On the optimality of vagueness: “around”, “between” and the Gricean maxims

Paul Égré; Benjamin Spector; Adèle Mortier; Steven Verheyen

doi:10.1007/s10988-022-09379-6

On the optimality of vagueness: “around”, “between” and the Gricean maxims

Paul Égré^*, Benjamin Spector^*, Adèle Mortier, Steven Verheyen

^*Corresponding author for this work

Brain & Cognition

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

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Abstract

Why is ordinary language vague? We argue that in contexts in which a cooperative speaker is not perfectly informed about the world, the use of vague expressions can offer an optimal tradeoff between truthfulness (Gricean Quality) and informativeness (Gricean Quantity). Focusing on expressions of approximation such as “around”, which are semantically vague, we show that they allow the speaker to convey indirect probabilistic information, in a way that can give the listener a more accurate representation of the information available to the speaker than any more precise expression would (intervals of the form “between”). That is, vague sentences can be more informative than their precise counterparts. We give a probabilistic treatment of the interpretation of “around”, and offer a model for the interpretation and use of “around”-statements within the Rational Speech Act (RSA) framework. In our account the shape of the speaker’s distribution matters in ways not predicted by the Lexical Uncertainty model standardly used in the RSA framework for vague predicates. We use our approach to draw further lessons concerning the semantic flexibility of vague expressions and their irreducibility to more precise meanings.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1075-1130
Number of pages	56
Journal	Linguistics and Philosophy
Volume	46
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10988-022-09379-6
Publication status	Published - Oct 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We owe special thanks to Leon Bergen, Emmanuel Chemla, Alexandre Cremers, Michael Franke, and Dan Lassiter, for their detailed feedback on specific aspects of the paper, as well as to three anonymous referees, and to our L &P editors Stefan Kaufmann and Regine Eckardt. We also thank audiences in Stuttgart (DGfS Annual Conference 2018), Groningen, Amsterdam, Aix-en-Provence, Brussels (LNAT 4), Berlin (Workshop “The Meaning of Numerals”), Stockholm, Turin (FEW 2019), London (COLAFORM Meeting), Nantes (OASIS 2), Munich, Oxford, New York, Melbourne, Créteil, and Paris (LINGUAE seminar; workshop “Signaling in Social Interactions”; workshop “Vagueness in the Sciences”). We thank the many colleagues present on those and other occasions for valuable discussions, in particular D. Atkinson, M. Ariel, A. Baltag, D. Bonnay, C. Hesse, B. Kooi, C. List, J. MacFarlane, S. Mascarenhas, P. Pagin, J. Peijnenburg, P. Schlenker, S. Solt, H. De Smet, J-W. Romeijn, U. Stojnic. This research was supported by the programs ANR PROBASEM (ANR-19-CE28-0004-01), ANR AMBISENSE (ANR-19-CE28-0019-01), and ANR FRONTCOG (ANR-17-EURE-0017). We also thank the ANR-DFG program COLAFORM (ANR-16-FRAL-0010), the van Gogh Project 42589PM, and the France-Berkeley Fund for additional support.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.

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On the optimality of vaguenessFinal published version, 1.42 MBLicence: Article 25fa Dutch Copyright Act

Cite this

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abstract = "Why is ordinary language vague? We argue that in contexts in which a cooperative speaker is not perfectly informed about the world, the use of vague expressions can offer an optimal tradeoff between truthfulness (Gricean Quality) and informativeness (Gricean Quantity). Focusing on expressions of approximation such as “around”, which are semantically vague, we show that they allow the speaker to convey indirect probabilistic information, in a way that can give the listener a more accurate representation of the information available to the speaker than any more precise expression would (intervals of the form “between”). That is, vague sentences can be more informative than their precise counterparts. We give a probabilistic treatment of the interpretation of “around”, and offer a model for the interpretation and use of “around”-statements within the Rational Speech Act (RSA) framework. In our account the shape of the speaker{\textquoteright}s distribution matters in ways not predicted by the Lexical Uncertainty model standardly used in the RSA framework for vague predicates. We use our approach to draw further lessons concerning the semantic flexibility of vague expressions and their irreducibility to more precise meanings.",

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note = "Funding Information: We owe special thanks to Leon Bergen, Emmanuel Chemla, Alexandre Cremers, Michael Franke, and Dan Lassiter, for their detailed feedback on specific aspects of the paper, as well as to three anonymous referees, and to our L \&P editors Stefan Kaufmann and Regine Eckardt. We also thank audiences in Stuttgart (DGfS Annual Conference 2018), Groningen, Amsterdam, Aix-en-Provence, Brussels (LNAT 4), Berlin (Workshop “The Meaning of Numerals”), Stockholm, Turin (FEW 2019), London (COLAFORM Meeting), Nantes (OASIS 2), Munich, Oxford, New York, Melbourne, Cr{\'e}teil, and Paris (LINGUAE seminar; workshop “Signaling in Social Interactions”; workshop “Vagueness in the Sciences”). We thank the many colleagues present on those and other occasions for valuable discussions, in particular D. Atkinson, M. Ariel, A. Baltag, D. Bonnay, C. Hesse, B. Kooi, C. List, J. MacFarlane, S. Mascarenhas, P. Pagin, J. Peijnenburg, P. Schlenker, S. Solt, H. De Smet, J-W. Romeijn, U. Stojnic. This research was supported by the programs ANR PROBASEM (ANR-19-CE28-0004-01), ANR AMBISENSE (ANR-19-CE28-0019-01), and ANR FRONTCOG (ANR-17-EURE-0017). We also thank the ANR-DFG program COLAFORM (ANR-16-FRAL-0010), the van Gogh Project 42589PM, and the France-Berkeley Fund for additional support. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.",

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On the optimality of vagueness: “around”, “between” and the Gricean maxims

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