This volume explores how the effectiveness of communication is shaped by aspects of semantics and pragmatics such as compositionality, the roles of the speaker and hearer, and the acquisition of meaning. "Optimal Communication" surveys recent research in the fields of syntax, semantics, and pragmatics, and draws from optimality theory to argue that optimal meanings result from a compromise between competing constraints. "Optimal Communication" will be an invaluable resource for students in cognitive science, linguistics, and natural language semantics.

About the Author
Reinhard Blutner is Privatdozent of Theoretical Linguistics at Humboldt University in Berlin and lecturer in artificial intelligence and cognitive philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. Helen de Hoop and Petra Hendriks are associate professors of linguistics at the Center for Language Studies at Radbound University Nijmegen in The Netherlands.


Book Information
ISBN 9781575865140
Author Reinhard Blutner
Format Paperback
Page Count 300
Imprint Centre for the Study of Language & Information
Publisher Centre for the Study of Language & Information
Weight(grams) 284g
Dimensions(mm) 23mm * 15mm * 2mm