Bridging Inferences - Constraining and Resolving Underspecification in Discourse Interpretation

This book presents work on bridging inferences in discourse interpretation. It develops a formalization that permits integrating indirect anaphora in the construction of a structured discourse representation. From a broader perspective, it provides a suitable dynamic-logic framework which can account for underspecifications in cohesion and coherence of discourses by either inferentially resolving or contextually constraining them. Special attention is given to the resolution of bridging anaphora by means of integrating encyclopedic knowledge encoded in FrameNet into a formal theory of discourse structure as provided by Segmented Discourse Representation Theory. A second focus lies on the discourse effects of Clitic Left Dislocation in Spanish. In addition, the book provides a synopsis of the problems, methods, approaches, and desiderata of research on text, context, and discourse interpretation from formal, computational, cognitive, and psychological points of view. Central topics include pragmatic inferences and defeasible reasoning, the Common Ground, cohesion and anaphora resolution, coherence and discourse structure, and discourse interpretation. The volume may thus also serve as a reference book on text meaning and context.

About the author

Matthias Irmer, University of Leipzig, Germany.

Product details

• Authors: Matthias Irmer
• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.07.2011
• EAN: 9783110261950
• ISBN: 978-3-11-026195-0
• No. of pages: 408
• Dimensions: 164 mm x 24 mm x 236 mm
• Weight: 748 g
• Series: Language, Context and Cognition; Language, Context and Cognition; ISSN
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative linguistics; Literaturwissenschaft, Semantik, Sprachwissenschaft, Semantik, Diskursanalyse, Stilistik, Linguistik, Textlinguistik, Sprache, allgemein und Nachschlagewerke, LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General, Bedeutung (semantisch) / Bedeutungslehre, Sprachwissenschaft / Textlinguistik, Semantik; Textlinguistik; Pragmatik; Diskursanalyse; Kohärenz; Kohäsion; Anapher (Syntax); Discourse Analysis; Syntax; Coherence; Cohesion; Pragmatics; Semantics