Relevance theory
Relevance theory is a framework to study cognition by providing a psychologically realistic account of communication. This theory has been introduced as an inferential approach to pragmatics that explains how the hearer infers the speaker’s meaning on the basis of provided evidence.13 Relevance theory has had considerable influence in the disputed borderlands between semantics, pragmatics and philosophy of language, including debates about the extent to which pragmatic inference affects the proposition expressed by an utterance.14,15 Nevertheless, since the theory models communication from the perspective of the hearer, critics claim that it fails to take sufficient account of the collaborative and reciprocal nature of communication between individuals.16