Incrementality and efficiency shape pragmatics across languages

Significance Pragmatic theories account for the types of inferences that people must derive to interpret language in context (e.g., the speaker’s intention in using a word), regardless of their language. Here we show that a language’s word order determines how pragmatic inferences inform real-time interpretation and how this results from languages being interpreted incrementally and efficiently. In an eye-tracking study comparing four typologically unrelated languages—Catalan, Hindi, Hungarian, and Wolof—we find that, upon seeing identical displays and hearing equivalent descriptions, speakers of adjective–noun languages resolve reference earlier by inferring the intended function of adjectives. Our work shows that, while all language interpretation relies on pragmatic inference, understanding how speaker intentions inform real-time language interpretation calls for a cross-linguistic investigation.