Interaction between grammar and pragmatics: The case of implicit arguments, implicit predicates and co-composition in Hungarian

Abstract

After an overview of previous approaches to the relation between grammar and pragmatics we define grammar and pragmatics as two separate but not independent components of the theory of language modeling grammatical and pragmatic competences, respectively. In addition to assuming their co-operation in contexts of language use, we also accept that detached from their contexts, some pieces of contextual information can become context-independent. Furthermore, such kind of encyclopedic information and information concerning the use of language can be considered an integral part of lexical-semantic representations as well. The analysis of three types of Hungarian utterances, namely utterances containing implicit arguments, implicit predicates and co-composition, in the framework we propose demonstrates that grammatical factors (including lexical-semantic representations and morphosyntactic properties) and pragmatic factors (general and context-dependent pragmatic knowledge) thoroughly and intensively interact in various ways. On the basis of the analysis it can also be concluded that, in the absence of pragmatic information, use or interpretation predicted by grammar can often be evaluated as only typical or even underspecified, and, if the context is more specific, it can determine the utterance meaning to a greater degree.