Research in Pragmatics

People

About the Pragmatics Research Group

The Pragmatics Research Group at UCL is an international centre for Relevance Theory and pragmatics more generally, with a flourishing research community and active links with numerous groups (Paris, Geneva, Lyon, Barcelona, Granada, Oslo, Warsaw) and researchers in related disciplines (psychology, philosophy, psycholinguistics, cognitive science). The Relevance email discussion list is a worldwide forum for discussion of ideas.

Deirdre Wilson and Robyn Carston‘s work has wide international recognition and draws a large team of doctoral students and visiting academics to UCL. There is a longstanding collaboration between Deirdre and Dan Sperber (Institut Jean Nicod, Paris).

Richard Breheny is playing a leading role in the development of the new field of experimental pragmatics, with collaborators in Lyon , Paris , Berlin and Nijmegen .

Nathan Klinedinst works on interactions between grammatical (semantic) processes, contextual information and pragmatic reasoning, Nausicaa Pouscoulous on the development of pragmatic abilities in young children, and Paula Rubio Fernandez on the on-line inferential processes involved in the comprehension of literal and figuratively-used words.

The Pragmatics Research Group organises the Relevance Reading Group, which provides a forum for interaction among researchers in the London area.

Current Research Projects

• Inferential processes in lexical interpretation: A psycho-pragmatic study of healthy, autistic and schizophrenic participants (2005 - 2008)
  Principal Investigator: Paula Rubio Fernandez, funded by the British Academy
  

• Inferential Processes  in literal and figurative lexical interpretation: A comparative psycho-pragmatic study of healthy, autistic and schizophrenic subjects (2006-2009)
  Principal Investigator: Robyn Carston, funded by the European Commission
  

• Experimental Investigations of Semantic-Pragmatic Inferences (2007-2010)
  Principal Investigator: Richard Breheny and Napoleon Katsos, funded by the AHRC
  

Recently Completed Research Projects

• A Unified Theory of Lexical Pragmatics (2003-2007)
  Principal Investigator: Deirdre Wilson, funded by the AHRC
  

Collaborations

With Richard Breheny: Katsos and Williams (Cambridge); Noveck (CNRS, Lyon);

With Robyn Carston : Blakemore (Salford); Behrens (Oslo);

With Nathan Klinedinst : Schlenker, Egré (Institut Jean-Nicod, Paris),

With Nausicaa Pouscoulous : Tomasello, Lieven (Max Planck, Leipzig), Schlenker (Institut Jean-Nicod, Paris), Noveck (CNRS, Lyon);

With Deirdre Wilson : Sperber (Institut Jean Nicod, Paris).

Recently published work:

