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?v=KiIP_KDQmXs
QUENTIN TARENTINOS VIOLATION OF THE MAXIM OF QUANTITY
(FROM RESERVOIR DOGS: LIKE A VIRGIN):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyR4RK0LA_E
FOREST GUMPS FRIENDS VIOLATION OF THE MAXIM OF RELATION:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhfK98f5S00

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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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10

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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11

VIOLATIONS OF RELATION

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

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12

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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13

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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14

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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15

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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16

ADJACENCY CONTEXT
RESPONSES TO A MARINE OFFICER:
Sir, Yes Sir!
UAW! UAW! UAW! (Understood and
Acknowledged)

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17

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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18

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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19

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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20

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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21

ADJACENCY: VIOLATES
SPEAKER-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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22

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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23

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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24

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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25

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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26

DAMAGE AND REPAIR: SILENCE

What time is it?
what time it is.

Silence.

Please tell me

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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27

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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28

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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30

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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31

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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32

!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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33

!!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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34

!!!TURN TAKING 2
1. Current speaker selects next speaker (e.g.
by passing feather, etc.)
2. Next speaker selects himself
3. Speaker runs out of things to say
4. Speaker runs out of breath
5. Speaker opens the floor to any taker
6. Speaker retains the floor by telling a joke or
story, unnatural breaks, or turnthreatening 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.

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