8.4 Implicature
8 min read•august 21, 2024
is a fascinating aspect of language that reveals how we communicate beyond literal words. It explores the hidden meanings in our conversations, showing how context and shape our understanding of what others say.
and its maxims form the foundation for studying implicature. This concept helps explain how we infer meaning, navigate social interactions, and interpret subtle cues in language across various cultures and contexts.
Definition of implicature
- Implicature plays a crucial role in the Psychology of Language by exploring how speakers convey meaning beyond literal words
- Focuses on the implied meaning in communication, bridging the gap between what is said and what is meant
- Enhances our understanding of how context and shared knowledge influence language comprehension
Grice's cooperative principle
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- Foundational concept in pragmatics introduced by philosopher H. Paul Grice
- Assumes speakers aim to be cooperative in conversation by following certain rules
- Consists of four maxims: quantity, quality, relation, and manner
- Helps explain how listeners derive implied meanings from utterances
- Applies to various forms of communication (verbal, written, non-verbal)
Conversational vs conventional implicature
- arises from context and the cooperative principle
- Depends on specific circumstances of the utterance
- Can be canceled or reinforced based on additional information
- stems from the conventional meanings of words
- Tied to specific lexical items or grammatical constructions
- Not dependent on context and cannot be canceled
- Differs in how they are processed and interpreted by listeners
- Impacts the study of language acquisition and second language learning
Types of conversational implicature
- Conversational implicatures form a key component in the study of pragmatics within language psychology
- Highlights how context and shared knowledge influence meaning interpretation
- Demonstrates the complexity of human communication beyond literal interpretations
Generalized conversational implicature
- Arises from general features of the context rather than specific knowledge
- Occurs across a wide range of situations and does not require special background information
- Often involves quantifiers or scalar terms (some, most, always)
- Listeners typically infer these implicatures automatically
- Can be canceled without contradiction (I ate some of the cookies, in fact, I ate all of them)
Particularized conversational implicature
- Depends on specific contextual features or background knowledge
- Requires more inferential work from the listener to understand the implied meaning
- Often involves figurative language or indirect
- Varies greatly depending on cultural and situational factors
- May lead to misunderstandings if context is not shared between speakers
Scalar implicature
- Involves words that can be arranged on a scale of informativeness
- Listeners infer that stronger statements on the scale do not hold
- Common with quantity terms (some implies not all, warm implies not hot)
- Plays a role in children's language development and reasoning abilities
- Can be affected by cognitive load and processing time
Grice's maxims
- form the foundation of the cooperative principle in language use
- Provide a framework for understanding how speakers and listeners cooperate in conversation
- Influence research on language processing and pragmatic development in children
Maxim of quantity
- Instructs speakers to provide just enough information, neither too much nor too little
- Encourages concise and relevant contributions to the conversation
- Violations can lead to implicatures (providing less information than expected)
- Affects turn-taking patterns and conversation flow
- Interacts with politeness strategies in different cultures
Maxim of quality
- Emphasizes the importance of truthfulness in communication
- Expects speakers to provide information they believe to be true and have evidence for
- Violations can generate implicatures through irony or sarcasm
- Influences trust-building in interpersonal communication
- Relates to the development of critical thinking skills in language learners
Maxim of relation
- Stresses the importance of relevance in conversational contributions
- Requires speakers to stay on topic and provide pertinent information
- Violations can create implicatures through seemingly irrelevant statements
- Plays a role in coherence and cohesion in discourse
- Affects the interpretation of non-sequiturs and tangential remarks
Maxim of manner
- Focuses on clarity and orderliness in communication
- Encourages speakers to avoid ambiguity and unnecessary complexity
- Violations can generate implicatures through deliberate obscurity or wordplay
- Influences the study of clarity in written and spoken discourse
- Relates to the development of effective communication skills
Flouting and violating maxims
- Flouting and represent key mechanisms for generating conversational implicatures
- Demonstrate the flexibility and creativity in language use
