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In Focus

Upcoming Events

Seminar Series: 15 May 2013 at 16.00

Syntax Reading Group: 22 May 2013 at 15.30

ACTL Summerschool June 24 - 28 2013

Why Study here?

I chose London, not only due to the fact that it is a very cosmopolitan city, but also for its well known reputation in this area: More>>

Divisional subject pool

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Professor Robyn Carston

Professor of Linguistics

Location: Room 107, Chandler House,
2 Wakefield Street, London WC1N 1PF
Telephone: +44 (0) 207 679 4037 (x24037)
Email: robyn.carston@ucl.ac.uk
robync
 

Research Interests


Pragmatics, semantics, non-literal uses of language, tropes and imagery, cognitive processing, cognitive architecture, philosophy of language, communication and interpretation, theory of mind and metarepresentation.

Research Projects
  • Inferential Processes in Literal and Figurative Lexical Interpretation. (post doctoral RA; Paula Rubio Fernandez) - Marie Curie Foundation funding. 2006-2010
  • Word Meaning - What It Is and What It Isn't (with principal investigator, Mark Textor, Kings College London, and post-doctoral researcher, Tim Pritchard) - AHRC funding. 2011-2014.

Post-doctoral Researchers
Alison Hall

From Linguistic Meaning to Speaker Meaning: The Role of Free Pragmatic Enrichment. 

British Academy Fellowship
Paula Rubio Fernandez

Understanding Metaphor: Ad Hoc Concepts and Imagined Worlds.

Leverhulme Trust funding
Larraitz Zubeldia

The Semantics and Pragmatics of Basque Particles and other Expressions (allegedly) Involving GCI's.

Basque Government funding
 


For downloadable versions of Robyn's papers, go to this link here

    2012

    • Carston, R. A. (2012). Implicature and explicature. In Schmid, H. J. (Ed.). Cognitive Pragmatics. ( Vol. 4 ). Mouton de Gruyter.
    • Carston, R. A. (2012). Legal Texts and canons of construction: A view from current pragmatic theory. In Freeman, M. (Ed.). Law and Language ( Vol. 16 ). Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Accepted]
    • Carston, R. A. (2012). Metaphor and the literal/nonliteral distinction. In Allan, K., Jaszczolt, K. M. (Eds.). The Cambridge Handbook of Pragmatics ( ). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Publisher URL [Accepted]
    • Carston, R. A. (2012). Relevance Theory. In Russell, G., Graff Fara, D. (Eds.). Routledge Companion to the Philosophy of Language ( pp.163-176). London: Routledge. Publisher URL
    • Hall, A. M., Carston, (2012). Implicature and explicature. In Schmid, H. -. J. (Ed.). Handbook of Cognitive Pragmatics ( ). Mouton de Gruyter.

    2011

    • Carston, R. A. (2011). Review of M. Ariel 2008. Pragmatics and Grammar, Cambridge University Press. Language 87(3), 625-628 [Accepted]
    • Carston, R. A., Wearing, C. (2011). Metaphor, hyperbole and simile: A pragmatic approach. Language and Cognition 3(2), 283-312

    2010

    • CARSTON, R. (2010). Explicit communication and 'free' pragmatic enrichment. In Soria, B., Romero, E. (Eds.). Explicit communication: Robyn Carston's pragmatics ( pp.217-287). Palgrave.
    • Carston, R. (2010). Lexical pragmatics, ad hoc concepts and metaphor: from a relevance theory perspective. Italian Journal of Linguistics 22(1), 153-180
    • CARSTON, R. (2010). Metaphor: ad hoc concepts, literal meaning and mental images. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 110(3), 295-321
    • Carston, R. A. (2010). Relevance Theory. CAmbridge Encyclopedia of the Language Sciences

    2009

    • Carston, R. (2009). Explicit/implicit distinction. In Cummings, L. (Ed.). The Pragmatics Encyclopedia ( ). Routledge.
    • Carston, R. (2009). The Explicit/Implicit Distinction in Pragmatics and the Limits of Explicit Communication. International Review of Pragmatics 1(1), 35-62
    • Carston, R. (2009). Txtng: The Gr8 Db8 (D. Crystal). The Educational Review 61(2), 234-236

