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Foundations of Pragmatics & Implicature

This reading introduces the core concepts of pragmatics and implicature, foundational to understanding how meaning is conveyed beyond the literal content of language. Designed for MA students in applied linguistics, it explores pragmatics as meaning in context, conversational implicature guided by Grice’s Maxims, types of implicature (conventional and conversational), and scalar implicatures as a specific type of implied meaning. Through definitions, examples, and applications, this resource equips you to analyze implied meanings in discourse and apply these insights to research in pragmatics, discourse analysis, and intercultural communication.

1. What is Pragmatics?

Definition

Pragmatics is the branch of linguistics that studies how context influences the interpretation of language. Unlike semantics, which focuses on the literal meaning of words and sentences, pragmatics examines how speakers and listeners use context—social, cultural, situational, and linguistic—to convey and infer meanings. Pragmatics explores how we communicate more than what is explicitly said, such as through tone, implicatures, or cultural norms.

Key Features

• Context-Dependent: Meaning relies on the situation, speaker intentions, and shared knowledge.
• Beyond Literal Meaning: Pragmatics accounts for implied meanings, indirectness, and social functions of language.
• Interdisciplinary Relevance: Pragmatics connects to discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, and language acquisition.

Example

• Utterance: "It’s cold in here."
  • Semantic Meaning: The room’s temperature is low.
  • Pragmatic Meaning (in context): A request to close a window or turn on a heater, depending on the situation and speaker’s intent.

Applications

Pragmatics is crucial for analyzing real-world communication, such as understanding politeness in emails, detecting bias in media, or teaching second-language learners to navigate implied meanings.

2. Conversational Implicature and Grice’s Maxims

Definition

Conversational implicature refers to meanings that a speaker implies but does not explicitly state, which listeners infer based on the context and principles of cooperative communication. Philosopher H.P. Grice proposed that speakers follow a Cooperative Principle, adhering to four maxims to ensure effective communication:

• Quantity: Provide the right amount of information (not too much or too little).
• Quality: Be truthful and provide evidence-based information.
• Relevance: Say things that are relevant to the conversation.
• Manner: Be clear, orderly, and avoid ambiguity.

When speakers appear to violate these maxims (e.g., by being vague or irrelevant), they often do so intentionally to imply additional meanings, which listeners interpret as implicatures.

Characteristics

• Inferred from Context: Implicatures depend on the situation and shared knowledge-full.
• Cancellable: Implicatures can be denied without contradicting the literal meaning (e.g., clarifying “I didn’t mean that”).
• Non-Logical: Unlike entailments, implicatures are not logically necessary but pragmatically inferred.

Examples

1. Maxim of Quantity:
   • Utterance: "I ate some of the cookies."
   • Implicature: I didn’t eat all of the cookies (because if I had, I would have said so).
   • Cancellation: "I ate some of the cookies—actually, I ate all of them." (No contradiction.)
2. Maxim of Relevance:
   • Context: A asks, “Want to join us for dinner?” B replies, “I have a lot of work to do.”
   • Implicature: B is politely declining the invitation.
3. Maxim of Manner (Flouting):
   • Utterance: “He’s a real Einstein” (said sarcastically).
   • Implicature: He’s not very smart (flouting clarity to imply the opposite).

3. Types of Implicature: Conventional vs. Conversational

Conventional Implicature

Conventional implicatures are implied meanings tied to specific words or phrases, independent of conversational context. They are consistent and triggered by the linguistic structure itself.

• Example:
  • Utterance: “She’s talented but shy.”
  • Conventional Implicature: There is a contrast between being talented and shy (triggered by “but”).
  • Note: This implicature holds regardless of the context, as “but” always signals contrast.

Conversational Implicature

Conversational implicatures arise from the context and the assumption that speakers follow Grice’s maxims. They are flexible and depend on the specific situation, making them cancellable.

• Example:
  • Context: A asks, “How’s the new employee?” B replies, “He shows up on time.”
  • Conversational Implicature: The employee’s performance is average or lacking in other areas (based on the maxim of quantity, as B provides limited praise).
  • Cancellation: “He shows up on time, and he’s also very skilled.” (No contradiction.)

Key Difference

• Conventional implicatures are fixed and tied to linguistic triggers (e.g., “but,” “even,” “therefore”).
• Conversational implicatures are context-dependent and rely on the listener’s interpretation of maxim adherence or flouting.

4. Scalar Implicatures

Definition

Scalar implicatures are a subtype of conversational implicature that arise when a speaker uses a term from a scale of informativeness (e.g., “some,” “most,” “all”) and implies that stronger terms on the scale do not apply. They are based on the maxim of quantity, where listeners assume the speaker is providing the most informative statement possible.

Characteristics

• Scale-Based: Involves ordered terms (e.g., <some, most, all>, <warm, hot, boiling>).
• Implied Negation: Choosing a weaker term implies the stronger term is not true.
• Cancellable: Like other conversational implicatures, scalar implicatures can be denied.

Examples

1. Utterance: “Some students passed the exam.”
   • Scalar Implicature: Not all students passed (because if all had passed, the speaker would have said “all”).
   • Cancellation: “Some students passed—actually, all of them did.”
2. Utterance: “The soup is warm.”
   • Scalar Implicature: The soup is not hot (based on the scale <warm, hot>).
3. Utterance: “I got three hours of sleep.”
   • Scalar Implicature: I didn’t get more than three hours (implying it’s insufficient).