• Carston,R. (2007). Linguistic communication and the semantics-pragmatics distinction. Synthese online, . ISSN: 0039-7857 (PRINT) 1573-0964.
• Carston,R. (2007). How many pragmatic systems are there? in Frapolli,M-J. (ed.) Saying, Meaning, Referring: Essays on the Philosophy of Francois Recanati. Palgrave Macmillan, 18-48. ISBN: 1-4039-3328-6.
• Carston,R., Behrens,B. (2007). Making connections - linguistic or pragmatic? in Nilsen,R.A., Amfo,N.A.A., Borthen,K. (ed.) Interpreting Utterances: Pragmatics and its Interfaces. Oslo: Novus Press, 51-78. ISBN: 978-82-7099-455-7.
• Ferguson,H.J., Sanford,A.J. & Leuthold,H. (2007). Real-World Interference in Detecting Violations of Counterfactual and Negated Worlds. Cognitive Neuroscience Society Annual meeting.
• Ferguson,H.J., Sanford,A.J. & Scheepers,C. (2007). Predicting events according to a counterfactual world or the beliefs of others: Evidence of a gender bias in processing. Brain Mechanisms and Cognitive Processes in the Comprehension of Discourse.
• Ferguson,H.J., Sanford,A.J., Leuthold,H. & Scheepers,C. (2007). Counterfactual Context Effects: From Eye-movements to Neuroscience. Annual Meeting of the Society for Text and Discourse.
• Ferguson,H.J., Scheepers,C. & Sanford,A.J. (2007). Interference from real-world knowledge on anticipatory eye-movements in a counterfactual-world. CUNY Conference on Human Sentence Processing.
• Ferguson,H.J., Scheepers,C. & Sanford,A.J. (2007). Anticipatory eye-movements in a visual world: Effects of Context. Scottish Psycholinguistics.
• Frapolli,M-J., Carston,R. (2007). Representation and metarepresentation. in Frapolli,M-J. (ed.) Saying, Meaning, Referring: Essays on the Philosophy of Francois Recanati. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Klinedinst,N.W. (2007). Plurals, possibilities, and conjunctive disjunction. UCL Working Papers in Linguistics 19, 261-284. ISSN: 0956-7194.
• Pouscoulous,N., Noveck,I., Politzer,G., Bastide,A. (2007). Processing costs and implicature development. Language Acquisition 14(4), 347-375. ISSN: 1048-9223. [Online] [DOI link]
• Rubio-Fernandez,P. (2007). Suppression in Metaphor Interpretation: Differences between Meaning Selection and Meaning Construction. Journal of Semantics 24(4), 345-371. ISSN: 0167-5133. [DOI link]
• Wilson,D., Carston,R. (2007) . A unitary approach to lexical pragmatics: relevance, inference and ad hoc concepts. Chapter 12 in Burton-Roberts,N. (ed.) Pragmatics . Palgrave Advances in Linguistics series. Series edited by Candlin,C.. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 1st edition, 230-259. ISBN: 978-1-4039-8699-3 [ Online ]
• Breheny,R. (2006). Communication and Folk Psychology. Mind and Language 21(1), 74-107. ISSN: 0268-1064  [Online] [DOI link]
• Breheny,R. (2006), 'Non-specific Specifics and the Source of Existential Closure of Exceptional-Scope Indefinites' UCL Working Papers in Linguistics series, London: UCL.
• Breheny,R. (2006). Pragmatic Analyses of Anaphoric Pronouns: Do Things Look Better in 2-D? Chapter 2 in García-Carpintero,M., Macia,J. (ed.) Two-Dimensional Semantics. Oxford: OUP, 22-37. ISBN: 0-19-927202-6. [Online]
• Breheny,R., Katsos,N., Williams,J. (2006). Are Scalar Implicatures Generated by Default? Cognition 100(3), 434-463. ISSN: 0010-0277. [DOI link]
• Carston,R. (2006). Language of thought. in Brown,K. (ed.) Encyclopaedia of Language and Linguistics. Elsevier, 2nd edition.
• Carston,R. (2006). Modularity. in Brown,K. (ed.) Encyclopaedia of Language and Linguistics. Elsevier, 2nd edition.
• Carston,R., Blakemore,D., van de Koot,H. (2006). Neil Smith's linguistics. Lingua 115(4), 353-358. ISSN: 0024-3841.
• Carston,R., Powell,G. (2006). Relevance theory - new directions and developments. in Lepore,E., Smith,B.C. (ed.) Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Language. Oxford University Press, 341-360.
