The elusive benefits of vagueness: the evidence so far

Matthew Green*, K van Deemter

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterAcademicpeer-review

    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.
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationVagueness and rationality in language use and cognition
    EditorsRichard Dietz
    Place of PublicationCham
    PublisherSpringer
    Pages63-86
    Number of pages24
    ISBN (Electronic)9783030159313
    ISBN (Print)9783030159306
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2019

    Publication series

    NameLanguage, cognition, and mind
    Volume5

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