Semantic Underspecification & Pragmatic Interpretation of Polysemous Adjectives

Polysemous adjectives seem to make irregular contributions to the meaning of adjective-noun phrases. This thesis provides a systematic explanation of this problem. Polysemous adjectives are considered semantically underspecified. The underspecified semantic meaning has to be pragmatically enriched with due consideration of world-knowledge and linguistic context. The treatment follows Blutner’s bi-directional optimality theoretic approach to pragmatic enrichment. Interpretations alternatives for adjective-noun phrases are computed via weighted abduction from a knowledge base that contains common conceptual world-knowledge. Optimal interpretations are chosen on the basis of certain pragmatic interpretation principles economising on speaker and hearer effort.