CONTEXT AS THE KEY TO THE CALCULATION OF TAUTOLOGIES

Abstract

Tautology seems to be quite a simple topic in the realm of linguistics, yet the understanding and calculation of it is rather complicated for many factors are involved. As is shown in the present paper, the interpretation of tautologies largely depends upon the context, including specific conversational context, the large cultural and language context, and the mutual knowledge between the speakers. It is indicated that, determined by the context, tautological utterances may serve different pragmatic and communicative imports.