Why Scalar Implicatures Matter

Scalar implicatures reveal how listeners make assumptions about what is left unsaid, which can lead to miscommunication if speakers and listeners interpret scales differently (e.g., in cross-cultural or L2 contexts).

5. Examples from Spoken and Written English

Spoken English

• Context: At a coffee shop, A asks, “Is the coffee good?” B replies, “It’s drinkable.”
  • Conversational Implicature: The coffee is not particularly good (flouting quality and quantity).
  • Analysis: B’s vague response implies a lack of enthusiasm, relying on the maxim of relevance.

Written English

• Context: A job ad states, “Some experience required.”
  • Scalar Implicature: Extensive experience is not required (based on the scale <some, a lot, extensive>).
  • Analysis: The choice of “some” reassures applicants that minimal experience is sufficient.

Social Media

• Context: A tweet reads, “The event was fine, but I expected more.”
  • Conventional Implicature: There’s a contrast between the event being fine and the expectation (via “but”).
  • Conversational Implicature: The event was disappointing (flouting quantity by not elaborating).

6. Applications in Applied Linguistics

1. Discourse Analysis: Implicatures reveal how speakers convey attitudes or biases indirectly. For example, a politician saying, “Some policies need review” may imply criticism without stating it explicitly.
2. Intercultural Communication: Scalar and conversational implicatures vary across cultures. For instance, in high-context cultures, implicatures may be more subtle, leading to misinterpretations by speakers from low-context cultures.
3. Language Teaching: Teaching L2 learners to recognize implicatures (e.g., understanding “It’s okay” as a polite criticism) enhances their pragmatic competence and conversational fluency.
4. Media Studies: Advertisements often use implicatures to persuade (e.g., “Some brands last longer” implies competitors’ inferiority), making them a rich area for pragmatic analysis.
5. Computational Linguistics: Understanding implicatures is essential for developing AI systems that interpret natural language accurately, such as chatbots or sentiment analysis tools.

7. Reflection Questions

1. Identify a conversational or scalar implicature in a recent conversation or text. How did the context shape its interpretation?
2. How might implicatures create challenges in your research area (e.g., sociolinguistics, corpus linguistics, translation studies)?
3. Consider a cross-cultural interaction. How could differing interpretations of implicatures lead to miscommunication, and how might this be addressed?

8. Further Reading

• Grice, H. P. (1975). "Logic and Conversation." In Syntax and Semantics, Vol. 3: Speech Acts. (Foundational text on implicatures and maxims.)
• Levinson, S. C. (1983). Pragmatics. Cambridge University Press. (Comprehensive overview of pragmatics and implicature.)
• Yule, G. (1996). Pragmatics. Oxford University Press. (Accessible introduction to implicatures and pragmatic phenomena.)

By understanding pragmatics and implicatures, you will gain tools to analyze the subtleties of communication, uncover hidden meanings, and apply these insights to your academic and professional work in applied linguistics.

Top Journals in Pragmatics for Linguists and Researchers

If you're interested in pragmatics, discourse analysis, and how language is used in context, here are some top academic journals to check out! These journals cover a wide range of topics, from intercultural pragmatics to historical and computational approaches.

📌 1. Journal of Pragmatics
🔗 Journal of Pragmatics (Elsevier)
One of the leading journals in the field, the Journal of Pragmatics publishes research on cognitive, corpus-based, experimental, multimodal, and sociopragmatic approaches to language use.

📌 2. Pragmatics (IPrA Journal)
🔗 Pragmatics (John Benjamins)
The official journal of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA), this journal bridges different perspectives on linguistic pragmatics and interdisciplinary research.

📌 3. International Review of Pragmatics
🔗 International Review of Pragmatics (Brill)
A biannual journal covering all aspects of human communication, including verbal and non-verbal pragmatics from diverse perspectives.

📌 4. Semantics and Pragmatics
🔗 Semantics and Pragmatics (Linguistic Society of America)
An open-access journal focusing on meaning in natural language, particularly the interface between semantics and pragmatics.

📌 5. Journal of Historical Pragmatics
A unique interdisciplinary journal that explores how pragmatics and discourse analysis intersect with historical linguistics.

📌 6. Intercultural Pragmatics
A quarterly journal that investigates language use in intercultural contexts, highlighting different pragmatic norms and their implications.

📌 7. Lodz Papers in Pragmatics
🔗 Lodz Papers in Pragmatics
An open-access journal publishing cutting-edge research in pragmatics, with a special focus on Polish and international studies.

📌 8. Journal of Pragmatics Research
🔗 Journal of Pragmatics Research (DOAJ)
An open-access, peer-reviewed journal that focuses on sociolinguistics, pragmatics, and discourse analysis.

📌 9. Journal of Pragmatics and Discourse Analysis
🔗 Journal of Pragmatics and Discourse Analysis
A relatively new journal publishing research on the intersection of pragmatics and discourse studies.

🔍 Whether you're researching speech acts, politeness strategies, intercultural communication, or pragmatics in AI, these journals are great resources to explore.