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Description:
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The concept of theory of mind (ToM), a hot topic in cognitive psychology
for the past twenty-five years, has gained increasing importance in the
fields of linguistics and pragmatics. However, even though the relationship
between ToM and verbal communication is now recognized, the extent,
causality and full implications of this connection remain mostly to be
explored. This book presents a comprehensive discussion of the interface
between language, communication, and theory of mind, and puts forward an
innovative proposal regarding the role of discourse connectives for this
interface. The proposed analysis of connectives is tested from the
perspective of their acquisition, using empirical methods such as corpus
analysis and controlled experiments, thus placing the study of connectives
within the emerging framework of experimental pragmatics.
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