    2008

    • Carston, R. (2008). Linguistic communication and the semantics-pragmatics distinction. Synthese 165(3), 321-345
    • Carston, R. (2008). Minimal Semantics - by Emma Borg. Mind and Language 23(3), 359-367
    • Carston, R. (2008). Optional pragmatic processes or optional covert linguistic structure? UCL Working Papers in Linguistics 20, 143-156
    • Wilson, D., Carston, R. (2008). Metaphor and the ‘emergent property’ problem: A relevance-theoretic treatment. The Baltic International Yearbook of Cognition, Logic and Communication 3 (2007), 1-40

    2007

    • Carston, R. (2007). How many pragmatic systems are there? In Frapolli, M. -. J. (Ed.). Saying, Meaning, Referring: Essays on the Philosophy of Francois Recanati ( pp.18-48). Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Carston, R. (2007). Linguistic communication and the semantics/pragmatics distinction. Synthese online doi:10.1007/s11229-007-9191-8.
    • Carston, R., Behrens, B. (2007). Making connections - linguistic or pragmatic? In Nilsen, R. A., Amfo, N. A. A., Borthen, K. (Eds.). Interpreting Utterances: Pragmatics and its Interfaces ( pp.51-78). Oslo: Novus Press.
    • Frapolli, M. -. J., Carston, R. (2007). Representation and metarepresentation. In Frapolli, M. -. J. (Ed.). Saying, Meaning, Referring: Essays on the Philosophy of Francois Recanati ( ). Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Wilson, D., Carston, R. (2007). A unitary approach to lexical pragmatics: relevance, inference and ad hoc concepts. In Burton-Roberts, N. (Ed.). Pragmatics (1 ed. pp.230-259). Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Author URL
    • Wilson, D., Carston, R. I. A., M, K., K, L., eds, J. (2007). Word meanings in context: A unitary relevance-theoretic account. Language, Representation, and Reasoning: Memorial Volume to Isabel Gómez Txurruka. , 283-313

    2006

    • Carston, R., Blakemore, D., van de Koot, H. (Eds.) (2006). Language in Mind: A Tribute to Neil Smith on the Occasion of his Retirement. Lingua 116(10) doi:10.1016/j.lingua.2006.05.002.
    • Carston, R. (2006). [Language and thought]. In Brown, K. (Ed.). Encyclopaedia of Language and Linguistics (2nd ed. ). Elsevier.
    • Carston, R. (2006). Modularity. In Brown, K. (Ed.). Encyclopaedia of Language and Linguistics (2nd ed. ). Elsevier.
    • Carston, R., Blakemore, D., van de Koot, H. (2006). Neil Smith's linguistics. Lingua 116(10), 1465-1468 doi:10.1016/j.lingua.2006.05.002.
    • Carston, R., Powell, G. (2006). Relevance theory - new directions and developments. In Lepore, E., Smith, B. C. (Eds.). Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Language ( pp.341-360). Oxford University Press.
    • Wilson, D., Carston, R. (2006). Metaphor, relevance and the 'emergent property' issue. Mind and Language 21(3), 404-433 doi:10.1111/j.1468-0017.2006.00284.x.

    2005

    • Blakemore, D., Carston, R. A. (2005). The pragmatics of sentential coordination with and. Lingua 115(4), 569-589 doi:10.1016/j.lingua.2003.09.016.
    • Carston, R. (2005). A note on pragmatic principles of least effort. UCL Working Papers in Linguistics (17), 271-278
    • Carston, R. (2005). Pragmatics (addendum). (2nd ed. ). Macmillan Reference.
    • Carston, R. (2005). Relevance Theory, Grice and the neo-Griceans:a response to Laurence Horn's 'Current issues in neo-Gricean pragmatics'. Intercultural Pragmatics 2(3), 303-319
    • Carston, R., Blakemore, D. (2005). Coordination:syntax, semantics and pragmatics. Lingua 115(4), 353-358 doi:10.1016/j.lingua.
    • Carston, R., Powell, G. (2005). Relevance theory - new directions and developments. UCL Working Papers in Linguistics (17), 279-299

