Gapping and causal implicature

Abstract It is shown that Gapped sentences differ from ungapped conjunctions in that the former are not susceptible of causal implicatures, while the latter are, and that this constitutes a potential problem for a Gricean analysis. However, if causal implicatures are defined not on surface syntax but on how the propositions conveyed by surface syntax enter the discourse model, and if the special discourse function of Gapping is taken into account, then it follows in a natural and non‐ad hoc way that Gapped sentences will not induce causal implicatures.