Q-based narrowing

Q-based narrowing

In semantics, Q-based narrowing is narrowing (a reduction in a word's range of meanings) that is caused by Grice's Maxim of Quantity ("see" Gricean maxims). Q-based narrowing occurs when a word "A" is a hypernym of a word "B" — that is, when every instance of "B" is an example of "A". It is then common for the use of "A" to imply "not B". For example, consider the words "finger" and "thumb". A thumb is a kind of finger (hence the phrase "ten fingers"), but the term "finger" is not ordinarily applied to it: someone who has hurt their thumb might technically be correct in saying "I hurt my finger", but it would be misleading; the ordinary thing to say is "I hurt my thumb."

The term "Q-based narrowing" is due to Yale linguist Laurence Horn.

External links

* [http://literalminded.wordpress.com/2004/07/29/the-chicken-says-cock-a-doodle-doo/ Literal-Minded — The Chicken Says “Cock-a-Doodle-Doo!”]


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