applies entirely within language. The empirical evidence currently favors the grammatical approach, but the approach is still undergoing rapid development.

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The Proposal

Alxatib¹

2020

Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy

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Constraining the derivation of alternatives

Cited by 69 publications

References 15 publications

The symmetry problem: current theories and prospects

The symmetry problem: current theories and prospects

Quantity Implicatures

The Proposal

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