On Some Semantic Consequences of Turn Taking

Abstract

Implicit in most formal semantic work is the assumption that in a conversation the participants have equal access to the (semantic) object in the context. In this paper I argue against this assumption by pointing out a puzzle concerning the resolution options in dialogue of fact-operator ellipsis. I develop an account of the puzzle within a dialogue-games approach by refining the structure on the common ground facts and explicating the update potential of utterances.