Approximation as strategic communication
Manfred Krifka, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Zentrum für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft, Berlin
Why do we interpret measure expressions like ninety-seven miles as more precise than measure expressions like one hundred miles? In this talk I will explain this phenomenon as a result of an intricate interplay of pragmatic principles of strategic communication that shape both the actual use of language to express measurements and the long-term development of measurement scales. I will argue, in particular, that from the plausible assumptions that measurement can be expressed with different levels of granularity and that simple expressions are preferred over complex ones, we can derive that simple expressions indicate coarse-grained interpretations. I will point out differences between languages, in particular differences that relate to the use of decimal and vigesimal number systems.