Conversational Implicature and Relevance Theory Term Paper

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document

Total Length: 814 words ( 3 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 0

Page 1 of 3

Conversational Implicature and Relevance Theory

This paper provides and overview of Grice's Theory of Conversational Implicature and then compares it with Sperber and Wilson's Relevance Theory. A critique of the two theories finds that the work of Sperber and Wilson provides an incremental improvement of Grice's work, but still falls short in fully explaining communications.

Grice's Theory of Conversational Implicature

Grice proposes that participants in conversation understand the "Cooperative Principle" to be in force: "Make your conversational contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged." This principle comprises the following rules:

Maxims of Quantity: 1. Make your contribution as informative as is required 2. Do not make your contribution more informative than is required.

Maxims of Quality: Try to make your contribution one that is true. 1. Do not say what you believe to be false. 2. Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence

III. Maxim of Relation: Be relevant.

IV. Maxims of Manner: Be perspicuous. 1. Avoid obscurity / of expression. 2. Avoid ambiguity. 3. Be brief (avoid unnecessary prolixity). 4. Be orderly.

Grice identifies two kinds of maxim-violation that convey an unstated but meant meaning, which he called conversational implicature.

Stuck Writing Your "Conversational Implicature and Relevance Theory" Term Paper?

View All Our Example Conversational Implicature and Relevance Theory Term Paper

Have A Custom Example Essay Written



Grice states that some implicatures break a maxim so as to invoke the Cooperative Principle as a ground of interpretation. And, it's possible to flout a maxim on the literal level (what is said) so as to invoke the same maxim at a figurative level (what is implicated). Irony and metaphor are two standard forms of maxim-exploiting implicature. For example, when asked what she thinks of a new restaurant, a woman replies, "They have handsome carpets." If there is no reason to doubt that she means to be observing the Cooperative Principle and is capable of doing so, then her remark must mean something other than what it literally asserts -- such as the food there is at best mediocre.

Some implicatures flout a maxim so as to invoke another maxim as a ground of interpretation. And, there is an implicature, which involves no maxim-violation at all, but simply invokes a maxim as a ground of interpretation. For example, if one person says "I am out of gas," and another says "There is a gas station around the corner," the response implicates, by invoking the maxim of Relation, that the person thinks it….....

Show More ⇣

     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Conversational Implicature And Relevance Theory" (2003, May 02) Retrieved June 4, 2026, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/conversational-implicature-relevance-theory-148563

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Conversational Implicature And Relevance Theory" 02 May 2003. Web.4 June. 2026. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/conversational-implicature-relevance-theory-148563>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Conversational Implicature And Relevance Theory", 02 May 2003, Accessed.4 June. 2026,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/conversational-implicature-relevance-theory-148563
   

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document
order custom essay example