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The Elusive Benefits of Vagueness: The Evidence So Far.

Green, M. and van Deemter, K., 2019. The Elusive Benefits of Vagueness: The Evidence So Far. In: Dietz, R., ed. Vagueness and Rationality in Language Use and Cognition. Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 63-86.

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Official URL: https://www.springer.com/gb/book/9783030159306

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-15931-3

Abstract

Much of everyday language is vague, even in situations where vagueness could have been avoided (i.e., where vagueness is used ‘strategically’). Yet the benefits of vagueness for hearers and readers are proving to be elusive. We discuss a range of earlier controlled experiments with human participants, and we report on a new series of experiments that we ourselves have conducted in recent years. These experiments, which focus on vague expressions that are part of referential noun phrases, aim to separate the utility of vagueness (as defined by the existence of borderline cases) from the utility of other factors that tend to co-occur with vagueness. After presenting the evidence, we argue that it supports a view where the benefits that vague terms exert are due to other influences, and not to vagueness itself.

Item Type:Book Section
ISBN:9783030159306
Series Name:Language, Cognition, and Mind
Number of Pages:183
Group:Faculty of Science & Technology
ID Code:32168
Deposited By: Symplectic RT2
Deposited On:16 Apr 2019 09:08
Last Modified:14 Mar 2022 14:15

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