Logical Relations in Discourse

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When a workshop on logical connectives was first suggested, a leading linguist asked, Are they really logical? Logical relations between propositions were an elusive subject about which little research was available prior to that workshop held in 1989. Field method guides offered nothing for the analysis of signals that tell how a speaker intends for the listener to interpret and associate the propositions in a discourse. The articles in this volume discuss the indicators used by speakers and hearers in a wide range of languages to connect parts of discourse. The cues are sometimes related explicitly to lexical or syntactic features of the discourse; they are often linked to pragmatic aspects, the intended illocutionary effect, and at other times to the knowledge of the participants in the discourse. The goal of the authors is to assist the reader in reaching an understanding of how to determine what the speaker intends, how to identify the cues for the listener, and how to employ those cues.