Modality: Issues in the Semantics- Pragmatics Interface Current Research in the Semantics/Pragmatics Interface Series Editors: K.M. Jaszczolt, University of Cambridge, UK K. Itorner, University of Brighton, UK Related Elsevier books In this Series: TURNER (ed.) The Semantics/Pragmatics Interface from Different Points of View JASZCZOLT Discourse, Beliefs and Intentions GEURTS Presuppositions and Pronouns JASZCZOLT (ed.) The Pragmatics of Prepositional Attitude Reports PEETERS (ed.) The Lexicon-Encyclopedia Interface Related Elsevier journals Journal of Pragmatics Editor: Jacob Mey Language and Communication Editors: Roy Harris and Talbot J. Taylor Language Sciences Editor: Nigel Love Lingua Editors: Johan Rooryck and Neil Smith Free specimen copies available on request For further information on the CRiSPI series and for details of how to submit a proposal go to: www. elsevier. nl/locate/series/crispi MODALITY: ISSUES IN THE SEMANTICS PRAGMATICS INTERFACE Anna Papafragou University of Pennsylvania, USA 2000 ELSEVIER Amsterdam - Lausanne - New York - Oxford - Shannon - Singapore - Tokyo ELSEVIER SCIENCE Ltd The Boulevard, Langford Lane Kidlington, Oxford OX5 IGB, UK 0 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. This work is protected under copyright by Elsevier Science. and the following terms and condition9 apply to its use: Photocopying Single photocopies of single chapter\ may be made for personal use as allowed by national copyright laws. 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Notice No responsibility is assumed by the Publisher for any injury andlor damage to persons or property as a matter of product\ liability. negligence or otherwi\e. or from any use or operation of any methods, product\. instructions or ideas contained in the material herein. Becau\e of rapid advance\ in the medical wiences, in particular. independent verification of diagnose\ and drug do\ages should be made. First edition 2000 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record from the Library of Congress has been applied for. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record from the British Library has been applied for. ISBN: 0 08 043634 X QThe paper used in this publication meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO 239.48- 1992 (Permanence of Paper). Printed in The Netherlands. Current Research in the Semantics/Pragmatics Interface (CRiSPI) Series Editors: K.M. Jaszczolt, University of Cambridge, UK, and K. Turner, University of Brighton, UK Editorial Advisory Board: N. Asher, USA J. van der Auwera, USA C. Casadio, Italy M. Dascal, Israel B. Fraser, USA T. Fretheim, Norway B. Gillon, Canada P. Gochet, Belgium J. Groenendijk, The Netherlands Yueguo Gu, PRC A. Kasher, Israel M. Krifka, USA Susumu Kubo, Japan Chungmin Lee, Korea S. Levinson, The Netherlands T. McEnery, UK F. Nemo, France P. Pelyvas, Hungary J. Peregrin, Czech Republic A. Ramsay, UK R. van der Sandt, The Netherlands R. Stalnaker, USA M. Stokhof, The Netherlands G. Ward, USA The aim of this series is to focus upon the relationship between semantic and pragmatic the- ories for a variety of natural language constructions. The boundary between semantics and pragmatics can be drawn in many various ways, the relative benefits of each gave rise to a vivid theoretical dispute in the literature in the last two decades. As a side-effect, this variety has given rise to a certain amount of confusion and lack of purpose in the extant publica- tions on the topic. This series provides a forum where the confusion within existing literature can be removed and the issues raised by different positions can be discussed with a renewed sense of pur- pose. The editors intend the contributions to this series to take further strides towards clari- ty and cautious consensus. This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgements xi 1. Introduction 1 1.1 The Isues 1 1.1.1 Context and Word Meaning 1 1.1.2 The Problem of Modality 3 1.1.3 Scope and Objectives 7 1.2 Theoretical Comitments 10 1.2.1 The Semantic Underdeterminacy Thesis 10 1.2.2 Relevance Theory and Uterance Comprehension 16 2. The Semantics and Pragmatics of English Modal Verbs 21 2.0 Introductory Remarks 21 2.1 Previous Analyses 2 2.1.1 The Ambiguity View 2 2.1.2 The Polysemy View 26 2.1.3 The Monosemy View 29 2.2 A Semantic Proposal 40 2.2.1 Modality and Quantification 40 2.2.2 Modal Restrictors 41 2.2.3 Semantics for Modal Operators 43 2.3 The Pragmatics of Rot Modality 48 2.3.1 Derivation of Rot Interpretations 48 2.3.2 Isues Related to Modal Restrictors 64 2.4 The Pragmatics of Epistemic Modality 68 2.4.1 The Metarepresentation Hypothesis 68 2.4.2 Derivation of Epistemic Interpretations 71 2.4.3 Derivation of Alethic and 'Objective Epistemic' Interpretations 79 2.5 Concluding Remarks 84 3. Removing Objections to a Unitary Semantic Analysis 85 3.0 Introductory Remarks 85 3.1 Syntax and Interpretation 86 3.1.1 Rot-Epistemic Contrasts 86 3.1.2 Counterexamples and Alternatives 92 3.1.3 A Summary 104 3.2 Truth-Conditional Behaviour 105 3.2.1 The Standard View 105 3.2.2 Multiple Acts of Communication 110 3.2.3 Metarepresentation and Truth Conditions 115 3.3 'Spech-Act' Modality 123 3.3.1 Previous Proposals 123 3.3.2 A Reanalysis in Terms of Metarepresentation 128 3.3.3 Further Examples 135 3.3.4 Metarepresentational Uses of Logical Operators 141 3.4 Concluding Remarks 143 3A. Appendix: Diachronic Aspects of the Root-Epistemic Distinction 145 4. The Acquisition of Modality 151 4.0 Introductory Remarks 151 4.1 Psycholinguistic Evidence: A Review 152 4.1.1 Naturalistic Longitudinal Studies 152 4.1.2 Experimental Studies 157 4.2 A Developmental Proposal 161 4.2.1 Background 161 4.2.2 The Theory of Mind Hypothesis 163 4.2.3 Auxiliary Hypotheses and a Sketch 168 4.2.4 Metacognition and Metalogic 171 4.3 A Note on Autism and Mindblindnes 172 4.4 Concluding Remarks 175 5. Implications for the Semantics-Pragmatics Interface 177 5.0 Introductory Remarks 17 5.1 Options for Lexical Semantics: Monosemy, Ambiguity, Polysemy 177 5.1.1 Ambiguity vs. Monosemy/Polysemy 177 IX 5.1.2 Monosemy vs. Polysemy 183 5.1.3 Procesing Considerations 190 5.2 Inference and the Plasticity of Lexical Concepts 196 5.2.1 A Reanalysis of Certain Polysemy Phenomena 196 5.2.2 Some Residual Cases 19 5.3 Historical and Developmental Perspectives 201 5.4 Concluding Remarks 203 6. Conclusion 205 References 209 Index 23