Context updates are hierarchical

Anton Karl Ingason

doi:10.5334/gjgl.71

Abstract

This squib studies the order in which elements are added to the shared context of interlocutors in a conversation. It focuses on context updates within one hierarchical structure and argues that structurally higher elements are entered into the context before lower elements, even if the structurally higher elements are pronounced after the lower elements. The crucial data are drawn from a comparison of relative clauses in two head-initial languages, English and Icelandic, and two head-final languages, Korean and Japanese. The findings have consequences for any theory of a dynamic semantics.

Highlights

This squib examines pragmatic effects where it matters what was said first
The proposed generalization is supported by cross-linguistic facts and it has consequences for the implementation of any theory of a dynamic semantics
The following examples show that in Korean (7) and Japanese (8), the redundancy effect is of the same type as in English and Icelandic and it is determined by hierarchy and not by linear order

Summary

Introduction

This squib examines pragmatic effects where it matters what was said first. The point to be made is simple; when two elements are entered into the Common Ground (Stalnaker 2002) and they are both part of the same hierarchical structure, the structurally higher element is entered first and not necessarily the one which was pronounced first. Ingason: Context updates are hierarchical in a head-initial language like English, it does not matter whether we say that widow is structurally higher or pronounced first, the result is the same. Because English and Icelandic are head-initial languages, the examples are compatible with the view that the word which is uttered first is entered first into the Common Ground for the purpose of redundancy effects. The following examples show that in Korean (7) and Japanese (8), the redundancy effect is of the same type as in English and Icelandic and it is determined by hierarchy and not by linear order. B. #Mary-nun [[sengin namca-iko enehakca-in] acessi-lul] mannassta male-and linguist-adn] mister-acc] met ‘Mary met a mister/uncle who is an adult male and a linguist.’. Speakers experience redundancy when an element like ‘woman’ is to be added to the description of an individual in the context but a structurally higher element like ‘widow’ has already stated that this is the case

Implications for dynamic theories

Conclusion