pure indexicals
Recently Published Documents


TOTAL DOCUMENTS

3
(FIVE YEARS 0)

H-INDEX

1
(FIVE YEARS 0)

Author(s):  
Una Stojnić

On the received view, the resolution of context-sensitivity is at least partly determined by non-linguistic features of utterance situation. If I say ‘He’s happy’, what ‘he’ picks out is underspecified by its linguistic meaning, and is only fixed through extra-linguistic supplementation: the speaker’s intention, and/or some objective, non-linguistic feature of the utterance situation. This underspecification is exhibited by most context-sensitive expressions, with the exception of pure indexicals, like ‘I.’ While this received view is prima facie appealing, I argue it is deeply mistaken. I defend an account according to which context-sensitivity resolution is governed by linguistic mechanisms determining prominence of candidate resolutions of context-sensitive items. Thus, on this account, the linguistic meaning of a context-sensitive expression fully specifies its resolution in a context, automatically selecting the resolution antecedently set by the prominence-governing linguistic mechanisms.


2006 ◽  
Vol 138 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allyson Mount
Keyword(s):  

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document