ON ANSWERING QUESTIONS INDIRECTLY: SOME RULES IN THE GRAMMAR OF DOING CONVERSATION

Abstract

The mechanisms through which an indirect response to a question counts as a direct answer to that question can fruitfully be regarded as a process in which the listener supplies, constructs, infers, or is reminded of such statements as will (together with the indirect response itself) allow the inference of a plausible direct answer. This analysis presents seven rules of conversational interpretation, and likens conversational logic to the enthymeme. It also supports a widely asserted characteristic of conversation in general: that participants expect each other to cooperate in making utterances “make sense.”

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