2024/05/20 by Andrea Beltrama, Florian Schwarz · 1 voice
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #Linguistic Variation and Morphology #Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies #Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation
paper · pdf · doi:10.1017/s0047404524000320
openalex publication_date 2024/05/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Abstract In this article, we address the following question: how do comprehenders reason about the persona embodied by the speaker to determine the referential meaning of numerical expressions such as ‘The price is 200’? Using a picture selection task, we show that descriptions uttered by speakers embodying a Nerdy persona, indexically associated with highly precise speech, are interpreted more precisely than those uttered by speakers embodying a Chill persona, indexically associated with imprecise speech. These findings contribute to building a more integrative perspective between the socio-indexical and the referential domain of signification, highlighting comprehenders’ social perception of the speaker as a crucial element informing pragmatic reasoning, and meaning interpretation more broadly. (Social meaning, personae, pragmatic reasoning, precision, numerals)*