Language is usually used for communication between speakers and hearers. In the process of communication, the literal meaning of an utterance is not always the same as the speaker's intended meaning, especially if the context of the utterance is not t...
Language is usually used for communication between speakers and hearers. In the process of communication, the literal meaning of an utterance is not always the same as the speaker's intended meaning, especially if the context of the utterance is not taken into consideration. The purpose of this thesis is to study the theories of 'Conversational Implicature' and 'Politeness' in order to apply the findings to authentic linguistic data. Thus, this thesis discusses maxims of conversation on the basis of Grice's (1975) Cooperative Principles. And it also reviews the 'Politeness Principle' on the basis of Lakoff's (1973), Leech's (1983) and Brown & Levinson's (1978, 1987) theories.
In Chapter Ⅱ, the properties of implicature and entailment will be analyzed.
Grice's distinction between what is said and what is implicated has greatly clarified our understanding of the boundary between semantics and pragmatics. Although border disputes still arise and there are certain difficulties with the distinction itself, it is generally understood that what is said falls on the semantic side and what is implicated on the pragmatic side. But this applies only to what is conversationally implicated. Grice's category of conventional implicature throws a monkey wrench into his distinction, inasmuch as conventional implicatures derive from the meanings of particular expressions rather than from conversational circumstances. This monkey wrench needs to be removed.
If there are conventional implicatures, they must be conventional and they must be implicatures. An implicature is different from an entailment or a semantic presupposition, in that it is not necessary for the truth of the sentence. And for an implicature to qualify as conventional, it must depend on the conventional meaning of a particular locution in the sentence. A conventional implicature is, as Grice says, not "calculable". In this way it is different from a conversational implicature, which depends on the fact that what is said is, in the context, not sufficiently plausible, informative, relevant, or otherwise appropriate and whose conveyance requires an inference based on the supposition that the speaker wouldn't have said what he said if he hadn't meant something more than that. The conventional implicature (CI-) thesis is that there are certain locutions which do not contribute to what is said and do not affect the truth or falsity of what is said and yet, by virtue of their conventional meanings, generate implicatures.
According to Brown and Levinson, politeness strategies are developed in order to save the hearers' "face." Face refers to the respect that an individual has for him or herself, and maintaining that "self-esteem" in public or in private situations. Usually you try to avoid embarrassing the other person, or making them feel uncomfortable. Face Threatening Acts (FTA's) are acts that infringe on the hearers' need to maintain his/her self esteem, and be respected. Politeness strategies are developed for the main purpose of dealing with these FTA's. There are four types of politeness strategies, described by Brown and Levinson, that sum up human "politeness" behavior: Bald On Record, Negative Politeness, Positive Politeness, and Off-Record-indirect strategy. In Chapter Ⅲ, three kinds of politeness principles are examined in terms of their similarities and differences on the basis Lakoff, Leech and Brown & Levinson. In Chapter Ⅳ, I analyzed various texts in order to differentiate all the principles and concepts from conversational implicature and politeness. Also mutual relationships of the two principles will be discussed.
Further research concerning other types of conversational implicature and politeness about the situational contexts and social custom maxims are required.