Mental context and the expression of terms within the English clause

In order to achieve an integrated pragmatic model of the use of natural language, an account is needed of the interplay between grammar and context in the formulation and interpretation of utterances. The purpose of this chapter is to outline how such an accountmay be developed forModern English. It is proposed that information which is part of the interpretation of an utterance, but which is not represented grammatically, needs to be represented at a properly articulated contextual level. If this is done, then it is possible not only to retain a parsimonious type of grammatical representation, but also to accommodate explicitly the contextually supplied contributions to the interpretations of utterances.