- Provide insights into the cognitive processes involved in inferring speaker intentions
Intentional vs unintentional violations
- often serve specific communicative purposes (humor, politeness)
- may result from lack of knowledge or communication disorders
- Intentional violations require metacognitive awareness of conversational norms
- Unintentional violations can lead to misunderstandings or communication breakdowns
- Studying both types informs research on language disorders and social cognition
Implicature generation through flouting
- Flouting involves blatantly failing to observe a maxim to convey an implied meaning
- Often used for rhetorical effect or to convey complex emotions
- Requires shared cultural knowledge and context for successful interpretation
- Plays a role in figurative language comprehension (metaphors, irony)
- Contributes to the development of pragmatic competence in language learners
Relevance theory
- offers an alternative framework to Grice's maxims in explaining implicature
- Focuses on cognitive processes involved in communication and comprehension
- Provides insights into the efficiency of human communication systems
Cognitive principle of relevance
- Posits that human cognition is geared towards maximizing relevance
- Suggests we automatically attend to information that yields the greatest cognitive effects
- Influences how we process and prioritize linguistic input
- Affects attention allocation during language comprehension
- Relates to theories of cognitive load and working memory in language processing
Communicative principle of relevance
- States that every act of ostensive communication conveys a presumption of its own optimal relevance
- Guides listeners in interpreting speaker intentions and deriving implicatures
- Influences pragmatic inference and disambiguation in language use
- Affects the study of non-literal language comprehension
- Provides a framework for understanding communication in various contexts (advertising, education)
Implicature in context
- Implicature analysis in context reveals the intricate relationship between language and culture
- Demonstrates how social and cultural factors shape language interpretation
- Informs cross-cultural communication studies and second language acquisition research
Cultural influences on implicature
- Different cultures may interpret implicatures differently based on shared knowledge
- High-context vs low-context cultures vary in their reliance on implicature
- Cultural norms affect the use and interpretation of indirect speech acts
- Influences politeness strategies and face-saving behaviors across cultures
- Impacts cross-cultural communication and potential for misunderstandings
Implicature in different languages
- Languages vary in how they encode and interpret implicatures
- Grammatical structures can affect the generation and comprehension of implicatures
- Translation of implicatures poses challenges in maintaining intended meanings
- Bilingual speakers may process implicatures differently in their languages
- Contributes to the study of linguistic relativity and cognitive linguistics
Processing of implicature
- Understanding the cognitive mechanisms behind implicature processing is crucial in language psychology
- Reveals the complex interplay between linguistic knowledge and general cognitive abilities
- Informs theories of language comprehension and production
Cognitive load in implicature comprehension
- Processing implicatures often requires more cognitive resources than literal meanings
- Factors like working memory capacity affect implicature interpretation
- Time pressure can influence the ability to derive implied meanings
- Relates to theories of dual-process cognition in language comprehension
- Impacts research on language disorders and cognitive impairments
Development of implicature understanding
- Children gradually acquire the ability to understand and use implicatures
- Theory of mind development plays a crucial role in implicature comprehension
- Age-related changes in implicature processing continue into adolescence
- Influences educational practices and communication strategies with children
- Contributes to our understanding of pragmatic development in language acquisition
Implicature in pragmatics
- Implicature forms a core concept in the field of pragmatics within language psychology
- Bridges the gap between semantic meaning and speaker intention
- Provides insights into the social and cognitive aspects of language use
Relationship to speech acts
- Implicatures often work in conjunction with indirect speech acts
- Helps explain how we interpret requests, promises, and other speech acts
- Influences the study of politeness strategies in communication
- Affects our understanding of conversational structure and turn-taking
- Relates to theories of conversational implicature and conventional implicature
Role in discourse analysis
- Implicature analysis reveals underlying meanings in various types of discourse
- Contributes to the study of coherence and cohesion in texts
- Helps identify speaker intentions and attitudes in conversation
