Home Linguistics & Semiotics Indeterminacy and coercion effects
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Indeterminacy and coercion effects

Minimal representations with pragmatic enrichment
  • Roberto G. de Almeida and Levi Riven
View more publications by John Benjamins Publishing Company
To Publisher Page
Towards a Biolinguistic Understanding of Grammar
This chapter is in the book Towards a Biolinguistic Understanding of Grammar

Abstract

Central to the investigation of the biological and cognitive capacities underlying human language is to determine how hypothetically distinct linguistic and non-linguistic computational systems interact to yield the representation of the meaning of a sentence. The focus of our chapter is on the comprehension of “indeterminate” sentences, that is, sentences seemingly semantically incomplete – albeit grammatical – such as “The man began the book”. While one might understand such a sentence as referring to an event that the man began doing with the book, the actual event cannot be determined. We contend that the interpretation of indeterminate sentences relies on the identification of structurally determined gaps which function to signal higher, non-linguistic cognitive mechanisms to trigger pragmatic inferences. These inferences serve to enrich the output of the linguistic system to give the sentence a meaning fitting with a particular context. Psycholinguistic and neuroimaging (fMRI) data are discussed supporting the view that the source of sentence enrichment is pragmatic – not analytic lexical-semantic decompositions – beyond linguistic computations per se.

Abstract

Central to the investigation of the biological and cognitive capacities underlying human language is to determine how hypothetically distinct linguistic and non-linguistic computational systems interact to yield the representation of the meaning of a sentence. The focus of our chapter is on the comprehension of “indeterminate” sentences, that is, sentences seemingly semantically incomplete – albeit grammatical – such as “The man began the book”. While one might understand such a sentence as referring to an event that the man began doing with the book, the actual event cannot be determined. We contend that the interpretation of indeterminate sentences relies on the identification of structurally determined gaps which function to signal higher, non-linguistic cognitive mechanisms to trigger pragmatic inferences. These inferences serve to enrich the output of the linguistic system to give the sentence a meaning fitting with a particular context. Psycholinguistic and neuroimaging (fMRI) data are discussed supporting the view that the source of sentence enrichment is pragmatic – not analytic lexical-semantic decompositions – beyond linguistic computations per se.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Interfaces in a biolinguistic perspective 1
  4. Part I. Syntax, semantics
  5. Single cycle syntax and a constraint on quantifier lowering 13
  6. A constraint on remnant movement 31
  7. Language and conceptual reanalysis 57
  8. Part II. Features and interfaces
  9. Decomposing force 89
  10. Function without content 117
  11. The association of sound with meaning 141
  12. Part III. Phonology, syntax
  13. Towards a bottom-up approach to phonological typology 169
  14. The emergence of phonological forms 193
  15. Part IV. Language development
  16. Non-native acquisition and language design 217
  17. Interface ingredients of dialect design 239
  18. Part V. Experimental studies
  19. What sign languages show 265
  20. Indeterminacy and coercion effects 277
  21. Computation with doubling constituents 303
  22. Concealed reference-set computation 339
  23. Index 363
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.194.13alm

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Interfaces in a biolinguistic perspective 1
  4. Part I. Syntax, semantics
  5. Single cycle syntax and a constraint on quantifier lowering 13
  6. A constraint on remnant movement 31
  7. Language and conceptual reanalysis 57
  8. Part II. Features and interfaces
  9. Decomposing force 89
  10. Function without content 117
  11. The association of sound with meaning 141
  12. Part III. Phonology, syntax
  13. Towards a bottom-up approach to phonological typology 169
  14. The emergence of phonological forms 193
  15. Part IV. Language development
  16. Non-native acquisition and language design 217
  17. Interface ingredients of dialect design 239
  18. Part V. Experimental studies
  19. What sign languages show 265
  20. Indeterminacy and coercion effects 277
  21. Computation with doubling constituents 303
  22. Concealed reference-set computation 339
  23. Index 363
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 14.12.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/la.194.13alm/html
Scroll to top button