DGfS Workshop AG 13: “Diversity in pragmatic inferences: experimental data, computational models, and the Semantics/Pragmatics Interface”

This workshop is part of the 42nd Annual Meeting of the DGfS (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sprachwissenschaft).

Organizers:
Nicole Gotzner (SIGames, ZAS), Bob van Tiel (MUQTASP, ZAS), Anton Benz (SIGames, ZAS) and Napoleon Katsos (University of Cambridge)

Invited speaker:
Larry Horn (Yale University)

Time and venue:
March 4-6, 2020 in Hamburg

Description:
The discussion on the distinction between Semantics and Pragmatics has a long tradition. Recent developments such as the experimental turn in Pragmatics and the implementation of computational models shed new light on the Semantics/Pragmatics Interface. It is time to take stock and explore theoretical implications of these new developments and empirical findings.
Experimental research has shown substantial variability within the class of scalar inferences (Doran et al., 2009; van Tiel et al., 2016) and this variability has been found to interact with the degree semantics of different scales (Gotzner et al., 2018; Leffel et al., 2019). In addition, there is a broad class of other types of implicature such as R/I and Manner implicatures, which interact with one another (Horn, 1972; 1989; 2017).
The goal of this workshop is to provide a forum for theoretical and experimental research on scalar diversity and the relevance of non-scalar implicatures to our understanding of the Semantics/Pragmatics Interface. A central aim is to gather researchers working in different theoretical frameworks.
Our workshop invites submissions that discuss the Semantics/Pragmatics Interface in light of variability in pragmatic inferences (across different scales, types of implicature, and speaker or
population-specific interpretation strategies, see for example Franke & Degen, 2016). We welcome theoretical contributions, theoretically-relevant experimental contributions and modelling proposals.
Topics of special interest include the following:

  • Scalar diversity (scalar implicature with different triggers)
  • Different types of embedding environments
  • Interplay between Q and R/I implicatures
  • Manner implicatures
  • Presuppositional implicatures
  • Conventional implicatures
  • (Modified) numerals