- Plays a role in understanding narrative structure and subtext
- Informs research on persuasive communication and rhetorical strategies
Experimental approaches
- Experimental studies on implicature provide empirical evidence for theories in language psychology
- Contribute to our understanding of real-time language processing and comprehension
- Inform the development of language teaching methods and communication strategies
Methods for studying implicature
- Eye-tracking studies reveal patterns of attention during implicature processing
- Reaction time experiments measure the speed of implicature comprehension
- Neuroimaging techniques (fMRI, EEG) explore brain activity during implicature interpretation
- Corpus analysis examines implicature use in natural language data
- Developmental studies track the acquisition of implicature understanding in children
Key findings in implicature research
- Implicatures are processed incrementally during real-time language comprehension
- Context plays a crucial role in facilitating or inhibiting implicature interpretation
- Individual differences in cognitive abilities affect implicature processing
- Certain types of implicatures (scalar) show cross-linguistic similarities
- Implicature understanding can be impaired in various language disorders
Applications of implicature
- Understanding implicature has practical applications across various fields of communication
- Informs the development of more effective and nuanced communication strategies
- Contributes to our understanding of persuasion and influence in language use
Implicature in advertising
- Advertisers use implicatures to convey messages indirectly and avoid legal issues
- Helps create memorable slogans and taglines through clever wordplay
- Cultural differences in implicature interpretation affect global advertising strategies
- Influences consumer perception and decision-making processes
- Relates to theories of persuasion and attitude change in consumer psychology
Implicature in political discourse
- Politicians often use implicatures to convey controversial messages indirectly
- Helps maintain plausible deniability while communicating sensitive information
- Affects public perception and interpretation of political statements
- Plays a role in framing issues and shaping public opinion
- Contributes to the study of rhetoric and persuasion in political communication
Challenges and criticisms
- Critiques of implicature theories drive further research and refinement in language psychology
- Highlight the complexities and limitations of current models of language comprehension
- Encourage the development of more comprehensive theories of communication
Limitations of Gricean theory
- Grice's maxims may not apply universally across all cultures and contexts
- Fails to fully account for non-cooperative or adversarial communication
- Struggles to explain certain types of figurative language (metaphors, irony)
- Does not address the role of emotion and affect in implicature generation
- Criticized for oversimplifying the complexity of human communication
Alternative approaches to implicature
- Relevance Theory offers a cognitive approach focusing on processing effort and contextual effects
- Neo-Gricean theories refine and expand on Grice's original maxims
- Probabilistic models attempt to quantify implicature generation and interpretation
- Sociopragmatic approaches emphasize the role of social factors in implicature use
- Embodied cognition theories explore how physical experiences shape implicature understanding
Key Terms to Review (26)
Cognitive principle of relevance: The cognitive principle of relevance is a theory that suggests humans are naturally inclined to pay attention to information that they find relevant and meaningful in their current context. This principle is key in understanding how people process language and infer meanings, as it implies that communicators will try to convey messages that maximize the relevance for their audience, while receivers will interpret messages based on their expectations and needs for relevance.
Communicative principle of relevance: The communicative principle of relevance refers to the idea that in conversation, speakers aim to provide information that is relevant and useful to their listeners, guiding them toward understanding the intended meaning. This principle plays a significant role in implicature, where the context and the way information is presented lead listeners to infer meanings beyond the literal words spoken. It highlights the importance of relevance in communication, ensuring that exchanges are meaningful and efficiently understood.
Contextual cues: Contextual cues are pieces of information in the surrounding environment or discourse that help individuals interpret and understand language more accurately. These cues can come from various sources, including physical context, prior knowledge, and social norms, which all contribute to how meaning is constructed in communication. Understanding these cues is crucial for making inferences, grasping implicatures, and processing sentences efficiently.
