ABSTRACT
The phrase “pragmatic enrichment” is sometimes used in a broad sense to refer to the process by virtue of which the content conveyed by an utterance comes to include all sorts of elements which are contextually implied without being part of what the utterance literally means. In his class notes “Pragmatic Enrichment: Introduction by Examples,” Chris Potts (2007) gives examples like the following:
(1) John and Mary have recently started going together. Valentino is Mary’s ex-boyfriend. One evening, John asks Mary, “Have you seen Valentino this week?” Mary answers, “Valentino’s been sick with mononucleosis for the past two weeks.” Valentino has in fact been sick with mononucleosis for the past two weeks, but it is also the case that Mary had a date with Valentino the night before.
