Intentionality, speaker’s attitude and the processing of verbal irony
Abstract
Does it take more or less time to read ironic sentences than toread literal equivalents? Though this question has beenextensively discussed in the literature, the results are mixed(seeeg. Filik & Moxey, 2010). The present work attempt to accountfor the differences in the literature by considering the variableeffect of anticipating the intentions of a speaker duringcomprehension of ironic utterances used to answer yes/noquestions, as well as the role of explicit cues regarding theattitude of a speaker. The results show that both of these factorsinteract and together modulate the interpretation of a sentenceas ironic or literal as well as the utterance’s reading times. Weinterpret the results are broadly in line with the predictionsmade by the echoic mention account.