• Ferguson,H.J., Sanford,A.J. & Leuthold,H. (2006). Detecting violations in real- and counterfactual- world contexts: Eye- movements and ERP analysis. Architectures and Mechanisms for Language Processing.
• Sperber,D., Wilson,D. (2006). A deflationary account of metaphor. UCL Working Papers in Linguistics 18, 171-203. ISSN: 0956-7194.
• Wilson,D. (2006). The pragmatics of verbal irony: Echo or pretence? Lingua 116(10), 1722-1743. ISSN: 0024-3841. [DOI link]
• Wilson,D., Carston,R. (2006). Metaphor, relevance and the 'emergent property' issue. Mind and Language 21(3), 404-433. ISSN: 0268-1064. [DOI link]
• Wilson,D., Wharton,T. (2006) . Relevance and prosody. Journal of Pragmatics 36(1), 1559-1579. ISSN: 0378-2166.
• Blakemore,D., Carston,R.A. (2005). The pragmatics of sentential coordination with and. Lingua 115(4), 569-589. ISSN: 0024-3841. [DOI link]
• Breheny,R. (2005). Exhaustivity, Homogeneity & Definiteness. Amsterdam Colloquium, Dekker,P., Franke,M., (ed.) Amsterdam:Universiteit van Amsterdam, 15, 59-65
• Breheny,R. (2005). Some scalar implicatures really aren't quantity implicatures - but "some"'s are. Sinn & Bedeutung, Maier,E., Bary,C., Huitink,J. (ed.) , 9, 57-71 [Online]
• Breheny,R., Adger,D. (2005). Commentary on ‘Exaption and Linguistic Explanation’ Lingua 115, 1673-1677. ISSN: 0024-3841
• Carston,R. (2005). A note on pragmatic principles of least effort. UCL Working Papers in Linguistics (17), 271-278. ISSN: 0956-7194 
• Carston,R. (2005). Relevance Theory, Grice and the neo-Griceans:a response to Laurence Horn's 'Current issues in neo-Gricean pragmatics' Intercultural Pragmatics 2(3), 303-319
• Carston,R. (2005). Pragmatics (addendum) in Borchert,D. (ed.) . Encyclopaedia of Philosophy series. Macmillan Reference, 2nd edition 
• Carston,R., Blakemore,D. (2005). Coordination:syntax, semantics and pragmatics. Lingua 115(4), 353-358. ISSN: 0024-3841
• Carston,R., Powell,G. (2005). Relevance theory - new directions and developments. UCL Working Papers in Linguistics (17), 279-299. ISSN: 0956-7194
• Katsos,N., Breheny,R., Williams,J. (2005) . The Interaction of Structural and Contextual Constraints During the On-line Generation of Scalar Inferences. 27th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society , Laurence Erlbaum and Associates, 27
• Sperber,D., Wilson,D. (2005) . Pragmatics. UCL Working Papers in Linguistics 17, 353-388. ISSN: 0956-7194
• Wilson,D. (2005) . New directions for research in pragmatics and modularity. Lingua 115(8), 1129-1146. ISSN: 0024-3841
• Wilson,D. (2005) . Pragmatics. in Jackson,F., Smith,M. (ed.) Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Philosophy . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 468-501
• Wilson,D., Wharton,T. (2005) . Relevance and prosody. UCL Working Papers in Linguistics 17, 427-454. ISSN: 0956-7194
• Breheny,R. (2004). 'Indefinites and Anaphoric Dependence - A Case for Dynamic Semantics or Pragmatics?' Chapter 13 in Reimer, M., Bezuidenhout, A. (ed.) Descriptions and Beyond. OUP, 455-483. ISBN: 0199270511
• Carston,R. (2004). A review of Stephen Levinson Presumptive Meanings. Journal of Linguistics. 40(1), 181-186
• Carston,R. (2004). Truth-conditional content and conversational implicature. in Bianchi,C. (ed.) The Semantics/Pragmatics Distinction. CSLI. Stanford University, 65-100. ISBN: 1-57586-458-4 
• Carston,R. (2004). Explicature and semantics. in Davis,S., Gillon,B. (ed.) Semantics: A Reader. Oxford University Press, 817-845. ISBN: 0195136977
• Carston,R. (2004). Relevance Theory and the saying/implicating distinction. in Horn,L., Ward,G. (ed.) The Handbook of Pragmatics. Oxford: Blackwells, 633-656. ISBN: 0-631-22547-1
• Pouscoulous,N., Noveck,I. (2004). Implicatures et développement. Psychologie française 49, 193-207. ISSN: 0033-2984 [Online] [DOI link]
• Wilson,D. (2004) . Relevance and lexical pragmatics. UCL Working Papers in Linguistics 16, 343-360. ISSN: 0956-7194