    2004

    • Carston, R. (2004). Explicature and semantics. In Davis, S., Gillon, B. (Eds.). Semantics: A Reader ( pp.817-845). Oxford University Press.
    • Carston, R. (2004). Relevance Theory and the saying/implicating distinction. In Horn, L., Ward, G. (Eds.). The Handbook of Pragmatics ( pp.633-656). Oxford: Blackwells.
    • Carston, R. (2004). Stephen C. Levinson, Presumptive meanings: the theory of generalized conversational implicature. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2000. Pp. xxiii+480. Journal of Linguistics 40(1), 181-186 doi:10.1017/S0022226703272364. Publisher URL
    • Carston, R. (2004). Truth-conditional content and conversational implicature. In Bianchi, C. (Ed.). The Semantics/Pragmatics Distinction ( pp.65-100). CSLI. Stanford University.

    2003

    • Carston, R. (2003). Truth-conditional content and conversational implicature. UCL Working Papers in Linguistics 15, 35-69

    2002

    • Carston, R., Guttenplan, S., Wilson, D. (Eds.) (2002). Introduction. Mind and Language: Special Issue on Pragmatics and Cognitive Science 17(1), 1-2
    • Carston, R. (Ed.) (2002). Linguistic Meaning, Communicated Meaning and Cognitive Pragmatics. Mind and Language: Special Issue on Pragmatics and Cognitive Science 17(1), 127-148
    • Carston, R. (Ed.) (2002). Metaphor, ad hoc concepts and word meaning - more questions than answers. UCL Working Papers in Linguistics 14, 83-105
    • Carston, R. (2002). Thoughts and Utterances: The Pragmatics of Explicit Communication. Oxford: Blackwell.

    2001

    • Carston, R. (Ed.) (2001). Relevance theory and the saying/implicating distinction. UCL Working Papers in Linguistics 13, 1-34

    2000

    • Carston, R. (Ed.) (2000). Explicature and semantics. UCL Working Papers in Linguistics 12, 1-44
    • Carston, R. (Ed.) (2000). The relationship between generative grammar and (relevance-theoretic) pragmatics. Language and Communication 20, 87-103

    1999

    • Blakemore, D., Carston, R. (Eds.) (1999). The pragmatics of and-conjunctions: the non-narrative cases. UCL Working Papers in Linguistics 11, 1-20
    • Carston, R. (Ed.) (1999). The relationship between generative grammar and (relevance-theoretic) pragmatics. UCL Working Papers in Linguistics 11, 21-40
    • Carston, R. (1999). Negation, ‘presupposition’ and metarepresentation: a response to Noel Burton-Roberts. Journal of Linguistics 35(2), 365-389 Publisher URL
    • Carston, R. (1999). Review of "Using Language", Clark,H. (1996). Journal of Linguistics 35(1), 167-171 Publisher URL
    • Carston, R. (1999). The semantics/pragmatics distinction: a view from Relevance Theory. In Turner, K. (Ed.). The Semantics / Pragmatics Interface from Different Points of View (CRiSPI 1) ( pp.85-125). Elsevier Science.