Conventional implicature: Conventional implicature refers to the meaning that is implied by the use of certain expressions in language, which is not part of the truth conditions of the statement itself. This type of implicature arises from specific linguistic conventions associated with particular words or phrases, allowing speakers to convey additional meaning beyond the literal interpretation. It is different from conversational implicature, as it relies on established linguistic rules rather than contextual factors.
Conversational implicature: Conversational implicature refers to the way in which speakers imply meaning through their statements without explicitly stating it. It relies on the context of the conversation and the shared knowledge between the speakers, often guided by cooperative principles such as relevance and quantity. This phenomenon plays a crucial role in communication, enhancing our understanding of what is meant beyond the literal interpretation of words.
Dan Sperber: Dan Sperber is a prominent anthropologist and philosopher known for his contributions to cognitive anthropology and the study of cultural evolution. His work emphasizes the role of communication, particularly how implicature influences the understanding of meaning in social interactions and cultural practices.
Ellipsis: Ellipsis is a linguistic phenomenon where one or more words are omitted from a sentence but understood from the context. This process allows speakers and writers to create more concise statements, avoiding redundancy while still conveying the intended meaning. By relying on shared knowledge and context, ellipsis helps in creating efficient communication.
Flouting Maxims: Flouting maxims refers to the deliberate violation of Grice's conversational maxims, which are guidelines that facilitate effective communication. When someone flouts a maxim, they often do so to imply a deeper meaning or to generate implicature, engaging the listener in interpreting the intended message beyond the literal words spoken. This technique is commonly used in everyday conversation, humor, and literary contexts to add layers of meaning and stimulate thought.
Generalized conversational implicature: Generalized conversational implicature refers to the meaning that is implied in a conversation based on common knowledge or shared context, without the need for specific circumstances to be stated. It operates on the assumption that speakers follow cooperative principles, which allow listeners to infer additional meanings beyond what is explicitly said, leading to a more nuanced understanding of communication.
Grice's Cooperative Principle: Grice's Cooperative Principle is a key concept in pragmatics that suggests participants in a conversation typically work together to communicate effectively and understand each other. This principle is based on the idea that speakers adhere to certain maxims—quantity, quality, relation, and manner—to ensure that their contributions are informative, truthful, relevant, and clear, thereby facilitating implicature in conversation.
Grice's Maxims: Grice's Maxims are a set of conversational principles proposed by philosopher H.P. Grice that describe how people typically communicate effectively and meaningfully. These maxims—Quantity, Quality, Relation, and Manner—serve as guidelines for cooperative conversation, helping speakers and listeners navigate the implicit meanings in dialogue, which connects to broader aspects like implicature, conversational analysis, and discourse processing.
Herbert Paul Grice: Herbert Paul Grice was a British philosopher of language, best known for his work on implicature and conversational principles. His contributions laid the foundation for understanding how meaning is derived not only from what is explicitly said but also from what is implied in communication. Grice introduced the Cooperative Principle and its maxims, which help explain how people navigate conversations and infer meanings based on context and shared knowledge.
Implicature: Implicature refers to the meaning that is suggested or implied in a conversation, but not explicitly stated. This concept highlights how speakers can convey additional meaning through context, tone, or conversational cues without directly stating their intentions. Understanding implicature is essential for grasping how language functions in real-world communication and how meaning can shift based on surrounding information.
Implicature generation through flouting: Implicature generation through flouting refers to the process where a speaker intentionally violates conversational maxims to convey a meaning that is implied rather than explicitly stated. This technique is often used to create humor, irony, or sarcasm, as the listener must infer the intended message despite the apparent contradiction in the speaker's words. Flouting encourages deeper engagement with the conversation as it requires the listener to read between the lines and consider the context and relationships at play.
Intentional violations: Intentional violations refer to deliberate breaches of conversational maxims or expectations within communication, often employed to convey meaning indirectly. This concept plays a significant role in implicature, where speakers may choose to flout these maxims, such as quantity, quality, relevance, and manner, to imply something beyond the literal interpretation of their words. By intentionally violating these norms, speakers can create implicatures that enrich the conversation and engage the listener's inference skills.
