Disambiguation of Implicit Time Reference from the Standpoint of Relevance Theory

Dr. Olga V. Larina & Sofia Kraeva,

Department of English, International Law School, MGIMO, Moscow, Russia

The paper is an attempt to show how the principles of Dan Sperber and Deidre Wilson’s Relevance theory can help us better understand the functioning of implicit means of time reference. The theory’s pragmatic and cognitive potential makes it suitable for online analysis of the natural communicative process including the nature of miscomprehension. The paper contains an overview of the main aspects of Relevance theory exemplified by contexts with implicit temporality. The preliminary classification of implicit means of temporal location of an action is also provided. Besides the paper looks into the factors that affect the relevance of an utterance and cites situations in which its relevance decreases resulting in inferential mistakes and failures of the addressor’s informative and communicative intentions.

Keywords: Relevance Theory; Inference; Time Reference; Presupposition; Implicature; Ostensive Stimuli; Cognitive Environment

The above abstract is a part of the article which was accepted at The Ninth International Conference on Languages, Linguistics, Translation and Literature (WWW.LLLD.IR), 1-2 February 2024, Ahwaz.