    1998

    • Carston, R., Uchida, S. (Eds.) (1998). Relevance Theory: Applications and Implications. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
    • Carston, R. (Ed.) (1998). The semantics / pragmatics distinction: a view from Relevance Theory. UCL Working Papers in Linguistics 10, 303-329
    • Carston, R. (1998). Conjunction and pragmatic effects. In Mey, J. (Ed.). Concise Encyclopedia of Pragmatics ( ). Pergamon Press.
    • Carston, R. (1998). Implicature, explicature and truth-theoretic semantics. In Kasher, A. (Ed.). Pragmatics: Critical Concepts Volume IV ( pp.436-464). Routledge.
    • Carston, R. (1998). Informativeness, relevance and scalar implicature. In Carston, R., Uchida, S. (Eds.). Relevance Threory: Applications and Implications ( pp.179-236). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
    • Carston, R. (1998). Negation, ‘presupposition’ and the semantics/pragmatics distinction. Journal of Linguistics 34(2), 309-350 Publisher URL
    • Carston, R. (1998). Postscript to 'Implicature, explicature and truth-theoretic semantics'. In Kasher, A. (Ed.). Pragmatics: Critical Concepts Volume IV ( pp.464-479). Routledge.
    • Carston, R. (1998). Syntax and pragmatics. In Mey, J. (Ed.). Concise Encyclopedia of Pragmatics ( ). Pergamon Press.
    • Wilson, D., Sperber, D. (1998). Pragmatics and time. In Carston, R., Uchida, S. (Eds.). Relevance theory: Applications and implications ( pp.1-22). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Downloadable Papers
2011
 (with Alison Hall) Implicature and explicature. In: H-J. Schmid & D. Geeraerts (eds.) Cognitive Pragmatics, vol.4 of Handbooks in Pragmatics. Mouton de Gruyter.
2011
 Metaphor and the literal-nonliteral distinction. In: K. Allan and K. Jaszczolt (eds.) Cambridge Handbook of Pragmatics
2011
 Relevance theory. In: G. Russell & D. Graff Fara (eds.) Routledge Companion to the Philosophy of Language. Routledge.
2010
 Metaphor: ad hoc concepts, literal meaning and mental images. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society vol.110, part 3: 295-321.
2010
 Explicit communication and `free' pragmatic enrichment. In: B. Soria and E. Romero, (eds.) Explicit Communication: Robyn Carston's Pragmatics. Palgrave. pp.217-287.
2010
 Lexical pragmatics, ad hoc concepts and metaphor: from a relevance theory perspective. Italian Journal of Linguistics 22 (1): 153-180. (Special Issue on `Neuropragmatics')
2009 Explicit/implicit distinction. In: L. Cummings (ed.) The Pragmatics Encyclopedia. Routledge.
2009 The explicit/implicit distinction in pragmatics and the limits of explicit communication. International Review of Pragmatics 1 (1): 35-62.
2009 A review of D. Crystal, 2008. Txtng: The Gr8 Db8. Oxford: Oxford University Press. The Educational Review 61 (2): 234-36.
2008 (with Deirdre Wilson) Metaphor and the ‘emergent property’ problem: A relevance- theoretic treatment. The Baltic International Yearbook of Cognition, Logic and Communication, vol. 3: A Figure of Speech: 1-40. New Prairie Press.
2008 A review of E. Borg, 2004. Minimal Semantics. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Mind and Language 23 (3): 359-367.
2008 Linguistic communication and the semantics-pragmatics distinction. Synthese 165 (3), 321-345 (Special issue on the Semantics/Pragmatics distinction)
2007 (with Bergljot Behrens)  Making connections - linguistic or pragmatic? In Nilsen, R.A., Amfo, N. A. and Borthen, K.(eds.) Interpreting Utterances: Pragmatics and its Interfaces. Essays in Honour of Thorstein Fretheim. 41-68. Novus, Oslo.
2007 (with Deirdre Wilson)  A unitary approach to lexical pragmatics: relevance, inference and ad hoc concepts.  In: Burton-Roberts (ed.) Advances in Pragmatics.  230-260. Palgrave.
2007 How many pragmatic systems are there?  In: Frapolli, M-J (ed.) Saying, Meaning, Referring: Essays on the Philosophy of Francois Recanati. 18-48. Palgrave.
2007 (with Maria Jose Frapolli)  Representation and metarepresentation. In: Frapolli, M-J (ed.) Saying, Meaning, Referring: Essays on the Philosophy of Francois Recanati. 1-17. Palgrave.
2006 (with George Powell) Relevance theory new directions and developments. In: Lepore, E. Smith, B. (eds.) Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Language.  341-360. Oxford University Press.
2006 (with Diane Blakemore and Hans van de Koot) Neil Smith linguistics. Lingua 116 (10), 1465-1469.
2006 (with Deirdre Wilson) Metaphor, relevance and the emergent property issue.  Mind and Language 21 (3), 404-433.
2005 Relevance Theory, Grice and the neo-Griceans: a response to Laurence Horn's ‘Current issues in neo-Gricean pragmatics'. Intercultural Pragmatics 2 (3), 303-319.
2005 (with Diane Blakemore) The pragmatics of sentential coordination with 'and'. Lingua 115 (4), 569-589.
2004. Truth-conditional content and conversational implicature . In: C. Bianchi (ed.) The Semantics/Pragmatics Distinction. CSLI Publications.
2004 Relevance theory and the saying/implicating distinction. In: L. Horn & G. Ward (eds.) Handbook of Pragmatics. Oxford: Blackwell.
2004 Explicature and semantics. In: S. Davis & B. Gillon (eds.) Semantics: A Reader. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2004 Review of Stephen C. Levinson Presumptive Meanings: The Theory of Generalized Conversational Implicature. Journal of Linguistics 40, 181-186.
2002 Metaphor, ad hoc concepts and word meaning - more questions than answers. UCL Working Papers in Linguistics 14.
2002 Linguistics meaning, communicated meaning and cognitive pragmatics. Mind and Language, Special Issue on Pragmatics & Cognitive Science 17 (1/2), 127-48.
2000. The relationship between generative grammar and (relevance-theoretic) pragmatics. Language & Communication 20, 87-103.
1999 The semantics/pragmatics distinction: A view from Relevance Theory. In: K. Turner (ed.)
1999 The Semantics/Pragmatics Interface from Different Points of View (CRiSPI 1). Elsevier Science.
1999
 		Negation, ‘presupposition' and metarepresentation: A response to Noel Burton-Roberts. Journal of Linguistics 35 (2), 365-89.
1998 Informativeness, relevance and scalar implicature. In: R. Carston & S. Uchida (eds.) Relevance Theory: Applications and Implications, 179-236. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
1998 Negation, ‘presupposition' and the semantics/pragmatics distinction. Journal of Linguistics 34 (2), 309-50.
1997 Enrichment and loosening: complementary processes in deriving the proposition expressed? Linguistische Berichte 8, Special Issue on Pragmatics, 103-27.
1996 Metalinguistic negation and echoic use. Journal of Pragmatics 25, 309-30.
 

