Overview of Experimental Research on Embedded Implicatures

Lirong Bai

doi:doi:10.11648/j.sd.20251306.15

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Overview of Experimental Research on Embedded Implicatures

Lirong Bai^*

Published in Science Discovery (Volume 13, Issue 6)

Received: 1 December 2025 Accepted: 11 December 2025 Published: 24 December 2025

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Abstract

In recent years, with the interdisciplinary integration of cognitive science and linguistics, experimental pragmatics has emerged as a burgeoning interdisciplinary field. In the course of its development, embedded implicature has become a newly added research topic attracting considerable attention. Generally, embedded implicatures concern the conversational implicatures of complex sentences. Specifically, an embedded implicature is a seeming conversational implicature that is engendered locally at the sub-sentential level, typically occurring in a clause that is embedded under a logical operator such as a propositional attitude verb, a conditional and a comparative. The paper provides a critical overview of experimental research on embedded implicatures. It starts with the experimental background, figuring out that embedded implicature is a cutting-edge topic of experimental pragmatics in the narrow sense. It then attempts to explore the theoretical grounds and experimental methods, ranging from three approaches to ten paradigms. Next, we make an analysis of the experimental contents, covering experiments on three approaches, developmental pragmatics, scale diversity and large language model prediction. Finally, we outline the future development of experimental research on embedded implicatures from four key dimensions: foregrounding, refinement, systematization, and integration.

Published in	Science Discovery (Volume 13, Issue 6)
DOI	10.11648/j.sd.20251306.15
Page(s)	131-138
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Embedded Implicature, Experiment, Background, Theoretical Ground and Method, Content

References

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Bai, L. (2025). Overview of Experimental Research on Embedded Implicatures. Science Discovery, 13(6), 131-138. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sd.20251306.15

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Bai, L. Overview of Experimental Research on Embedded Implicatures. Sci. Discov. 2025, 13(6), 131-138. doi: 10.11648/j.sd.20251306.15

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Bai L. Overview of Experimental Research on Embedded Implicatures. Sci Discov. 2025;13(6):131-138. doi: 10.11648/j.sd.20251306.15

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@article{10.11648/j.sd.20251306.15,
  author = {Lirong Bai},
  title = {Overview of Experimental Research on Embedded Implicatures
},
  journal = {Science Discovery},
  volume = {13},
  number = {6},
  pages = {131-138},
  doi = {10.11648/j.sd.20251306.15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sd.20251306.15},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sd.20251306.15},
  abstract = {In recent years, with the interdisciplinary integration of cognitive science and linguistics, experimental pragmatics has emerged as a burgeoning interdisciplinary field. In the course of its development, embedded implicature has become a newly added research topic attracting considerable attention. Generally, embedded implicatures concern the conversational implicatures of complex sentences. Specifically, an embedded implicature is a seeming conversational implicature that is engendered locally at the sub-sentential level, typically occurring in a clause that is embedded under a logical operator such as a propositional attitude verb, a conditional and a comparative. The paper provides a critical overview of experimental research on embedded implicatures. It starts with the experimental background, figuring out that embedded implicature is a cutting-edge topic of experimental pragmatics in the narrow sense. It then attempts to explore the theoretical grounds and experimental methods, ranging from three approaches to ten paradigms. Next, we make an analysis of the experimental contents, covering experiments on three approaches, developmental pragmatics, scale diversity and large language model prediction. Finally, we outline the future development of experimental research on embedded implicatures from four key dimensions: foregrounding, refinement, systematization, and integration.
},
 year = {2025}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Overview of Experimental Research on Embedded Implicatures

