CONVERSATIONAL%20IMPLICATURES

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CONVERSATIONAL IMPLICATURES

• by Don L. F. Nilsen

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CONVERSATIONAL IMPLICATURES

• I. Quantity
• A. Be informative
• B. Dont give more information than is required
• II. Quality
• A. Dont lie or mislead
• B. Dont make statements unless there is
  adequate evidence
• III. Relation
• A. Be relevant
• IV. Manner
• A. Avoid obscurity
• B. Avoid ambiguity
• C. Be succinct
• D. Be orderly
• (Grice Logic and Conversation 47)

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Violations of Conversational Implicatures

• BILL CLINTONS VIOLATION OF THE MAXIM OF QUALITY
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vKiIP_KDQmXs
• QUENTIN TARENTINOS VIOLATION OF THE MAXIM OF
  QUANTITY (FROM RESERVOIR DOGS LIKE A VIRGIN)
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vGyR4RK0LA_E
• FOREST GUMPS FRIENDS VIOLATION OF THE MAXIM OF
  RELATION
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vWhfK98f5S00

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OTHER COOPERATION SYSTEMS

• Geoffrey Leech offers four tact, generosity,
  approbation and irony.
• (Leech 131ff)
• Horn has only two Maxims Quantity and
  Relation
• (Horn 15)
• Sperber and Wilson have a minimalistic theory
  that needs only one concept relevance.
• (Sperber and Wilson 161)
• Nilsen and Nilsen also have a minimalistic theory
  that needs only one concept tendency.

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TENDENCY 1

• Norlich and Clarke (in press) note that
  conversation has certain purposes. It is
  designed to be entertaining, humorous,
  knowledgeable, witty, conspicuous, etc.
• (Mey 136)

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TENDENCY 2

• In working with Artificial Intelligence, James
  Meehan developed a program that understands the
  elements of a story, and continuously creates new
  stories on the basis of the original one. Here
  is one of his stories
• One day Joe Bear was hungry. He asked his
  friend Irving Bird where some honey was. Irving
  told him there was a beehive in the oak tree.
  Joe threatened to hit Irving if he didnt tell
  him where some honey was.
• (Meehan 217)
• Irving Bird clearly missed the tendency of Joe
  Bears statement.

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VIOLATIONS OF QUANTITY 1

• I. Quantity
• A. Be informative The Eiron (Huckleberry Finn,
  Bartleby the Scrivner), The Politician (Bush,
  Cheney, Rumsfeld)
• B. Dont give more information than is
  required The Boor (Ignatius Riley, Confederacy
  of Dunces)

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VIOLATION OF QUANTITY 2

• Jacob Meys six-year old daughter, Sara, is
  bouncing a rubber ball at a friends house, and
  it bounces away from her field of vision.
• Meys friend says, Why dont you look behind
  Volume 6 of Dostoyevskis Collected Works?
• This is too much information, and also too little
  information.
• For legitimate communication, he should have said
  something like, Its behind one of those fat
  brown books in the middle of the bottom shelf.
• (Mey 73)

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VIOLATION OF QUANTITY 3

• SALES CLERK Youre over 21, arent you?
• CUSTOMER Well, er, yes. My birthday was
  actually yesterday, and were having a party
  tonight
• SALES CLERK May I see your ID?
• VIOLATES RULE ABOUT DEALING WITH AUTHORITIES
  Never volunteer information.
• (Mey 150)

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VIOLATIONS OF QUALITY 1

• II. Quality
• A. Dont lie or mislead The Lover (Casinova,
  Humbert Humbert, Don Juan), the Politican
  (Clinton, Nixon), The Trickster (The Fox Who Eats
  the Gingerbread Man, Little Red Riding Hoods
  Wolf, Peters Wolf, Tom Sawyer)
• B. Dont make statements unless there is
  adequate evidence The Alazon (Paul Bunyan, Pecos
  Bill), The Braggert (the Gingerbread Man), The
  Pedant

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VIOLATIONS OF QUALITY 2

• Jacob Mey says that readers want to be fooled (up
  to a certain point).
• Therefore, good authors always have something up
  their sleeves, and allow their writing to
  contain, deliberate omissions, misleading
  statements, uninformative or disinformative
  remarks and all sorts of narrative tricks in
  order to better develop the plot.
• (Mey 78)

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VIOLATIONS OF RELATION

• III. Relation
• A. Be relevant Crazy People Don Quixote

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VIOLATIONS OF MANNER 1

• IV. Manner
• A. Avoid obscurity Animal Farm, Big Brother in
  1984, Doublespeak, Fine Print, Newspeak
• B. Avoid ambiguity Prophets, Soothsayers,
  Witches (3 Witches in Macbeth)
• C. Be succinct The Shaggy Dog Story
• D. Be orderly Alice in Wonderland

