Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>]

On 18/09/2004 20:40, C. Stirling Bartholomew wrote:

> Peter,
>
> I wonder if it is entirely possible to escape from the code model. ...
>  
For yet another quick answer: I don't accept all of Gutt's rejection of
the "code model". I think I would hold that in practice most sentences,
especially in clearly written prose intended for a wide audience, do
more or less follow this model to the extent that words and morphemes
can be mapped on to semantic concepts - although the mapping may be
complex. But I would agree with the RT analysis according to which none
of that mapping is uncancellable, because, especially in cases where
there is a clear conversational context, words and phrases can be used
in all kinds of creative ways as long as the message is communicated.
For example, "Yeah, right" can mean "No, wrong", in the right context
and with the right intonation. Rolf would probably call that
conversational pragmatic implicature. I would differ from Rolf in saying
that this implicature can cancel anything semantic.

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/