Publications

Publication details [#10333]

Zaefferer, Dietmar. 1977. Understanding misunderstanding: A proposal for an explanation of reading choices. Journal of Pragmatics 1 (4) : 329–346.
Publication type
Article in journal
Publication language
English

Annotation

Z. argues that the analysis of the phenomenon of misunderstanding presents a fruitful contribution to the development of a theory of linguistic understanding. He tries first to clarify the central notion and proposes a rather detailed classification of different types of misunderstanding. Then Z. develops, with the aid of decision analysis, a general frame for explaining those choices in the process of interpretation which are left open by the grammar.