Mankowitz, P and Shaw, A orcid.org/0000-0001-7559-3224 (2023) Focus on slurs. Mind and Language, 38 (3). pp. 693-710. ISSN 0268-1064
Abstract
Slurring expressions display puzzling behaviour when embedded, such as under negation and in attitude and speech reports. They frequently appear to retain their characteristic qualities, like offensiveness and propensity to derogate. Yet it is sometimes possible to understand them as lacking these qualities. A theory of slurring expressions should explain this variability. We develop an explanation that deploys the linguistic notion of focus. Our proposal is that a speaker can conversationally implicate metalinguistic claims about the aptness of a focused slurring expression. This explanation of variability relies on independently motivated mechanisms and is compatible with any theory of slurring expressions.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 The Authors. Mind & Language published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | focus; implicature; metalinguistic; pragmatics; slurs |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 19 Oct 2022 14:35 |
Last Modified: | 08 Nov 2024 12:04 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/mila.12410 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:192260 |
Download
Filename: Mind Language - 2022 - Mankowitz - Focus on slurs.pdf
Licence: CC-BY 4.0