Pragmatic Strengthening and Conventionalized Implicature

This entry discusses how pragmatic strengthening can lead to semantic change and how we detect conventionalized implicatures. I introduce the core terms bridging context , separating context , and reanalysis that serve to describe the process. The use of corpora in the study of pragmatic enrichment will be demonstrated by the German example selbst Intensif > selbst even . I propose that we should distinguish between normal pragmatic strengthening and evidence for lexified implicature . While the distinction has been assumed in earlier theories of semantic change, it remains open what kind of data constitutes empirical evidence for lexified/conventionalized implicature. In those accounts, bridging contexts are identified post hoc, thus weakening theories' predictive potential. I argue that attestations with implicature ‘beyond reason’ are important, so‐far overlooked data points in the diachronic record and offer early evidence for language change.