The formulation of promise in Medieval English medical recipes: A relevance-theoretic approach

Abstract

In this paper, we analyse the formulation of promise in Medieval English medical recipesfollowing the Theory of Relevance. Our data for analysis consists of formulae normallyfound at the end of medieval recipes and which have been labelled as efficacy phrasesor statements. A first glance at these expressions suggests that the writer is indeed attestingto the value of a particular remedy. However, we claim that these expressions havedifferent meanings depending on the set of contexts in which they are embedded.