All the more reasons: Mismatches in topoi in dialogue

Abstract

In this paper, we show how topoi warrant inferences for interpreting and producing dialogue contributions, particularly in the case of enthymemes where the conclusion does not logically follow from the premises. We situate our theory of topoi in the context of pragmatic theory by relating it to other theories of inference and coherence. Through detailed analysis of a single dialogue, we show how dialogue participants can incrementally entertain and resolve mismatching interpretations of an enthymematic utterance. We discuss how the notions of topoi and enthymemes can add to a generalisable model of coherence in dialogue.