The process of language comprehension according to Relevance Theory
This conference will focus on the process of understanding language as conceived by Relevance Theory. This process is divided into two phases: the decoding phase, which leads to the representation of the content of the utterance (sentence's meaning), and the inference phase, which enables the speaker's intended meaning to be represented (speaker's meaning). Drawing on Sperber (2000) and Sperber & Origgi (2005), François Heenen will present this approach and talk more specifically about the way in which it conceives the specific roles of the different expressions of language.
Sperber, Dan. (2000). Metarepresentations in an evolutionary perspective, Oxford University Press USA.
Sperber, Dan & Origgi, Gloria. (2005) “Pourquoi parler, comment comprendre?” In J-M.Hombert, (ed.) L’origine de l’homme, du langage et des langues, Paris, Fayard, p. 236-253.