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VIOLATION OF ORDERLINESS

• DOORMAN AT A DISCOTEQUE I need to see your ID.
  Its the rule.
• INGER (Jacob Meys wife) But I left it back at
  the hotel.
• DOORMAN Sorry maam, then I cant let you in.
• INGER But Im twenty-nine and the mother of
  four!
• DOORMAN Yes, and Im the popes grandfather and
  have six kids.
• (Mey 78)

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ADJACENCY PAIRS

• In a book entitled, Lectures on Conversation,
  Harvey Sacks said that conversation is dialogue
  and that dialogue consists of adjacency
  relationships like the following
• Greeting-Greeting, Question-Answer, Request-Offer
  (or Denial), Order-Compliance, Buying-Selling,
  Small Talk
• Openings (Hello-Hello or Excuse me-Yes?)
• Closings (OK?-OK.)
• (Mey 141, 146)

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ADJACENCY ATTENTION GETTERS

• Hey! Yes?
• You know something? What?
• Excuse me. Sure.
• Whaddyaknow? I dont know.
• Guess what. What?
• (Levinson 346ff)

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ADJACENCY CONTEXT

• RESPONSES TO A MARINE OFFICER
• Sir, Yes Sir!
• UAW! UAW! UAW! (Understood and Acknowledged)

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ADJACENCY INDIRECTNESS 1

• Whats the time?
• Twelve noon.
• Time for coffee.
• I havent got a watch sorry.
• How should I know?
• Ask Jack.
• You know bloody well what time it is.
• Why do you ask?
• What did you say?
• What do you mean?
• (Tsui 115)

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ADJACENCY INDIRECTNESS 2

• AT A DINNER PARTY Its getting late, Mildred.
• Are you bored?
• Do you want to go home?
• So?
• Dont you like my flirting?
• Yes, I need to take my pills.
• (Mey 162)

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ADJACENCY INSERTIONS

• Are you doing anything tonight?
• Why are you asking?
• I thought we might catch a movie.
• NOTE Answering of cell phones in the middle of a
  conversation is becoming more and more frequent
• (Mey 145)

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ADJACENCY MARKEDNESS REQUIRES MORE POLITENESS

• NORMAL MARKED
• Request Acceptance Refusal
• Offer Acceptance Refusal
• Assessment Agreement Disagreement
• Question Expected Answer Unexpected Answer
• Blame Denial Admission
• (Levinson 336)

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ADJACENCY VIOLATESSPEAKER-KNOWS-BEST RULE

• Two psychiatrists, Dr. Sapirstein and Dr.
  Barnstone pass each other in the hallway of their
  clinic
• DR. SAPIRSTEIN Youre fine, how am I?
• DR. BARNSTONE Thanks, youre fine too.
• (Mey 170)

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CALL AND RESPONSE

• Call and Response is an important aspect of the
  preaching in Black churches.
• Call and Response is also an aspect of bird
  language.
• Call and Response also occurs in music.
• You can hear it in Webbers Phantam of the Opera.
• You can also hear it in Bachs Two Part
  Inventions.

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BACKCHANNELING

• Scandinavian ingressive ja
• Japanese ingressive sucking in of their breath
  sharply
• Through the Mouth (Hissing)
• Through the Nose (SnortingMostly Males)
• (Mey 166-167)
• Even when people are on the phone, they often
  smile and gesture.
• (Mey 196)

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CONVERSATION RULES

• Grices Cooperative Principle
• Leechs Politeness Principle
• Sperber and Wilsons Economy Principle
• NOTE Polite forms are not economic but are very
  cooperative.
• (Mey 180)

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DAMAGE AND REPAIR 1

• MACHO MALE So I was trying to pick up this chick
  when
• FEMINIST FEMALE Excuse ME. Did I hear that
  right?
• MACHO MALE Sorry. I mean woman
• FEMINIST FEMALE PICK UP?
• MACHO MALE Sorry. I mean, meet.
• (Mey 149)

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DAMAGE AND REPAIR SILENCE

• What time is it? Silence. Please tell me what
  time it is.
• Somebody asks the bosss wife for a date.
• Silence.
• This is denied reality. I dont believe what
  Im hearing, so I wont respond.
• (Mey 158)

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E-MAIL VS. CONVERSATION

• Because e-mail has no information about body
  posture, facial expression, etc., e-mailers have
  to use smileys or emoticons.
• (Mey 148)

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ECONOMY PRINCIPLE

• Punctuation . (unmarked)-- , ! ? (marked)
• Telegrams, Telegraphic Speech, Delayed Speech,
  Newspaper Headlines are very economical
• Yelling Fire in a theater is very economical
• Poetry with its schemes and tropes and
  embellishments and repetitions and rhetorical
  devices is not very economic.
• (Mey 180-181)

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FLOOR

• Holding, Sharing, Yielding
• Pausing, Interrupting, Back Channeling, Echoing,
  Laughing, Prompting, Turn-Taking, etc.
• Adjacency Pairs
• Greeting-Return Greeting
• Question-Answer
• Damage-Repair
• Summons-Compliance
• Advice-Thanks
• (Mey 137)

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IRONY

• Honestly
• Does the distinguished Prime Minister realize
  that
• I dont mean to argue, but
• I dont mean to be a fly in the ointment, but
• I dont mean to be confrontational, but
• I dont mean to interfere, but
• To make a long story short
• Im not kidding
• Literally
• With all do respect
• (Mey 198)

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LAUGHTER

• Laughter can indicate many different things
• 1. Embarrassment
• 2. Apology
• 3. Understanding the punch line of a joke
• (Mey 138)

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!TAUTOLOGY?

