Varieties of Defaults
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18485/bells.2009.1.2Abstract
It can hardly be contested that in the process of utterance interpretation some readings are more salient than others. The problem arises when the relative salience of these readings is to be accounted for by means of such concepts as ‘pragmatic inference’ or ‘default meaning’. In this paper I discuss various versions of the so-called ‘default model’ of utterance interpretation and identify characteristic features of defaults that are shared by some of the default views but rejected by others. Next, I propose a classification of ‘default meanings’ founded on the name of the source of the salient interpretation and suggest a semantic/pragmatic framework in which such types of defaults can be utilised. I conclude that, seen in the light of the concept of default meaning arrived at in this paper, the polarisation of the debate into the supporters and critics of defaults is largely terminological.
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