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Linglib.Theories.Pragmatics.Implicature.ConventionalImplicatures

Types of CI-bearing expressions that can form alternative sets.

Following Lo Guercio's examples from §3.2:

  • Epithets and honorifics (§3.2.1)
  • Nominal appositives (§3.2.3)
  • Supplementary adverbs (§3.2.3)
  • Emotive markers (§3.2.3)
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      A CI alternative pair: weaker and stronger CI expressions.

      Following @cite{fox-katzir-2011}, alternatives must be:

      1. Formal alternatives (constructible by substitution)
      2. At most as complex as the original
      3. Contextually relevant
      • Type of CI expression

      • weaker : String

        The weaker CI expression (used)

      • stronger : String

        The stronger CI expression (alternative)

      • strongerIsRelevant : Bool

        Is the stronger alternative contextually relevant?

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          Standard CI alternative pairs from Lo Guercio.

          The stronger alternative is only a formal alternative if it is contextually relevant (mentioned, subconstituent, or lexical).

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                Result of applying MCIs! (Maximize Conventional Implicatures).

                Parallel to StandardRecipeResult from NeoGricean.Core.Basic.

                • utterance : String

                  The utterance analyzed

                • ciAlternative : String

                  The CI alternative considered

                • alternativeIsCIStronger : Bool

                  Is the alternative CI-stronger?

                • alternativeIsFormal : Bool

                  Is the alternative a formal alternative (contextually relevant)?

                • aciArises : Bool

                  Does an ACI arise?

                • aciContent : Option String

                  The inferred ACI content (if any)

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                    Apply MCIs! to derive an ACI.

                    Following @cite{lo-guercio-2025} Definition 15:

                    • If speaker used φ with weaker CI
                    • And there's a formal alternative φ' with stronger CI
                    • Then infer speaker couldn't felicitously use φ'
                    • With competence: speaker believes ¬(CI content of φ')
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                      Example (18)-(19): Out of the blue, NO ACI arises.

                      "John arrived late" ⇝̸ ¬(John is a bastard) "Diego entró" ⇝̸ ¬(speaker respects Diego)

                      Because "that bastard John" is not a formal alternative; it is more complex.

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                        Example (20)-(21): With prior mention, an ACI arises.

                        "John arrived first, then that bastard Pedro arrived." Implicates: not(John is a bastard)

                        Because "that bastard" is now contextually relevant (mentioned), "that bastard John" is a formal alternative.

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                          Example (22)-(23): Honorific parallel.

                          "Primero entró Donato. Después entró Don Pedro." ⇝ ¬(speaker respects Donato)

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                            Example (31)-(32): Appositive parallel.

                            "Diego recommended an aspirin. Laura, a doctor, recommended an antibiotic." ⇝ ¬(Diego is a doctor)

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                              ACIs do not require the same assertive content.

                              Unlike antipresuppositions, ACIs can arise even when the utterance and alternative have different truth conditions.

                              Example (50): "Juan called Maria or that bastard Pedro"

                              • ACI: not(Maria is a bastard)
                              • Stronger alternative has different assertive content (and vs or)

                              CI content is independent of at-issue content.

                              ACIs are not affected by DE contexts.

                              Unlike scalar implicatures, ACIs arise in both UE and DE contexts.

                              Example (61): "I doubt that Juan or that bastard Pedro passed"

                              • SI blocked: does not implicate not(I doubt Juan and that bastard Pedro passed)
                              • ACI not blocked: implicates not(Juan is a bastard)

                              CI content does not interact with truth-conditional entailment.

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                                ACIs are cancellable.

                                Example (52): "Juan arrived first, then that bastard Pedro arrived (by the way, Juan is also a bastard)"

                                The parenthetical cancels the ACI.

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                                      ACIs are reinforceable.

                                      Example (63): Repeating the ACI content is not redundant.

                                      "Juan arrived first, that bastard Pedro arrived second (by the way, Juan is not a bastard)"

                                      The reinforcement is informative, not redundant (unlike presuppositions).

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                                        Summary of how ACIs differ from their "scalar cousins".

                                        PropertySIAntipresupACI
                                        Same assertive content reqNoYesNo
                                        Affected by DE contextYesVariesNo
                                        CancellableYesYesYes
                                        ReinforceableYesNo*Yes
                                        EmbeddableYesYesYes
                                        • Reinforcing a presupposition is redundant
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                                                  theorem Implicature.ConventionalImplicatures.aci_grounded_in_mcis {W : Type u_1} (φ ψ : Semantics.Lexical.Expressives.TwoDimProp W) (h_ci_stronger : Semantics.Lexical.Expressives.ciStrongerThan ψ φ) (_h_relevant : ∃ (w : W), ψ.ci w = true) :
                                                  ∃ (w : W), φ.ci w = true ψ.ci w = false

                                                  The ACI mechanism is grounded in:

                                                  1. @cite{potts-2005}: CI content is independent of at-issue content
                                                  2. @cite{fox-katzir-2011}: Formal alternatives are structurally constrained
                                                  3. Gricean reasoning: Cooperative speakers maximize informativeness

                                                  Given these, MCIs! derives ACIs compositionally: if the speaker used φ when a CI-stronger formal alternative ψ was available and relevant, the hearer infers the speaker believes the CI of ψ does not hold. [sorry: need world-level formalization of speaker belief inference]