• DICTIONARY DEFINITION A cow is an animal which
  lives in a barn or a corral and produces milk.
• Pilate said, Quod scripsi scripsi (what I have
  written I have written)
• Mikhail Bakhtin said, Sentences are repeatable.
  Sentences are repeatable.
• (Mey 199, Bakhtin 108)

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!!TURN TAKING 1

• Turn taking is part of the cooperative principle.
  It is based on quid pro quo.
• It makes speech aware of the audience. Compare
  the following
• Bibles Golden Rule
• French Universal Declaration of Rights
• United Nations Freedom Charter
• (Mey 268)

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!!!TURN TAKING 2

• Current speaker selects next speaker (e.g. by
  passing feather, etc.)
• Next speaker selects himself
• Speaker runs out of things to say
• Speaker runs out of breath
• Speaker opens the floor to any taker
• Speaker retains the floor by telling a joke or
  story, unnatural breaks, or turn-threatening
  noises
• (Sacks 224, Mey 139-140))

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• References 1
• Eschholz, Paulo, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark.
  Language Awareness Readings for College Writers.
  New York, NY Bedford/St. Martins, 2009.
• Grice, H. P. Further Notes on Logic and
  Conversation. In Syntax and Semantics Ed. Peter
  Cole. New York, NY Academic Press, 113-128.
• Grice, H. P. "Logic and Conversation." Syntax and
  Semantics. Eds. P. Cole, and J. L. Morgan. New
  York, NY Academic Press, 1975, 41-58.
• Grice, H. P. "Meaning." Semantics An
  Interdisciplinary Reader in Philosophy,
  Linguistics, and Psychology Eds. D. Steinberg,
  and L. Jakobovits, Cambridge, England Cambridge
  University Press, 53-59.
• Grice, H. P. "Presupposition and Conversational
  Implicature." Radical Pragmatics. Ed. Peter Cole.
  New York, NY Academic Press, 1989.

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• References 2
• Grice, H. P. Studies in the Way of Words.
  Cambridge, MA Harvard University Press, 1989.
• Horn, Laurence R. Toward a New Taxonomy for
  Pragmatic Inference Q-based and R-based
  Implicative. in Pragmatics Crigical Concepts,
  Volume IV Ed. Asa Kasher, London, England
  Routledge, 383-418.
• Leech, Geoffrey N. Principles of Pragmatics.
  London, England Longman, 1983.
• Levinson, Stephen C. Pragmatics. Cambridge,
  England Cambridge University Press, 1983.
• Meehan, James. Tale Spin. In Inside Computer
  Understanding. Eds. Roger C. Schank and
  Christopher K. Riesbeck. Hillsdale, NJ Erlbaum,
  1981, 197-226.

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• References 3
• Mey, Jacob L. Pragmatics An Introduction, 2nd
  Edition. Oxford, England, 2001.
• Nilsen, Alleen Pace, and Don L. F. Nilsen.
  Tendentious Puns Names with a Purpose. Etc.
  48.2 (1991) 146-152.
• Nilsen, Alleen Pace, and Don L. F. Nilsen.
  Encyclopedia of 20th-Century American Humor.
  Westport, CT Greenwood, 2000.
• Nilsen, Don L. F. Discourse Tendency A Study in
  Extended Tropes. Rhetoric Society Quarterly 19.3
  (1989) 263-272.
• Nilsen, Don L. F. The Importance of Tendency An
  Extension of Freuds Concept of Tendentious
  Humor. HUMOR International Journal of Humor
  Research 4 (1988) 335-347.

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• References 4
• Raskin, Victor, ed. The Primer of Humor Research.
  New York, NY Mouton de Gruyter, 2008.
• Rundquist, Suellen. Indirectness A Gender Study
  of Flouting Grices Maxims. Journal of
  Pragmatics 18.5 (1992) 431-449.
• Sacks, Harvey. Lectures on Conversation Oxford,
  England Blackwell, 1995.
• Sperber, Dan and Deirdre Wilson. Relevance
  Communication and Cognition, 2nd Edition.
  Cambridge, MA Harvard University Press, 1995.
• Tsui, Amy B. Sequencing Rules and Coherence in
  Discourse. Journal of Pragmatics 15.2 (1991)
  111-129.