Chapter One Introduction 1
1.1 Preliminary remarks 1
1.2 Defining scalar implicature 4
1.3 Imperfections of Grice's theory on scalar implicature 6
1.3.1 Grice's theory of conversational implicature 6
1.3.2 Limitations of Grice's theory of conversational implicature 8
1.4 Major concerns of the present study 13
Chapter Two Scalar implicature:Its current issues and debates 16
2.1 Approaches to scalar implicature in post-Gricean theories 16
2.1.1 Scalar implicature in neo-Gricean theories 17
2.1.2 Scalar implicature in relevance theory 42
2.1.3 Scalar implicature in other post-Gricean accounts 59
2.2 Scalar implicature:Its controversies in interpretation models 83
2.3 Questioning the previous study on scalar implicature 90
2.3.1 The defining problems of scalar sets 90
2.3.2 The defining problems of the attributes of scalar implicature 93
2.3.3 The problems of the previous models 97
2.4 The feasibility of interpreting scalar implicature as the system-based default meaning 100
Chapter Three Scalar implicature as the system-based meaning 105
3.1 Introduction 105
3.2 Saussure's thought of language as a system 106
3.2.1 The schema-instance relationship among the system,terms and signs 107
3.2.2 Two basic relationships in Saussure's thought of language as a system 116
3.2.3 Language as a conventional system in Saussure's linguistics 122
3.3 Summary 126
Chapter Four Scalar implicature and the system-sign relationship 128
4.1 Horn scales and their problems 128
4.1.1 The deficiency of Horn scales 128
4.1.2 Revising Horn scales 134
4.1.3 Problems with previous formations of scalar sets 140
4.2 Differentiation of notions:scale,set,linguistic expression,word and term 142
4.3 Defining sets via associative relations 145
4.4 Types of associative sets 150
4.5 Further reflections on associative sets 156
4.6 Summary 161
Chapter Five Scalar implicature and the sign-sign relationship 163
5.1 Introduction 163
5.2 The associative set as a system of semantic relations 163
5.3 Associative implicature defined via associative sets 175
5.4 Summary 181
Chapter Six Scalar implicature and the conventional system of language 183
6.1 Introduction 183
6.2 Scalar implicature as the system-based meaning 184
6.3 Scalar implicature defaulted by the language system 185
6.3.1 Defaultness in Saussure's linguistics 186
6.3.2 Common characteristics of defaults and conventions 187
6.3.3 The role of conventions in the default interpretation of scalar implicature 190
6.4 Convention-based reasoning:The inferential mechanism of scalar implicature 195
6.4.1 The said versus the inferred 195
6.4.2 Defining reasoning 198
6.4.3 The hard way and the quick way of reasoning 200
6.4.4 The inference of scalar implicature as the convention-based reasoning process 203
6.5 Summary 209
Chapter Seven Conclusion 211
7.1 Introduction 211
7.2 Major ideas of the present study 211
7.3 Contributions of the present study 215
7.4 Limitations and suggestions for the further research 216
Bibliography 217
Acknowledgements 233