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HonestyNetworksLanguageConclusionGrice in the Grammar: How Dynamic Social NetworksGive Rise to Honesty and EvidentialsGURT 2014Christopher AhernUniversity of PennsylvaniaMarch 16, 2014Ahern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 20141 / 36
m of QualityTry to make your contribution one that is true:1Do not say what you believe to be false.2Do not say that for which you lack evidence.Cooperative PrincipleMake your conversational contribution such as isrequired, at the stage at which it occurs, by theaccepted purposes or direction of the talk exchange.Ahern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 20142 / 36
HonestyNetworksLanguageConclusion[Grice(1975)]I am, however, enough of a rationalist towant to find a basis that underlies thesefacts, undeniable though they may be; Iwould like to be able to think of the standardtype of conversational practice not merely assomething that all or most do in fact followbut as something that it is reasonable for usto follow, that we should not abandon.Ahern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 20143 / 36
HonestyNetworksLanguageConclusionQuestionsWhy abide by the Maxim of Quality and the Cooperative Principle?What consequences for the structure of language?Ahern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 20144 / 36
etworks3Language4ConclusionAhern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 20145 / 36
(2006)]Cooperation means that selfishreplicators forgo some of their reproductivepotential to help one another. But naturalselection implies competition and thereforeopposes cooperation unless a specificmechanism is at work.Ahern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 20146 / 36
er’s DilemmaCooperateDefectAhern (UPENN)Cooperateb c, b cb, cGrice in the GrammarDefect c, b0,0March 16, 20147 / 36
er’s DilemmaCooperateDefectAhern (UPENN)Cooperate5, 510, 5Grice in the GrammarDefect 5, 100,0March 16, 20148 / 36
HonestyNetworksLanguageConclusionSignaling[Searcy and Nowicki(2005)]One might expect many instances inwhich signalers would attempt to profitindividually by conveying dishonestinformation.if dishonesty is common, it also is notobvious why receivers should respond tosignals.if receivers fail to respond to signals, itis not obvious how signaling systems canexist at all.Ahern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 20149 / 36
n(1949)]Conscience is the inner voice thatwarns us somebody may be looking.Ahern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 201410 / 36
Phillips(2008)]Ahern (UPENN)1Indices: signal form is tied to meaning2Handicaps: costs borne by honest senders3Deterrents: costs borne by dishonest sendersGrice in the GrammarMarch 16, 201411 / 36
HonestyNetworksLanguageConclusionMechanisms[Reby and McComb(2003)]Ahern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 201412 / 36
(1975)] [Grafen(1990)] [Spence(1973)]Ahern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 201413 / 36
ed Prisoner’s DilemmaAhern (UPENN)1Each agent has rate ofcooperation, θ [0, 1]2Agents interact, update strengthof relationship3Relationships below threshold areremovedGrice in the GrammarMarch 16, 201414 / 36
ed Prisoner’s DilemmaAhern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 201415 / 36
lla et al.(2012)Apicella, Marlowe, Fowler, and ChristakAhern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 201416 / 36
lla et al.(2012)Apicella, Marlowe, Fowler, and ChristakAhern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 201417 / 36
ed Information SharingAhern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 201418 / 36
ed Information SharingAhern (UPENN)1Agents have information aboutstate of the world, τ [0, 1]2Agents choose to shareinformation, θ [0, 1]3Agents update strength ofrelationship according toreliability4Relationships below threshold areremovedGrice in the GrammarMarch 16, 201419 / 36
ed Information SharingAhern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 201420 / 36
]Maxim of QualityTry to make your contribution one that is true:Ahern (UPENN)1Do not say what you believe to be false.2Do not say that for which you lack evidence.Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 201421 / 36
]Cooperative PrincipleMake your conversational contribution such as isrequired, at the stage at which it occurs, by theaccepted purposes or direction of the talk exchange.Ahern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 201422 / 36
973)]HedgingA robin is sort of a bird.A penguin is sort of a bird.A bat is sort of a bird.A cow is sort of a bird.Ahern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 201423 / 36
