Conditionals and Discourse

本研究使用条件构式来探讨语篇结构在意义建构中的作用。采用形式化和清晰的话语理论（被理解为话语动作的层次系统），该项目研究了话语结构如何在句子层面上影响意义的构建。重点是一组条件结构，其意义似乎超出了传统传达的真理条件（话语敏感条件，dsc）。吸引与话语结构的交互提供了dsc的自然描述，而不需要在语法或语义上进行特别的移动。dsc的研究支持了句子意义与话语结构之间的关系比以前认为的更丰富、更清晰的假设，为思考话语在意义构建中的作用提供了新的思路。主要的经验焦点将放在两种类型的效应上，这两种效应将被论证来说明条件语中的话语敏感性：穷竭效应和可取性效应。在“条件完备性”和“可选性”的标题下，它们在文献中被讨论过。完美条件(“彻查效应”)标准,语义账户条件的预测,如果p, q, p是一个条件。然而,听到一个条件如果p, q,听众往往出现学习丰富意味着p是一个详尽的条件。这意味着p不仅仅是一个条件,还问的必要条件(p - q):(1)如果你修剪草坪,我就给你5美元。在听到(1)后，听众标准地得出结论，不仅割草是获得5美元的条件，而且只有割草才能获得5美元。在类似(1)的情况下，令人费解的是，观察到的与先行词相关的穷竭效应并不是由条件句的传统语义所预测的。这种效应是一种强大的现象，被称为“条件完美”。可选性（“可取性效应”）条件句先行词中某些焦点敏感操作符的存在可能会产生带有可取性的解释，而这种解释是结构的传统语义无法预测的。这种结构被称为“可选性”：(2)如果飞机晚点五分钟，我就能赶上班机了。给定(2)的话语，听者不仅会理解延迟是建立联系的条件，而且还会理解说话者希望建立联系。然而，在(2)中没有词汇项负责这个意义，这是传统语义学无法解释的。

This project uses conditional constructions to investigate the role of discourse structure in the construction of meaning. Adopting a formalized and articulated theory of discourse (understood as a hierarchical system of discourse moves), the project investigates how the structure of discourse is factored into the construction of meaning at the sentence level. The focus is on a set of conditional constructions whose meanings appear to go beyond conventionally conveyed truth-conditions (discourse sensitive conditionals, DSCs). Appealing to the interaction with discourse structure provides a natural account of DSCs without requiring ad-hoc moves in the syntax or semantics. The study of DSCs supports the hypothesis that the relation between sentence meaning and discourse structure is richer and far more articulated than has previously been thought, providing support for new ways of thinking about the role of discourse in the construction of meaning.The main empirical focus will be on two types of effects that will be argued to illustrate discourse-sensitivity in conditionals: exhaustivity effects and desirability effects. They have been discussed in the literature under the headings of "conditional perfection" and "optativity".A. Conditional perfection ("exhaustivity effects")Standardly, semantic accounts predict that in a conditional of the form if p, q, p is a condition for q. However, upon hearing a conditional if p, q, listeners often appear to learn the enriched meaning that p is an exhaustive condition for q. This means that p is not just a condition for q, but also a necessary condition for q (p - q):(1) If you mow the lawn, I will give you $5.Upon hearing (1), listeners standardly conclude that not only is mowing the lawn a condition to obtain $5, but also that only by mowing the lawn will the $5 be obtained. What is mysterious in cases like (1) is that the observed exhaustivity effect associated with the antecedent is not predicted by the conventional semantics of the conditional. The effect is a robust phenomenon that has come to be known as "conditional perfection".B. Optativity ("desirability effects")The presence of certain focus sensitive operators in the antecedents of conditionals can give rise to interpretations flavored with desirability that are not predicted by the conventional semantics of the structure. This type of structure is known as "optative":(2) If only the plane had been delayed for five minutes, (I would have made my connection).Given an utterance of (2), the listener doesn¿t only come to understand that a delay was a condition to make the connection, but also that the speaker desires to have made the connection. There is, however, no lexical item in (2) responsible for this meaning, which remains unexplained by the conventional semantics.