The following text discusses philosophy of language.
Pragmatics studies how context shapes meaning beyond what words literally say. Grice's theory of conversational implicature shows how speakers convey more than their words state. Saying "some students passed" in response to "did everyone pass?" implies not all did—though the word "some" is logically compatible with "all." This implicature arises because speakers are expected to be informative; if you knew everyone passed, you would say so. Such pragmatic reasoning allows efficient communication but also creates room for misunderstanding when assumptions differ across speakers.
How can "some students passed" imply that not all passed?
The word 'some' literally means 'not all'
Listeners expect speakers to be as informative as possible, so withholding 'all' suggests it doesn't apply
Context never affects the meaning of utterances
Speakers never intend to convey more than literal meanings
Correct Answer: B
Choice B is the correct answer. "Implicature arises because speakers are expected to be informative; if you knew everyone passed, you would say so."
- Evidence: Informativeness expectation; would say "all" if true.
- Reasoning: Withholding stronger term implies it doesn't apply.
- Conclusion: Expectations about informativeness generate implication.
Choice A is incorrect because "some" is "logically compatible with 'all.'" Choice C is incorrect because pragmatics studies exactly how context shapes meaning. Choice D is incorrect because implicature shows speakers convey more.