Experimental pragmatics

de Dan Sperber

How does our knowledge of the language on one hand, and our knowledge of the world and of the context in which we converse, on the other hand, enable us to understand what we are told, to resolve ambiguities, to appreciate metaphor and irony, to recognise speech acts and to grasp both explicit and implicit content in verbal communication? This book provides the first comprehensive introduction to an exciting new field, in which models of language and meaning are tested and compared using techniques from psycholinguistics. All chapters are written to be accessible even to readers who may be less familiar with pragmatic theory or experimental methods. For students on advanced courses in linguistics, cognitive science, psychology and philosophy with an interest in meaning interactions in verbal communication.