• Wilson,D. (2004) . Relevance and word meaning: The past, present and future of lexical pragmatics. Modern Foreign Languages (Quarterly) 27, 1-13. ISSN: 1003-6105
• Wilson,D., Sperber,D. (2004) . Relevance theory. in Horn,L., Ward,G. (ed.) The Handbook of Pragmatics . Oxford: Blackwell, 607-632. ISBN: 0-631-22547-1.
• Breheny,R. (2003). A lexicalist account of implicit bound context dependence. Semantics and Linguistic Theory 13 (SALT 13) Ithaca, N.Y.:CLC Publications, Cornell University
• Breheny,R. (2003). On Bindability. Amsterdam Colloquium, Dekker,P., van Rooy,R. (ed.) Amsterdam:Universiteit van Amsterdam, 14, 81-87. [Online]
• Breheny,R. (2003). On the Dynamic Turn in the Study of Meaning and Interpretation. in Jaroslav Peregrin (ed.) Meaning: The Dynamic Turn. CRISPI series. Elsevier, 69-89. ISBN: 0-08-044187-4. [Online]
• Carston,R. (2003). Truth-conditional content and conversational implicature. UCL Working Papers in Linguistics 15, 35-69. ISSN: 0956-7194
• Wharton,T. (2003). Interjections, language and the 'showing-saying' continuum. Pragmatics and Cognition 11(1), 39-91
• Wharton,T. (2003). Natural pragmatics and natural codes. Mind and Language 18(5), 447-477. ISSN: 0268-1064
• Wilson,D. (2003) , New directions for research on pragmatics and modularity. ISBN/ISSN: 0956-7194
• Wilson,D. (2003) . Relevance and lexical pragmatics. Italian Journal of Linguistics/Rivista di Linguistica 15(2), 273-291
• Breheny,R. (2002). 'The current state of (radical) pragmatics in the cognitive sciences' Mind and Language 17(1&2), 169-187. ISSN: 0268-1064 [Online] [DOI link]
• Breheny,R. (2002). Non-dynamic analyses of anaphoric pronouns: Do things look better in 2-D? Sinn & Bedeutung, Katz,G., Reinhard,S., Reuter,P. (ed.) Osnabrueck:University of Osnabrueck, 6, 17-29 [Online]
• Breheny,R. (2002). Exceptional-Scope Indefinites and Domain Restriction. Sinn & Bedeutung, Weisgerber,M. (ed.) Konstanz:Universit¨at Konstanz, 7, 38-52. [Online] 
• Carston,R. (2002) . Linguistic meaning, communicated meaning and cognitive pragmatics. Mind and Language: Special Issue on Pragmatics and Cognitive Science , 17 (1), 127-148. ISSN: 0268-1064
• Carston,R. (2002) . Metaphor, ad hoc concepts and word meaning - more questions than answers. UCL Working Papers in Linguistics , 14, 83-105. ISSN: 0956-7194
• Carston,R. (2002) , Thoughts and Utterances: The Pragmatics of Explicit Communication, Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN: 0-631-21488-7. 418pp.
• Carston,R., Guttenplan,S, Wilson,D. (2002) . Introduction. Mind and Language: Special Issue on Pragmatics and Cognitive Science , 17 (1), 1-2. ISSN: 0268-1064
• Sperber,D, Wilson,D. (2002), Relevance: Communication and Cognition (Chinese Edition)Beijing: Foreign Language Press.
• Sperber,D., Wilson,D. (2002). Pragmatics, modularity and mind-reading. Mind and Language 17(1-2), 3-23. ISSN: 0268-1064 [DOI link]
• Wilson,D. (2002). Relevance theory: A tutorial. Third Tokyo Conference on Psycholinguistics, Otsu,Y. (ed.) Proceedings of the Tokyo Conference in Psycholinguistics series. Series edited by Otsu,Y.. Tokyo:Hituzi Shobo, 3, 45-70.
• Wilson,D., Sperber,D (2002). Relevance theory. UCL Working Papers in Linguistics, 13, 249-287. ISSN: 0956-7194
• Wilson,D., Sperber,D (2002). Truthfulness and relevance. Mind 111(443), 583-682. ISSN: 0026-4423[DOI link]
• Breheny,R. (2001). Meaning, Communication and Theory of Mind. Cognitive Science Society, Moore,J., Stenning,K. (ed.) London:Laurence Erlbaum and Associates, 23, 128-133 [Online]
• Carston,R. (2001). Relevance theory and the saying/implicating distinction. UCL Working Papers in Linguistics, 13, 1-34. ISSN: 0956-7194
• Wilson,D. (2001). Preface. in Ziran,H., Yongping,R. (ed.) Pragmatics and Cognition: Relevance Theory. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 1-16. ISBN: 7-5600-2233-2