Current PhD Students
Thiago N. Galery
 Deferred Uses of Pronouns Revisited
Diana Mazzarella
 Semantic underdeterminancy, lexical pragmatics and figurative uses of language.
Isabelle Needham-Didsbury
 Extended metaphors and Literal Processing: Perspectives from Psychotherapy.
Catalina Urquiza Arribas
 Figurative Utterances and Discursive Memory
Beata Zacharska Definiteness and Reference

Completed PhD Students
Ingrid Lossius Falkum The Semantics and Pragmatics of Polysemy: A Relevance-Theoretic Account (2010)
Alison Hall
 Free Pragmatic Processes and Explicit Utterance Content (2008)
Hiroyuki Uchida
 Quantifier Scope Alternation in Type Logical Grammar (2008)
Mark Jary Assertion and Mood: A Cognitive Account (2005)
Rosa Vega Moreno
 Creativity and Convention: The Pragmatics of Everyday Figurative Speech (2005)
George Powell
 Language, Thought and Reference (2003)
Corinne Iten
 Non-Truth-Conditional Meaning, Relevance and Concessives (2000)
Reiko Itani
 Semantics and Pragmatics of Hedges in English and Japanese (1995)
Adrian Pilkington Poetic Thoughts and Poetic Effects: A Relevance Theory Account of the Literary Use of Rhetorical Tropes and Schemes (1994)
Vassiliki Rouchota The Semantics and Pragmatics of the Subjunctive in Modern Greek: A Relevance-Theoretic Approach (1994)

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