AU  - Lirong Bai
Y1  - 2025/12/24
PY  - 2025
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sd.20251306.15
DO  - 10.11648/j.sd.20251306.15
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AB  - In recent years, with the interdisciplinary integration of cognitive science and linguistics, experimental pragmatics has emerged as a burgeoning interdisciplinary field. In the course of its development, embedded implicature has become a newly added research topic attracting considerable attention. Generally, embedded implicatures concern the conversational implicatures of complex sentences. Specifically, an embedded implicature is a seeming conversational implicature that is engendered locally at the sub-sentential level, typically occurring in a clause that is embedded under a logical operator such as a propositional attitude verb, a conditional and a comparative. The paper provides a critical overview of experimental research on embedded implicatures. It starts with the experimental background, figuring out that embedded implicature is a cutting-edge topic of experimental pragmatics in the narrow sense. It then attempts to explore the theoretical grounds and experimental methods, ranging from three approaches to ten paradigms. Next, we make an analysis of the experimental contents, covering experiments on three approaches, developmental pragmatics, scale diversity and large language model prediction. Finally, we outline the future development of experimental research on embedded implicatures from four key dimensions: foregrounding, refinement, systematization, and integration.

VL  - 13
IS  - 6
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Lirong Bai

School of Foreign Languages, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China

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Bai, L. (2025). Overview of Experimental Research on Embedded Implicatures. Science Discovery, 13(6), 131-138. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sd.20251306.15

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Bai, L. Overview of Experimental Research on Embedded Implicatures. Sci. Discov. 2025, 13(6), 131-138. doi: 10.11648/j.sd.20251306.15

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Bai L. Overview of Experimental Research on Embedded Implicatures. Sci Discov. 2025;13(6):131-138. doi: 10.11648/j.sd.20251306.15

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@article{10.11648/j.sd.20251306.15,
  author = {Lirong Bai},
  title = {Overview of Experimental Research on Embedded Implicatures
},
  journal = {Science Discovery},
  volume = {13},
  number = {6},
  pages = {131-138},
  doi = {10.11648/j.sd.20251306.15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sd.20251306.15},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sd.20251306.15},
  abstract = {In recent years, with the interdisciplinary integration of cognitive science and linguistics, experimental pragmatics has emerged as a burgeoning interdisciplinary field. In the course of its development, embedded implicature has become a newly added research topic attracting considerable attention. Generally, embedded implicatures concern the conversational implicatures of complex sentences. Specifically, an embedded implicature is a seeming conversational implicature that is engendered locally at the sub-sentential level, typically occurring in a clause that is embedded under a logical operator such as a propositional attitude verb, a conditional and a comparative. The paper provides a critical overview of experimental research on embedded implicatures. It starts with the experimental background, figuring out that embedded implicature is a cutting-edge topic of experimental pragmatics in the narrow sense. It then attempts to explore the theoretical grounds and experimental methods, ranging from three approaches to ten paradigms. Next, we make an analysis of the experimental contents, covering experiments on three approaches, developmental pragmatics, scale diversity and large language model prediction. Finally, we outline the future development of experimental research on embedded implicatures from four key dimensions: foregrounding, refinement, systematization, and integration.
},
 year = {2025}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Overview of Experimental Research on Embedded Implicatures

AU  - Lirong Bai
Y1  - 2025/12/24
PY  - 2025
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sd.20251306.15
DO  - 10.11648/j.sd.20251306.15
T2  - Science Discovery
JF  - Science Discovery
JO  - Science Discovery
SP  - 131
EP  - 138
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2331-0650
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sd.20251306.15
AB  - In recent years, with the interdisciplinary integration of cognitive science and linguistics, experimental pragmatics has emerged as a burgeoning interdisciplinary field. In the course of its development, embedded implicature has become a newly added research topic attracting considerable attention. Generally, embedded implicatures concern the conversational implicatures of complex sentences. Specifically, an embedded implicature is a seeming conversational implicature that is engendered locally at the sub-sentential level, typically occurring in a clause that is embedded under a logical operator such as a propositional attitude verb, a conditional and a comparative. The paper provides a critical overview of experimental research on embedded implicatures. It starts with the experimental background, figuring out that embedded implicature is a cutting-edge topic of experimental pragmatics in the narrow sense. It then attempts to explore the theoretical grounds and experimental methods, ranging from three approaches to ten paradigms. Next, we make an analysis of the experimental contents, covering experiments on three approaches, developmental pragmatics, scale diversity and large language model prediction. Finally, we outline the future development of experimental research on embedded implicatures from four key dimensions: foregrounding, refinement, systematization, and integration.

VL  - 13
IS  - 6
ER  -

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