Truthfully Misleading: Truth, Informativity, and Manipulation in Linguistic Communication

Linguistic communication is geared toward the exchange of information, i.e., changing addressee's world views. In other words, persuasion goal speakers and force speaker's commitment as indicated in utterance an important factor persuasion. Other things being equal, stronger commitment, easier However, if deception detected, harsher punishment, damage to his or her reputation. One way for cheaters avoid detection and/or mitigate punishment downplay their what they mean through by making its content less informative, producing underinformative utterances. Underinformativity also a powerful triggering context-dependent inference-based interpretation that goes beyond said. This allows indirectly communicate false while literally true. phenomenon truthfully misleading topic present paper. As will be seen, it leave part responsibility hearers, with triple effect can claim have been misunderstood (plausible denial), said was true, explain underinformativity ignorance.