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CONVERSATIONAL IMPLICATURES
BLL 116 – Group 4
IMPLICATURES
Propositions or assumptions not encoded, complete or
incomplete, in what is actually said
The implied meaning generated intentionally by the
speaker
What is meant by the speaker’s utterance that is not
part of what is explicitly said
Depends on particular
features of the context
Example:
A:Will Sally be at the meeting
this afternoon?
B: Her car broke down.
Does not depend on
particular features of the
context but is instead
typically associated with the
proposition expressed
Example:
Mary has 3 children.
GENERALIZED VS. PARTICULARIZED
PARTICULARIZED GENERALIZED
HOW DO IMPLICATURES ARISE?
1.The assumption that the speaker is obeying the rules
of conversation to the best of their ability.
2.It arises from the proposition actually expressed in
the utterance.
3.It is possible from certain features of the context.
A: Am I in time for
supper?
B: I’ve cleared the table
EXAMPLES
A: Have you cleared the
table and washed the
dishes?
B: I’ve taken all the
things off the table.
A: The movie starts
showing today.
B: My parents haven’t
given me my allowance
MORE EXAMPLES
A: Do I look good in this
dress?
B: It matches your shoes.
1. A: Do you love me?
B: I’m quite fond of you.
2. A: Do you like my new
carpet?
B: The wallpaper is not
bad.
3. A: I’ve run out of petrol.
B: There’s a garage just
‘round the corner.
4. A: Did you buy salt?
B: I tried to.
EXERCISE
Give an implication to each of the situations below.
ENTAILMENTS
ENTAILMENT
∞Under certain conditions the truth of one statement
ensures the truth of a second statement
∞Based firmly in truth
[ a proposition X ENTAILS a proposition Y, I
the truth of Y follows necessarily from the truth of X]
John killed Bill (X)
Entails
Bill died (Y)
EXAMPLES
Alan lives in Toronto
(X)
entails
Alan lives in Canada
(Y)
EXERCISE
1)John boiled an egg entails John cooked an egg.
C / I
2)Mark ate all the kippers entails Someone ate all the
kippers. C / I
3)No one has led a perfect life entails Someone has led a
perfect life C / I
∞Cannot be cancelled as it results to a complication
Example:
I killed Eric (X) entails Eric did not die (Y)
Y is in contradiction of X
IMPLICATURE VS.
ENTAILMENT
How do we differentiate between the two?
ξ Non-truth based
ξ Can be cancelled
without resulting in a
contradiction
ξ A notion of utterance
meaning
ξTruth based
ξCannot be cancelled
without resulting in a
contradiction
ξA notion of sentence
meaning
IMPLICATURE ENTAILMENT
EXERCISE
Fill in an appropriate utterance for B, so that what he says
implicates (but not entails) the conclusion.
1.) A: Let’s try the new Arab restaurant ‘round the
corner.
B:
Implicature: Arab restaurants are not likely to serve
vegetarian food.
2.) A: Meet me at Piccadilly Circus at midnight.
B:
Implicature: Piccadilly Circus is not a safe place to
be at midnight.
3.) A: Do you use your local swimming pool very
much?
B:
Implicature: B’s local swimming pool has salt
water.
4.) A: How much do I owe you now?
B:
Implicature: A’s debts are large and complicated
to work out
COOPERATIVE PRINCIPLE
How does a hearer make reasonable
inferences from an utterance when the actual
sentence uttered does not, in fact, entail some
of the inferences he makes?
COOPERATIVE PRINCIPLE
Ψ It is the overriding social rule which speakers
generally try to follow in conversations.
Ψ According to Grice, “Make your conversational
contribution such as is required, at the stage which
it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the
talk exchange in which you are engaged.”
Ψ This principle is elaborated by a set of maxims, which spell
out what it means to cooperate in a conversational way.
Maxim of
Quality
Maxim of
Quantity
Maxim of
Relation
Maxim of
Manner
Do not say what you believe to be false
Do not make unsupported statements
MAXIM OF QUALITY
EXAMPLE:
A: I’ll ring you tomorrow
afternoon then.
B: I shall be there, as far as I
know, and in the meantime,
have a word with Mum and
Dad if they’re free.
Make your contribution as informative as is required
Do not make your contribution more informative than is required
MAXIM OF QUANTITY
EXAMPLE:
A: Well, to cut the story
short, she didn’t get home till
two.
Be releva
nt
MAXIM OF RELATION
EXAMPLE:
A: I mean, going back to your
point, an order form is a
contract. If we are to put
something in, then, let’s keep
it as general as possible.
B: Yes
Avoid obscurity
Avoid ambiguity
Avoid unnecessary prolixity
Be orderly
MAXIM OF MANNER
EXAMPLE:
A: Thank you, Chairman. Just
to clarify one point. There is a
meeting of the Police
Committee on Monday and
there is an item on their
budget for the provision of
their camera.
EXERCISE
Say whether the crucial assumption leading the hearer to this
implicature involves the maxim of quantity, quality, relevance or
manner.
1) A: My car’s broken down.
B: There is a garage ‘round the corner.
Implicature: The garage is open and has a mechanic who
might repair the fault.
2.) A: What subjects is Jack taking?
B: He’s not taking Linguistics.
Implicature: B does not know exactly which
subjects Jack is taking.
3.) A: Have you brushed your teeth and tidied your
room?
B: I’ve brushed my teeth.
Implication: B has not tidied his room.
4.) A: Who was the man you were talking to?
B: That man was m mother’s husband.
