Scribd
Upload
13 views

7conversational Implicatures-Worksheet

Uploaded by

Kustar Kitti
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
13 views

7conversational Implicatures-Worksheet

Uploaded by

Kustar Kitti
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 1

Pragmatics seminar

Conversational implicatures

1. A theory as to how implicatures arise (by ____________).

A. We customarily obey, and assume our interlocutors are obeying, the following rules of conversation,
which together constitute the Cooperative Principle:
1. _________: give the right amount of information (not too little, not too much).
2. _________: try to say only what is true (don't say that for which you lack adequate evidence; don't
say what you know to be false).
3. _________: make what you say relevant to the topic at hand.
4. _________: be clear (avoid ambiguity, excessive wordiness, obscurity, etc.).
B. Implicatures arise from the interaction of the following 3 factors:
1. The proposition actually expressed in the utterance,
2. Possibly certain features of the context
3. The assumption that the speaker is obeying the rules of conversation to the best of their ability.
2. Options.
1. The speaker may ______________ the maxims—this is the default assumption.
2. The speaker may _____________ of a maxim by using a phrase that eliminates or mitigates the
effect of the maxims and signals this to the addressee—this phrase is called a hedge.
3. The speaker may ______________ a maxim, to the full knowledge of the addressee (to exaggerate,
be ironic etc)
4. The speaker may _____________ a maxim, without giving the addressee a cue, e.g., lie.
 implicatures may arise from 1-3.

3. Conversational implicature.
Fundamental assumption:
It is assumed that at some level, the speaker is always ______________ the cooperative principle, even
if this is not evident from what is literally said, i.e., what is literally said does not coincide with the
maxims. Observing the maxims at a non-literal level triggers a _____________________ implicature.

Write the implicature.


a) Observing
A: Will Sally be at the meeting this afternoon?
B. Her car broke down.
+> Sally ___________________________________________.
b) ‘flouting’ (______________ violating the rule in order to achieve some _______ on Listener).
[It's pouring rain, you're two hours late already, and the car gets a flat tire]
This is a fine state of affairs!
+> This is a _______________ state of affairs.

4. Generalized vs. particularized implicatures. Fill in the blanks.

A. A particularized conversational implicature is one which depends on particular features of the


____________, as in the first example above. The proposition “Sally’s car broke down” would ordinarily not
convey anything about Sally going to a meeting, so the implicature in this case depends on the context as
well as the utterance itself.

B. A generalized conversational implicature is one which does _______ depend on particular features of
the context, but is instead typically associated with the proposition (statement) expressed. Examples:

(1) "Fred thinks there is a meeting tonight."


+> Fred doesn't _____________________________ that there is a meeting tonight.

(2) "Mary has 3 children."


+> Mary has ____________________________________children.

You might also like