Tautologies with proper names in discourse: Rhetorical relations and interpretation

Abstract

In the literature on tautologies it is assumed that the context plays a major role in their interpretation. We provide an analysis of contexts in which tautologies are encountered in the framework of the theories of discourse structure. We examine a collection of tautologies made from proper names (TPNs) referring to famous personalities, and show that, contrary to the predictions made in previous analyses, i) TPNs can receive a wide variety of interpretations and hence can participate in any kind of rhetorical relation; and ii) TPNs are not necessarily specialized in the evocation of an evaluative attitude.