Modeling strategic choices in indirect requests

To ensure effective communication, it is crucial for a speaker to clearly convey the intended meaning while also being mindful of how they phrase their statements to avoid potentially offending the listener. When making requests, speakers often address these challenges by using 'indirect speech', as seen in examples like (1) "Can you open the window?" or (2) "Are you able to open the window?". Indirect requests, like (1) and (2), are considered to carry two types of meaning: literal meaning (inquiring about the listener's ability to perform an action) and directive meaning (asking the listener to perform the action), with variations in the extent to which (1) and (2) express these meanings. We introduce a probabilistic framework that models the speaker's choices between alternatives such as (1) and (2). The model can predict how these choices vary across different social parameters, highlighting the connection between differences in meaning and the selection of request alternatives.