Alan Bale, McGill University

Research

Read how they describe their research on their McGill University profile.

implicatures communication speaker knowledge default reasoning theory of mind scalar implicature evidentiality pragmatic reasoning

Latest papers

Conditional inference and access to alternatives: The role of QUD and speaker knowledge in conditional perfection
2026
Conditional inference and access to alternatives: The role of QUD and speaker knowledge in conditional perfection
PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) · 2026 · first author
Conditional inference and access to alternatives: the role of QUD and speaker knowledge in conditional perfection
Journal of Semantics · 2026

All 72 publications

Latest funding

Pragmatics in the age of misinformation: Default reasoning and the theory of other minds
SSHRC · 2023 · Principal investigator
$32,652
Relative measurement in language
SSHRC · 2023 · Co-investigator
$69,672
Economic Volatility and Regional Integration in Canada
SSHRC · 2023 · Co-investigator
$58,320

All 11 grants and awards

72 publications.

01

Conditional inference and access to alternatives: The role of QUD and speaker knowledge in conditional perfection

Ebru Evcen, Alan Clinton Bale, David Barner

2026Open Access

DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/fzjkr_v2

02

Conditional inference and access to alternatives: The role of QUD and speaker knowledge in conditional perfection

Alan Clinton Bale, Ebru Evcen, David Barner

PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints)2026First authorOpen Access

03

Conditional inference and access to alternatives: the role of QUD and speaker knowledge in conditional perfection

Ebru Evcen, Alan Clinton Bale, David Barner

Journal of Semantics2026Open Access

DOI: 10.1093/jos/ffag003

04

Object-mass nouns specify individuation lexically: Evidence from English and French

Khuyen Nha Le, Alan Clinton Bale, David Barner

Glossa a journal of general linguistics2026Open Access

DOI: 10.16995/glossa.26380

05

Natural language and external conventions: re-examining per

Alan Clinton Bale, Bernhard Schwarz

Linguistics and Philosophy2026First author

DOI: 10.1007/s10988-025-09449-5

06

The effect of online methods on epistemic inference and scalar implicature

Alan Clinton Bale, Maho Takahashi, Miguel Mejia, David Barner

Journal of Pragmatics20251 citationsFirst authorOpen Access

DOI: 10.1016/j.pragma.2025.04.006

07

The effect of online methods on epistemic inference and scalar implicature

Alan Clinton Bale, Maho Takahashi, Miguel Mejia, David Barner

2025First authorOpen Access

DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/hu4nv_v1

08

Object-mass nouns specify individuation lexically: Evidence from English and French

Khuyen Nha Le, Alan Clinton Bale, David Barner

2025Open Access

DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/68amw_v2

09

Object-mass nouns specify individuation lexically: Evidence from English and French

Khuyen Nha Le, Alan Clinton Bale, David Barner

2025Open Access

DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/68amw_v1

10

Competence by default: do listeners assume that speakers are knowledgeable when computing conversational inferences?

Alan Clinton Bale, Hisako Noguchi, Marguerite Rolland, David Barner

Journal of Semantics20244 citationsFirst authorOpen Access

DOI: 10.1093/jos/ffae016

Pragmatics in the age of misinformation: Default reasoning and the theory of other minds

Principal investigatorSSHRC2023Insight Grants

Principal investigators: Bale, Alan C.

Keywords: implicatures; communication; speaker knowledge; default reasoning; theory of mind

$32,652

Relative measurement in language

Co-investigatorSSHRC2023Insight Grants

Principal investigators: Schwarz, Bernhard

Keywords: linguistics; semantics; syntax; pragmatics; language of measurement; measurement theory; relative measurement; proportions; ratios; rates; English; French; German; Japanese; Tlingit

$69,672

Economic Volatility and Regional Integration in Canada

Co-investigatorSSHRC2023Insight Grants

Principal investigators: Tombe, Trevor

Keywords: economic volatility; internal trade; migration; inflation

$58,320

Pragmatics in the age of misinformation: Default reasoning and the theory of other minds

Principal investigatorSSHRC2023Insight Grants

Principal investigators: Bale, Alan C.

Keywords: implicatures; communication; speaker knowledge; default reasoning; theory of mind

$73,089

Pragmatics and language revitalization: using evidentiality in Mi'gmaq to explore the interface between grammar and general reasoning

Principal investigatorSSHRC2016Insight Grants

Principal investigators: Bale, Alan C.

Keywords: scalar implicature; evidentiality; pragmatic reasoning; Mi'gmaq; Algonquian languages; language revitalization; online linguistic databases; participatory action research

$225,438

The 46th annual meeting of the North East Linguistics Society - NELS 46

Principal investigatorSSHRC2015Connection Grants

Principal investigators: Bale, Alan Clinton

Keywords: conference; theoretical linguistics; wikipedia workshop; digital database workshop

$20,904

Cleaning, organizing, and uniting linguistic databases (the COULD project)

Principal investigatorSSHRC2013

Principal investigators: Bale, Alan Clinton

Keywords: theoretical linguistics; computational linguistics; language documentation; computer science

$125,000

A community/linguistics collaboration for revitalizing Mi'gmaq in Listuguj

Co-investigatorSSHRC2012Connection Grants

Principal investigators: Coon, Jessica

Keywords: First Nations; endangered languages; language preservation; language documentation; heritage languages; linguistics

$51,160

Developing mobile learning applications for the Mi'gmaq language: new opportunities for language research and revitalization

Co-investigatorSSHRC2012

Principal investigators: Coon, Jessica

Keywords: linguistics; language revitalization; Mi'gmaq Mi'kmaq; Algonquian; Quebec; aboriginal; endangered languages; open-source database creation; language-learning application; master-apprentice program

$200,000

Language, number and mathematics

Principal investigatorSSHRC2011

Principal investigators: Bale, Alan Clinton

Keywords: semantics; syntax; morphology; language acquisition; number words; number agreement; comparison; mass-count distinction; quantification; philosophy of language; psycholinguistics; Mi'kmaq; Western Armenian

$86,258

From public funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998 with their latest competition results, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Genome Canada, the Canadian Space Agency, Canada Research Chairs, the Fonds de recherche du Québec, Ontario research funding, Michael Smith Health Research BC, the Canadian Cancer Society, Heart & Stroke and Brain Canada.

Frequent collaborators

Department of Linguistics
Semantics
About the Department
Department of Psychology
Concordia Centre for Cognitive Science
Linguistics

Co-authors at McGill University, colored by department. Thicker lines mean more shared papers; select anyone to open their profile and their own map.

Bernhard Schwarz

Semantics

5 shared papers, latest 2026

Jessica Coon

Department of Linguistics

5 shared papers, latest 2019

Thomas Shultz

Department of Psychology

3 shared papers, latest 2006

Hisako Noguchi

About the Department

3 shared papers, latest 2024

Charles Reiss

Concordia Centre for Cognitive Science

2 shared papers, latest 2019

Dimitrios Skordos

Linguistics

2 shared papers, latest 2020

Write to this professor

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Applying for

Paper to mentionMention their SSHRC grant from 2023

Subject: Prospective PhD student: implicatures Dear Professor Bale, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "Conditional inference and access to alternatives: The role of QUD and speaker knowledge in conditional perfection" (2026), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your SSHRC-funded project "Pragmatics in the age of misinformation: Default reasoning and the theory of other minds" (2023), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]