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Language & Communication

Why does a listener infer an unstated request for silence when a librarian states 'People are trying to study' in a library?

A)Phonetic cues inhibit active listening
B)Semantic ambiguity overwhelms syntactic parsing
C)Prosodic features trigger emotional responses
D)Speech act implicature signals indirect meaning

💡 Explanation

The listener infers a request because the librarian's statement uses speech act implicature, conveying an indirect meaning beyond the literal words. The listener draws a pragmatic inference about the speaker's intention, therefore understanding the implicit request rather than only processing the surface meaning.

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