Literal meaning: Literal meaning refers to the explicit or primary sense of a word, phrase, or text, without any additional interpretation or connotation. It focuses on what is directly stated, serving as the foundation for understanding language before considering any implied or inferred meanings. This concept plays a crucial role in distinguishing between what is meant and what is said, and it interacts closely with the nuances of language and communication.
Non-literal meaning: Non-literal meaning refers to interpretations of language that go beyond the explicit or straightforward definitions of words and phrases. This includes implications, metaphors, idioms, and other figures of speech that convey meaning indirectly, allowing speakers to express complex ideas or emotions. Understanding non-literal meaning is essential for grasping the subtleties of communication and social interactions.
Particularized conversational implicature: Particularized conversational implicature refers to the meaning that is inferred in a specific conversational context based on the utterances made by speakers. It relies on shared knowledge and assumptions between the participants, where the speaker implies something beyond the literal meaning of their words, and the listener understands this based on contextual clues. This type of implicature is unique to each situation and can vary widely depending on factors like tone, setting, and the relationship between speakers.
Presupposition: Presupposition refers to the background assumptions or beliefs that are taken for granted when making a statement. These assumptions are often unstated but are necessary for the statement to make sense and can significantly affect the meaning conveyed in communication. Understanding presuppositions is essential in analyzing sentence semantics, implicature, context, and discourse processing, as they shape how information is interpreted and understood in various conversational scenarios.
Reference: Reference is the relationship between language and the world, where words or phrases signify or point to specific entities, concepts, or ideas. It plays a crucial role in communication as it allows speakers and listeners to identify what is being discussed, making the meaning of utterances clearer and more understandable in context. Understanding reference helps in deciphering implicature and the subtleties of meaning conveyed in conversation.
Relevance theory: Relevance theory is a cognitive approach to understanding communication that emphasizes the importance of relevance in the process of conveying and interpreting meaning. This theory posits that individuals seek to maximize the relevance of the information they receive by balancing the effort required to process that information with the benefits derived from it, thus shaping how implicatures are formed and understood within different contexts.
Scalar implicature: Scalar implicature is a concept in pragmatics where a speaker implies more than what is explicitly stated by using a term from a scale of options. This often involves the listener inferring information based on the absence of stronger alternatives. It plays a significant role in how meaning is derived beyond the literal interpretation of words, highlighting the nuances of communication and the assumptions made by speakers and listeners.
Shared Knowledge: Shared knowledge refers to the information, beliefs, and understandings that are commonly held by a group of individuals, facilitating effective communication and comprehension among them. This concept plays a vital role in conversational implicature, as it helps speakers convey meaning beyond the literal interpretation of their words. The effectiveness of communication often relies on the assumption that participants in a conversation possess overlapping backgrounds and experiences.
Speech acts: Speech acts are communicative actions performed through language, where saying something is also doing something. This concept highlights how utterances can have various functions beyond merely conveying information, including making requests, giving commands, making promises, or offering apologies. Understanding speech acts is essential for grasping how meaning is constructed in conversations and how context influences communication.
Unintentional Violations: Unintentional violations refer to breaches of conversational norms or expectations that occur without the speaker's conscious intention. These violations can lead to misunderstandings or misinterpretations in communication, affecting the overall exchange of meaning. They highlight the complexity of implicature, where the implicit meaning can be altered by unintended statements or actions, impacting how messages are received and understood.
Violating maxims: Violating maxims refers to the intentional disregard or flouting of conversational maxims as outlined by philosopher H.P. Grice, which include the maxims of quantity, quality, relation, and manner. When speakers violate these maxims, they often do so to convey implicature, allowing listeners to infer meanings beyond the literal words spoken. This can lead to humor, sarcasm, or deeper insights into social dynamics and relationships during communication.