This volume focuses on the interplay between grammatical and pragmatic factors in the
comprehension of lexically communicated meaning. It uses a case-study, modality, in order …

In this groundbreaking book, Michael Tomasello presents a comprehensive usage-based
theory of language acquisition. Drawing together a vast body of empirical research in …

The new edition of a comprehensive introduction to a rapidly developing field, combining
developmental data with theory. How do children begin to use language? How does …

A conversational implicature is an inference that consists of attributing to a speaker an
implicit meaning that goes beyond the explicit linguistic meaning of an utterance. This paper …

In this article, we present evidence that in four different cultural groups that speak quite
different languages (Brazil, India, Japan, and the USA) there are cases of justified true …

The ability to entertain and reflect on possibilities is a crucial component of human
reasoning. However, the origin of this reasoning—whether it is language-based or not—is …

Several strands of research on metarepresentation have a bearing on the study of linguistic
communication. On the whole, there has been little interaction among them, and the …

How does a listener understand a sarcastic'That was a wonderful speech'when the words
point to a positive review? Why do students of introductory logic interpret'Some cabs are …

This volume in the Vancouver Studies in Cognitive Science series concerns
metarepresentation: the construction and use of representations that represent other …

Testimony provides children with a rich source of knowledge about the world and the people
in it. However, testimony is not guaranteed to be veridical, and speakers vary greatly in both …