Colloquium 076: Lyn Tieu (Western Sydney University)
國立清華大學語言學研究所新076次專題演講公告
講者：Lyn Tieu, Western Sydney University
講題：Experimental studies of linguistic inferences
時間：2021年11月12日(星期四) 13:30-15:30
Google meet: https://meet.google.com/xzk-bahk-tug
摘要：Language conveys meaningful information through different kinds of ‘inferences’, a number of which have been investigated in contemporary linguistics. For example, the sentence “Mary liked some of your ideas” asserts a positive sentiment from Mary, but it can also convey the negative meaning that she didn’t like all of your ideas. The ability to navigate the different inferences that abound in everyday conversation is integral to linguistic communication, and we typically deploy this ability without a second thought. But where does this ability come from and how do children acquire it? In this talk, I will present two examples of recent work that illustrate the fascinating puzzle of meaning acquisition. First, I’ll discuss a series of developmental studies of various kinds of implicature meanings, which reveal that children acquire certain linguistic inferences before others, shedding light on the grammar behind linguistic inferences. Second, I will discuss recent experimental work that suggests people can very rapidly learn new meanings and even project presuppositions from a single exposure to novel iconic objects, both linguistic and non-linguistic. These experimental studies exemplify how acquisition and learnability data, in conjunction with formal linguistic theories, can shed light on the cognitive architecture that underlies linguistic meaning.
講者：Lyn Tieu, Western Sydney University
講題：Experimental studies of linguistic inferences
時間：2021年11月12日(星期四) 13:30-15:30
Google meet: https://meet.google.com/xzk-bahk-tug
摘要：Language conveys meaningful information through different kinds of ‘inferences’, a number of which have been investigated in contemporary linguistics. For example, the sentence “Mary liked some of your ideas” asserts a positive sentiment from Mary, but it can also convey the negative meaning that she didn’t like all of your ideas. The ability to navigate the different inferences that abound in everyday conversation is integral to linguistic communication, and we typically deploy this ability without a second thought. But where does this ability come from and how do children acquire it? In this talk, I will present two examples of recent work that illustrate the fascinating puzzle of meaning acquisition. First, I’ll discuss a series of developmental studies of various kinds of implicature meanings, which reveal that children acquire certain linguistic inferences before others, shedding light on the grammar behind linguistic inferences. Second, I will discuss recent experimental work that suggests people can very rapidly learn new meanings and even project presuppositions from a single exposure to novel iconic objects, both linguistic and non-linguistic. These experimental studies exemplify how acquisition and learnability data, in conjunction with formal linguistic theories, can shed light on the cognitive architecture that underlies linguistic meaning.