Implication: B’s mother’s husband is not B’s father
5.) A: Is Betsy in?
B: Her light is on.
Implication: Betsy’s light being on is usually a sign
of whether she is in or not.
FLOUTING & VIOLATING MAXIMS
Flouting – overtly breaking a maxim
Violating – covertly breaking a maxim
Intended to be perceived as deliberate by the hearer, but at the
same time as nonetheless intending a sincere communication
The speaker assumes that the hearer knows that their words
should not be taken at face value and that they can infer the
implicit meaning
A: Well, how do I look?
B: Your shoes are nice.
Hyperbole – I could eat a horse
Metaphor – Don’t be such a wet
blanket
Irony– If only you knew how much I
love being woken up at 4am.
Banter – You’re nasty, mean and stingy.
How can you only give me one kiss?
Sarcasm – This is a lovely uncooked
egg you’ve given me here as usual.
Yum!
QUANTITY QUALITY
EXAMPLES
A: There’s somebody at
the door.
B: I’m in the bath.
Husband to a wife: I was
thinking of going out to
get some of that funny
white stuff for somebody.
RELATION
- expect hearers to imagine
what they did not say
MANNER
- appears obscure, often trying
to exclude a third party
I d e n t i f y w h i c h m a x i m i s b e i n g fl o u t e d o r v i o l a t e d
6. Traffic warden to motorist parked on double yellow line: Is this your car, sir? Motorist: I think it’s going to rain.
7. Mother: What did you have for lunch? Daughter: I had 87 warmed baked beans, although 8 of them were slightly crushed, served on a slice of toast 12.7 cm by 10.3 cm which had been unevenly toasted…
8. Policeman at the front door: Is your father or mother home?
Small boy : Either my mother’s gone out shopping or she hasn’t.
EXERCISE
9. Babysitter: I’ll look after Samantha for you, don’t
worry. We’ll have a lovely time.
Mother: Great, but if you don’t mind, don’t offer
her any post-prandial concoctions involving
supercooled oxide of hydrogen. It usually gives rise to
convulsive nausea.
10. Father: Now, tell me truth. Who put the ferret in
the bathtub?
Son: Someone put it there.
POLITENESS PRINCIPLE
POLITENESS PRINCIPLE
δAn independent pragmatic principle Leech has proposed to
function alongside the cooperative principle
δFirst and foremost, a matter of what is said and not a matter
of what is thought or believed
δRefers to the choices that are made in language use, the
linguistic expressions that give people space and show a
friendly attitude to them
The purpose of politeness is the maintenance of harmonious and smooth
social relations in the face of the necessity to convey belittling messages
Choose expressions
which minimally belittle the
hearer’s status
Treating the hearer as
subservient to one’s will
Saying bad things about the hearer
or people or things
related to the hearer
Expressing pleasure at the hearer’s misfortunes
Disagreeing with the
hearer thus denigrating the hearer’s
thoughts
Praising oneself or
dwelling on one’s good fortune or superiority
FTA
Brown and Levinson analyzed politeness and said that in
order to enter into social relationships, we have to
acknowledge and show an awareness of the face, the public
self-image the sense of self, of the people we address. They
said that it is a universal characteristic across cultures that
speakers should respect each others’ expectations regarding
self-image, take account of their feelings and avoid FTAs.
Face Threatening Acts (FTAs)
жEmphasizes the hearer’s
positive status
жRespects the need to be
accepted and liked by others,
treated as a member of the
group
жMitigates the effect of
belittling expressions
жRespects the hearer’s
negative face
POSITIVE POLITENESS NEGATIVE POLITENESS
-When FTAs a re unavo idab le , speakers can redress w i th e i ther…
POLITENESS MAXIMS
TACT MAXIM
Minimize cost to the hearer
Maximize benefit to the hearer
-in order to get a hearer to do something which involves a
cost, a polite speaker will cast his utterance in a form which
softens the effect of the impositive (includes commands,
requests, beseechments, etc.)
Example:
Could I interrupt you for half a second- what was that website
address?
GENEROSITY MAXIM
Minimize benefit to self
Maximize cost to self
-Offers to do something which involves benefit to her hearer
but cost to the speaker must be made as directly as possible.
Example:
Could I copy down that web address?
PRAISE MAXIM
Minimize dispraise of other
Maximize praise of other
-Tone down any criticism or unfavorable comment and to exaggerate
praise
Examples:
Mary, you are very efficient and make notes of everything- you must
have a copy of that website address we were given today.
MODESTY MAXIM
Minimize praise of self
Maximize dispraise of self
-Toning down self-congratulation
Example:
Oh, I’m so stupid- I didn’t make note of that website address!
Did you?
AGREEMENT MAXIM
minimize disagreement with the hearer
maximize agreement with the hearer
-begin with a partial agreement before expressing
disagreement
Example:
A: She should be sacked immediately. We can’t tolerate
unpunctuality.
B: (disagrees) I agree with the general principle, but in this
case, there are mitigating circumstances.
SYMPATHY MAXIM
maximize sympathy towards the hearer
minimize antipathy towards the hearer
-renders congratulations and commiserations or condolences
inherently polite acts
Example:
I was sorry to hear about your father
CONSIDERATION MAXIM
minimize the hearer’s discomfort/displeasure
maximize the hearer’s comfort/pleasure
-softening, by various devices, of references to painful,
distressing, embarrassing or shocking events, facts, things,
etc.
Example:
That was great news about Jennifer’s Oscar.
FIN