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Description:
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In recent years, a lively debate ensued on an old issue, namely the proper
distinction between semantics and pragmatics against the background of the
classical Gricean distinction between ‘what is said’ and ‘what is implicated’.
From a linguist’s point of view, however, there has always been a regrettable
lack of empirical data in this otherwise sophisticated debate. Recently, a new
strand of research emerged under the name of experimental pragmatics, the
attempt to gain experimental data on pragmatic and semantic issues by using
psycholinguistic and neurolinguistic methods. This volume brings together
work by scholars engaging in experimental research on the
semantics/pragmatics distinction. The contribution of experimental
pragmatics to pragmatic and semantic theory is discussed from a number of
different angles, ranging from implicature and pragmatic enrichment to
pragmatic acquisition, pragmatic impairment, and pragmatic processing. In
addition, methodological issues are discussed. The contributions will appeal
to theoretical linguists, psycholinguists, neurolinguists, and language
philosophers.
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