<OT> New Posting: ROA-914

[roa at ruccs.rutgers.edu]

ROA 914-0507

On the rhetorical use of 'almost'

Richard van Gerrevink <richardvangerrevink at student.ru.nl>
Helen de Hoop <H.deHoop at let.ru.nl>

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=914


Abstract:
In this paper we examine the use of almost (and barely)
in Rhetoric. We will see that especially in those cases
where a proposition p leads to conclusion q and proposition
p is not (entirely) true in the real world, a speaker can
use a formulation with almost to try and convince the hearer
still that conclusion q is the case, without having to tell
a lie. We will see that from a speaker's perspective, there
are several constraints that work together in determining
which formulation helps the speaker best in achieving his
goal of convincing the hearer of a certain conclusion. Formulatio
ns with almost surface as the optimal output for achieving
the speaker's goal.

Comments: 
Keywords: rhetoric, almost, argumentation theory, optimality theory
Areas: Semantics
Type: Manuscript

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=914