1. Semantics and pragmatics

2. Implicature
Briner, Gricean Implicature,ch.2
Supervisor, DR.Aziz Al-Bitar
Presented by Eman Al-Omari
Semanticsandpragmatics

3. -Definition
-Grice theory
-Maxims of Implicature
-Types of Implicature
Semantics and pragmatics

4. Semantics: the study of meaning. deals with the literal
words and the meaning of the way they are combined .
Pragmatics: concerns with the study of meaning as
communicated by a speaker or writer and interpreted
by listener or reader.(it is the study of speaker
meaning).
Fields of linguistic meaning:
Semantics and pragmatics

5. Pragmatics asks: “What do you mean by “……”?”
Semantics asks: “What does “……” mean?”
Semantics and pragmatics
In the uses of language what is
meant is often more than , or
different from, what has actually
been said.

6. He was so tired he could sleep for days.
Semantically He was so tired he could sleep for
days.
Pragmatically he was really tired.
Semantics vs. pragmatics

7. .The speaker `s role is to enable the hearer to invite the right
inferences. An invited inference is called Implicature and is
implicated by the speaker.
Implicature can be considered as an additional conveyed meaning.
Pragmatics:
Implicature
:

8. Is a systematic part of communication which involves the
interplay between what a speaker actually said and certain
broad rules, shared by speakers and hearers, which govern
communication.(Gricean Implicature)
Implicature
The hearer infersThe speaker implicates

9. Implicature:PaulGricetheory
“The philosopher Paul outlined a of inferences that
hearers draw to arrive a full understanding of what a
speaker meant by utterance, especially in those
cases what is meant goes will beyond the literal
meaning of what is uttered.
”

10. Cont.......
Griceproposedthatmanyaspectsof“speaker’smeaning”result
fromtheassumptionthattheparticipantsinaconversationare
cooperatinginanattempttoreachmutualgoals–oratleastare
pretendingtodoso!

11. “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”.
When people talk with each other, they try to converse smoothly
and successfully. Cooperation is the basis of successful
conversations.
cooperation
CooperativePrinciple.
speaker hearer

12. Cont……
 The cooperative principle has four sub-parts, four rules or
maxims that people involved in conversations tend to respect:
 -The maxim of quantity=say enough ,but dont say too
much(Say just as much as is necessary”)
 -The maxim of quality=say only what you have reason to
believe is true. (“Tell the truth”)
-The maxim of raltion=say only what is relevant.
(Make your contributions relevant.)
 -the maxim of manner=be breif,clear,and un ambiguous.

13. Observe the maxim to say only what you have evidence,
to be clear, brief and un ambiguous. for
Violate the maxim to fail to observe it but to do with the
assumption that the hearer will not observe that the maxim is being
violated. E.g. lie.
Flout a maxim to violate it,whith the assumption that
the hearer is to be aware.
Opt out of the maxims to refuse.
The speaker`s rules to make a cooperative utterance

14. 1-Make your contribution as informative as is required for
the current purposes of the exchange.the speaker must give
enough information is idenified as the basis of a wide range
of implicatures known as scalar implicature.
E,g.its cool outside it`s not freezing outside.
The weaker value implicate the stronger value.
Cool freezing
A classic scale giving rise to scalar implicature
(weak) <some,most,all>(strong).
Do not make the contribution more informative than is
required.
The maxim of quantity(maxim of informativeness

15. A-it`s cool outside it`s not freezing.
B-I ate most of the pizza I didn’t ate all of the pizza
C-I had understand some of the problems I didn’t
understand all of the problems.
Instances:

16. Scales which are defined by an entailment relation in which higher
values entail lower value.
I had tow bagels for breakfast that I had one bagel and
implicates that I didn’t have three bagels or four…….
Horn scales
entails

17. Scalar Implicature (horn scale)
All
Most
Some
Cont…
entails
entails

18. The speaker doesn't say enough.
E.g..
Do you have any bank accounts in Swiss?
banks,Mr.Bronston?
No, sir.
Have you ever?
The company had an account there for about six
months, in Zurich.
Non truth-conditional of quantity Implicature

19. Do not say what you believe to be false.
Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.
. To only say what you believe is true
Avoid saying too much.
The maxim of quality (“Tell the truth”)

20. Today I'm going to talk about Implicature.
The speaker`s rule avoid saying too much, say what is true
and relevant.
-The hearer's infer the truth of utterance.
-the maxim leads the hearer to expect that the speaker believe
what he says and have adequate evidence.
The maxim of quality may be violated.
(what we usually think when we think of a lie).
The maxim of quality may be flouted.
:Forinstance

21. One of the principal properties of an Implicature .
It must be calculate the intended meaning given the
textual and situational context.
The writer writes/says something false to intend
something other than what he has literally said/written.
The job of the reader is to infer the intended meaning.
A calculable

22. Make your contributions relevant.
“what is meant by this maxim is that the current utterance must
have something to do whith the context,it muct be related to what
has come before it in the discourse and/or what is going on in the
situation..”
Three times Della counted it.One dollar and eighty –seven
cents.and the next day would be chrismas.thre was clearly nothing
to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl.
The maxim of relation

23. Avoid obscurity.:
Avoid ambiguity.
Be brief.
Be orderly.
The maxim of manner (“Be clear”)

24. Types of implicature
l
Implicature
conventional Conversational
ParticularizedGeneralized

25. Coversationalimplicatures
Inferredviathecooperativeprincipleormaxims(observed,
violatedorflouted).
Thecontributiontothemeaningof theutteranceisnot truth
condition.
ImplicatureinterpretationrequiresbothSpeakerandHearerto
becollaborative

26. independent of the context
Ex.:
2-scalar Implicature communicated by choosing a word
expressing a value from a scale .
Most of the mothers were vicrorian,in fact they all were.
Not all
Generalized conversational implicatures
implicates

27. Due to the intraction of an utterance with a specific context.
It`s going to rain tomorrow.
The speaker believes the utterance is true and has reason to believe
it`s true..
B-the speaker believes it`s going to rain tomorrow ,and has reason
to believe it`s going to rain tomorrow.
Particularized conversational implicatures
It`s going to rain
tomorrow

28. •not based on cooperative principle or maxims
• encoded in the lexicon or grammar
• not dependent on context for their
interpretations
Ex:Clover is a labrador retriever,but she`s very
freindly.
contrast
Conventional implicatures

29. Thank you