Klaus-Uwe Panther

A cognitive approach to inferencing in conversation

Abstract Discourse analysts using a speech-act theoretic or Gricean approach to conversation assume that the identification of the communicative intention of linguistic acts requires inferencing on the part of the hearer. However, this theoretical approach does not satisfactorily account for the fact that conversational participants usually draw the inferences necessary to arrive at intended interpretations without any noticeable effort. Furthermore, it does not systematically specify the kinds of inference patterns that are needed for utterance interpretation. We show that a cognitive approach incorporating the notion of scenario structure can be fruitfully applied to the analysis of conversation. We argue that within in this framework it is necessary to distinguish between ‘stand for’ relations (i.e. metonymic relationships proper) and weaker ‘point to’ relations (i.e. indexical relationships). Conceptual relationships such as part-whole, cause-effect, ability-action, etc., have metonymic and indexical function and facilitate the inferential work of conversational interactants. These general relationships within scenario structure thus constitute natural inference schemata.

On correlations between word order and pragmatic function of conditional sentences in German

Abstract In German, the apodosis of conditional sentences may be syntacticized as either VS (integrative word order) or TOP-V (non-integrative word order). In this article, we attempt to provide a semantically and pragmatically based explanation for this syntactic variation. We shall demonstrate that the speakers communicative intentions correlate with the word order in the apodosis. In general, ‘content conditionality’ is syntacticized through VS-order in the apodosis, whereas ‘relevance conditionality’ corresponds to TOP-V-order in the consequent clause. However, this tendency is overridden by two principles which we term ego involvement and speakers degree of certainty. In those cases in which the speaker of a content conditional intends to convey a strong ego involvement, s/he will resort to TOP-V; conversely, a relevance conditional may be grammaticalized as VS if the speaker wishes to communicate that the content of the apodosis does not constitute an item of factual knowledge, but rather his/her personal opinion about the truth of some proposition.

A COGNITIVE APPROACH TO OBLIGATORY CONTROL PHENOMENA IN ENGLISH AND GERMAN

The aim of this paper is to develop a uniform semantic-pragmatic theory of controller choice for a number of German and English subject control verbs like promise/versprechen and object control verbs like request/bitten which prototypically require a complement clause denoting an action performed by a human agent, who is left unexpressed in the infinitive clause.

From Space to Time: A cognitive analysis of the Cora locative system and its temporal extensions

Since Cora is a language on the verge of extinction, this research monograph is undoubtedly the last chance of reading a thorough analysis of the emergence of its grammaticalized locative forms, coupled with a comprehensive account of the extensions from the locative domain to the domain of time. Having spent many years doing fieldwork among Cora speakers, E. Casad occupied the best possible position to undertake this endeavor and to complete it successfully. I know of nobody else who could have done it or would still be able to do it. Nicole Delbecque , Katholieke Universiteit Leuven This careful and detailed analysis of the semantic and conceptual relations between space and time draws on the author’s deep experience with the Cora language. Casad works systematically through the extensions of temporal language in Cora, giving a master class in the application of a classical Cognitive Grammar framework to the study of conceptual models and their development. N.J. Enfield , Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen

Influence of Concessive and Causal Conjunctions on Pragmatic Processing: Online Measures from Eye Movements and Self-Paced Reading

ABSTRACT This study investigates the influence of causal and concessive relations on discourse coherence in Chinese by means of eye movement and self-paced reading techniques. We use the sentential structure like “NPHUMAN moved from place A to place B, {because (因为 yinwei) /although (尽管 jinguan) /no conjunction} + pronoun (he/she) + verb (e.g., like) + there (nali)… + NP”. The eye-movement data (Experiment 1) recorded from regions of interest consistently showed that the processing of concessive meaning is much slower than the processing of causal meaning, irrespective of whether the causal relation is explicitly coded through a causal marker (i.e., yinwei [because]) or not. In particular, although sentences containing pragmatic anomalies were processed more slowly than sentences containing no pragmatic anomalies in causal structures, there was no such distinction in concessive structures, indicating that the processing of a concessive relation can override that of a pragmatic incongruence. Moreover, although the initial place was reread more in cases of concessive structures as compared with causal structures in region 1 (e.g., place A), there was no difference between them in region 2 (e.g., place B). The results from self-paced reading (Experiment 2) showed that the difficulties observed from processing concessive compared with causal relations were not caused by the difference in pronoun resolution. These findings suggest that processing concessive meaning is cognitively more demanding than processing causal meaning, a conclusion that is also supported by a fine-grained linguistic (i.e., conceptual and pragmatic) analysis of causal and concessive relations.

How to encode and infer linguistic actions

Abstract This contribution discusses a fundamental semiotic problem, i.e., how much of a linguistic message is explicitly coded and how much content is implied by the speaker and has to be inferred by the addressee. This coding problem is demonstrated with two types of speech act constructions, viz. (i) explicit performative utterances in which the illocutionary act performed by the speaker is overtly named, and (ii) hedged performatives in which the illocutionary verb is hedged by a modal or attitudinal expression. One focus of the contribution is on performative utterances that are hedged by can and must, in particular, cases where the illocutionary act denoted by the performative verb is not affected by the modal (illocutionary-force preserving hedged performatives). Notwithstanding, the modals contribute substantially to the overall meaning of the utterance. The modal can pragmatically implies a positive evaluative and emotive stance on the illocutionary act and its propositional content, whereas must often implies a negative evaluation and feelings of discontentment and displeasure. The results of this study confirm the thesis that pragmatic, in particular, metonymic, inferencing plays a central role in the elaboration of linguistic meaning.

‘Quo Vadimus?’ from a Cognitive Linguistic Perspective

Abstract In this article, I offer some comments on the general theme “The Study of Linguistic Sign Systems in the 21st Century” of this special issue of CSS and on the individual contributions therein. I comment on topics such as the shift from form to cognition in contemporary linguistics (Zhang & Yu), the faculty of language (Chomsky, Cowley), sign systems and their use by nonhuman organisms (Pable), the nature of the linguistic sign and its indeterminacy (Zhang & Yu, Pable, Liszka, and Cowley). One focus is the debate between “nativists” and “non-nativists”, i.e. the question whether the language faculty is inborn or explainable by non-specialized cognitive learning mechanisms. My own conception of language and communication, which is inspired by cognitive linguistics and contemporary pragmatics, regards language as a sign system of conventional form-meaning pairs. Successful human communication requires socio-cultural skills such as cooperative behavior and the ability to infer non-coded meanings.

Zur Identifikation leerer Subjekte in infinitivischen Komplementsätzen: ein semantisch-pragmatisches Modell

The interpretation of empty elements, i.e. signs that have no phonetic realization, constitutes a classical problem in modern linguistics. Null elements have been postulated on various levels of the linguistic system and its pragmatic use, in particular, in morphology and syntax. An adequate theory of discourse comprehension also requires an account of what is not said but only conversationally implicated. In the last thirty years the interpretation of empty subjects in non-finite clauses, which is known as the control problem, has attracted the attention of many formal syntacticians. It has however become increasingly clear that the interpretation of such empty elements is only minimally guided by syntactic principles; in addition, a number of semantic and pragmatic factors have to be taken into consideration. The aim of our contribution is to sketch a cognitively based theory of obligatory control that explains how general control principles interact with language-specific coding devices. We focus on German data; we surmise, however, that they also hold for other languages. In particular, we aim at elucidating the interplay of syntactic, semantic and pragmatic information in the comprehension of empty subjects in non-finite complement clauses. Using German and, to a lesser extent, English examples, we will demonstrate that the control principles we postulate account for numerous control verbs and control verb classes.