HonestyNetworksLanguageConclusionDivision[Davis et al.(2007)Davis, Potts, and Speas]Quality Threshold [Potts(2007)]An utterance U by speaker S in context Csatisfies quality iff its quality rating, µC (U), isabove the quality threshold Cτ for C.Evidentials, Modals, HedgesSpeakers can signal quality threshold theyexpect an utterance to be evaluated by.Conventionally implicate commitment to somedifferent quality threshold Cτ 0 .Ahern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 201424 / 36
4)]Division of Pragmatic LaborUnmarked form associated with more frequentmeaningMarked form associated with less frequentmeaningAhern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 201425 / 36
HonestyNetworksLanguageConclusionEvidentialsWALS [Dryer and Haspelmath(2013)]Ahern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 201426 / 36
HonestyNetworksLanguageConclusionEvidentialsWALS [Dryer and Haspelmath(2013)]Ahern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 201427 / 36
sWhy abide by the Maxim of Quality and the Cooperative Principle?Maintenance of relationships and standingStill allows room for varying thresholdsWhat consequences for the structure of language?Pragmatic pressures shape linguistic structureYesterday’s pragmatics is today’s morphosyntax!Ahern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 201428 / 36
HonestyNetworksLanguageConclusionFuture DirectionsFuture DirectionsTheoreticalRicher notions of interactionsBroader definition of informationEmpiricalControlled testing of useCross-linguistic comparisonsAhern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 201429 / 36
HonestyNetworksLanguageConclusionFuture DirectionsThanks!Ahern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 201430 / 36
HonestyNetworksLanguageConclusionFuture DirectionsBibliography ICoren L. Apicella, Frank W. Marlowe, James H. Fowler, and Nicholas A.Christakis.Social networks and cooperation in hunter-gatherers.Nature, 481(7382):497–501, 2012.Christopher Davis, Christopher Potts, and Margaret Speas.The pragmatic values of evidential sentences.In Proceedings of SALT, volume 17, pages 71–88, 2007.Matthew S. Dryer and Martin Haspelmath, editors.WALS Online.Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, 2013.URL http://wals.info/.Ahern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 201431 / 36
HonestyNetworksLanguageConclusionFuture DirectionsBibliography IIA. Grafen.Biological signals as handicaps.Journal of theoretical biology, 144(4):517–546, 1990.H.P. Grice.Logic and conversation.In Studies in the Way of Words, pages 22–40. Harvard University Press,1975.L. Horn.Towards a new taxonomy for pragmatic inference: Q-based and R-basedimplicature.In D. Schiffrin, editor, Meaning, form, and use in context, volume 42,pages 11–42. Washington: Georgetown University Press, 1984.Ahern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 201432 / 36
HonestyNetworksLanguageConclusionFuture DirectionsBibliography IIIG. Lakoff.Hedges: A study in meaning criteria and the logic of fuzzy concepts.Journal of philosophical logic, 2(4):458–508, 1973.H.L. Mencken.A Mencken Chrestomathy.Vintage, 1949.Martin A. Nowak.Five Rules for the Evolution of Cooperation.Science, 314(5805):1560–1563, 2006.Ahern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 201433 / 36
HonestyNetworksLanguageConclusionFuture DirectionsBibliography IVChristopher Potts.Conversational implicatures via general pragmatic pressures.In New Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence, pages 205–218. Springer,2007.D. Reby and K. McComb.Anatomical constraints generate honesty: acoustic cues to age and weightin the roars of red deer stags.Animal behaviour, 65(3):519–530, 2003.Ahern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 201434 / 36
HonestyNetworksLanguageConclusionFuture DirectionsBibliography VT.C. Scott-Phillips.On the correct application of animal signalling theory to humancommunication.In A. D. M. Smith, K. Smith, and R. Ferrer i Cancho, editors, Theevolution of language: Proceedings of the 7th International Conferenceon the Evolution of Language, pages 275–282, Singapore, 2008. WorldScientific Press.William A. Searcy and Stephen Nowicki.The Evolution of Animal Communication: Reliability and Deception inSignaling Systems.Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2005.Ahern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 201435 / 36
HonestyNetworksLanguageConclusionFuture DirectionsBibliography VIM. Spence.Job market signaling.The quarterly journal of Economics, 87(3):355–374, 1973.A. Zahavi.Mate selection–a selection for a handicap.Journal of theoretical Biology, 53(1):205–214, 1975.Ahern (UPENN)Grice in the GrammarMarch 16, 201436 / 36
Grice in the Grammar: How Dynamic Social Networks Give Rise to Honesty and Evidentials GURT 2014 Christopher Ahern University of Pennsylvania . Fowler, and Christakis] Ahern (UPENN) Grice in the Grammar March 16, 2014 16 / 36. Honesty Networks Language Conclusion Simulations [Apicella et al.(2012)Apice
