Meta-Language Utterances in Purposive Discourse.
Abstract
Meta-language utterances, i.e. utterances about other utterances, are ubiquitous in every type of human discourse, from unconstrained multi-party conversations to task-oriented man-machine dialogues. Several examples of meta-language communication are analyzed, identifying the complexities that a cognitively plausible discourse model should address. Meta-language utterances are investigated in conjunction with indirect speech acts and extralinguistic phenomena that impinge upon the discourse, such as social role constraints and goal determination inferences. It is argued that a comprehensive theory of discourse must necessarily address issues of meta-language communication and linguistically-implicit communication conveyed through such means as inferred intent and cultural conventions. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 19, 1982
- Accession Number
- ADA120103
Entities
People
- Jaime Carbonell
Organizations
- Carnegie Mellon University