'This collection clearly demonstrates that Optimality Theory finds fruitful applications in the domain of pragmatics. The papers show how to overcome the traditional gap between linguistic meaning and utterance meaning. Conceptions like relevance, conversational implicature, pragmatic anomaly, grammaticalization, recoverability, and constructional iconicity appear in a new light'.Manfred Krifka, Professor in General Linguistics, Insititute for German Speech and Linguistics, Humboldt University, Germany 'Though the idea of optimization was present in the pragmatic enterprise from the very beginning, we had to wait for this collection in order to see how to integrate pragmatics into Optimality Theory.'Professor Paul Smolensky, Department of Cognitive Science, Johns Hopkins UniversityTen leading scholars provide exacting research results and a reliable and accessible introduction to the new field of optimality theoretic pragmatics. The book includes a general introduction that overviews the foundations of this new research paradigm. The book is intended to satisfy the needs of students and professional researchers interested in pragmatics and optimality theory, and will be of particular interest to those exploring the interfaces of formal pragmatics with grammar, semantics, philosophy of language, information theory and cognitive psychology.Contents AcknowledgementsNotes on the ContributorsEditors' Introduction: Pragmatics and Optimality Theory; R.Blutner and H.ZeevatOn the Interpretation of Stressed Pronouns; H.de HoopOptimization in Focus Identification; P.HendriksOptimality Theoretic Pragmatics and Binding Phenomena; J.MattauschParticles: Pre-supposition Triggers, Context Markers, or Speech Act Markers; H.ZeevatInput-Output Mismatches in Optimality Theory; D.Beaver and H.LeeOn the Optimality Theory Status of 'Unambiguous Encoding'; H-M.GärtnerRelevance and Bidirectional Optimality Theory; R.van RooyRemarks on the Architecture of Optimality Theory Syntax Grammars; R.VogelVariation in Demonstrative Choice in Swedish; J.SpenaderLearning Constraint Subhierarchies: The Bidirectional Gradual Learning Algorithm; G.JägerReferencesIndex