Modality: Issues in the Semantics-Pragmatics Interface

Abstract

Section and chapter headings: Preface Introduction The issues Theoretical commitments: relevance theory The Semantics and Pragmatics of English Modal Verbs Introductory remarks Previous analyses A semantic proposal The pragmatics of root modality The pragmatics of epistemic modality Concluding remarks Removing Objections to a Unitary Semantic Analysis Introductory remarks Syntax and interpretation Truth-conditional behaviour 'Speech-act' modality Concluding remarks The Acquisition of Modality Introductory remarks Psycholinguistic evidence: a review A developmental proposal A note on autism and mindblindness Concluding remarks Implications for the Semantics-Pragmatics Interface Introductory remarks Options for lexical semantics: monosemy, ambiguity, polysemy Inference and the plasticity of lexical concepts Historical and developmental perspectives Concluding remarks Conclusion Bibliography