Scalar Implicature in Urdu and English
A Scoping Review of Cross-Linguistic Evidence
Keywords:
scalar implicature, pragmatics, scoping review, bilingual pragmatics, Urdu-English bilingualism, cross-linguistic pragmaticsAbstract
Scalar implicature is a central concept in pragmatics that explains how speakers communicate meanings beyond the literal interpretations of their utterances. Despite scalar implicature having been examined in detail in English and some other major languages, comparatively little is known about the concept in Urdu and some other South Asian languages. This study presents a scoping review of existing literature on scalar implicature showing the importance of cross-linguistic evidence in relation to Urdu and English. To reach this aim, a systematic review of the literature was conducted through an exhaustive search of online academic databases, such as Google Scholar, Scopus, ERIC, and Web of Science, adhere to find theoretical and empirical studies published in English from 1975 to 2025 and to assess and analyze these data against pre-established inclusion criteria. The analysis indicated that research conducted so far has provided significant theoretical and experimental justification for scalar implicature in English, while the existing studies related to Urdu are scarce. Still, rather than evidencing the areas of cross-linguistic differences regarding the processes of scalar implicature in communication, this review has identified a considerable gap in the available evidence concerning the functioning of scalar implicature in Urdu-speaking multilingual environments. Consequently, the study proves that it is important to conduct additional research with regard to the ways scalar implicature is applied in multilingual contexts involving speakers of Urdu and English.
Downloads
References
Bott, L., & Noveck, I. A. (2004). Some utterances are under informative: The onset and time course of scalar inferences. Journal of Memory and Language, 51(3), 437–457.
Breheny, R., Katsos, N., & Williams, J. (2006). Are generalized scalar implicatures generated by default? An online investigation into the role of context in generating pragmatic inferences. Cognition, 100(3), 434–463.
Chierchia, G., Fox, D., & Spector, B. (2012). Scalar implicature as a grammatical phenomenon. In C. Maienborn, K. von Heusinger, & P. Portner (Eds.), Semantics: An International Handbook of Natural Language Meaning (Vol. 3, pp. 2297–2331). De Gruyter.
Doran, R., Baker, R., McNabb, Y., Larson, M., & Ward, G. (2009). On the non-unified nature of scalar implicature: An empirical investigation. International Review of Pragmatics, 1(2), 211–248.
Fox, D. (2007). Free choice and the theory of scalar implicatures. In U. Sauerland & P. Stateva (Eds.), Presupposition and Implicature in Compositional Semantics (pp. 71–120). Palgrave Macmillan.
Gotzner, N., Solt, S., & Benz, A. (2018). Scalar diversity, negative strengthening, and adjectival semantics. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1659.
Grice, H. P. (1975). Logic and conversation. In P. Cole & J. L. Morgan (Eds.), Syntax and Semantics: Vol. 3. Speech Acts (pp. 41–58). Academic Press.
Horn, L. R. (1989). A Natural History of Negation. University of Chicago Press.
Huang, Y. T., & Snedeker, J. (2009). Online interpretation of scalar quantifiers: Insight into the semantics–pragmatics interface. Cognitive Psychology, 58(3), 376–415.
Levinson, S. C. (2000). Presumptive Meanings: The Theory of Generalized Conversational Implicature. MIT Press.
Noveck, I. A. (2001). When children are more logical than adults: Experimental investigations of scalar implicature. Cognition, 78(2), 165–188.
Sperber, D., & Wilson, D. (1995). Relevance: Communication and Cognition (2nd ed.). Blackwell.
Tricco, A. C., Lillie, E., Zarin, W., O'Brien, K. K., Colquhoun, H., Levac, D., Moher, D., Peters, M. D. J., Horsley, T., Weeks, L., Hempel, S., Akl, E. A., Chang, C., McGowan, J., Stewart, L., Hartling, L., Aldcroft, A., Wilson, M. G., Garritty, C., Lewin, S., Godfrey, C. M., Macdonald, M. T., Langlois, E. V., Soares-Weiser, K., Moriarty, J., Clifford, T., Tunçalp, Ö., & Straus, S. E. (2018). PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR): Checklist and explanation. Annals of Internal Medicine, 169(7), 467–473.
Van Tiel, B., Van Miltenburg, E., Zevakhina, N., & Geurts, B. (2016). Scalar diversity. Journal of Semantics, 33(1), 137–175.
Downloads
Published
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Inaya Sehar, Tahira Kanwal, Nosheen Sehar (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
