398:, violating a maxim means that the speaker is either outright lying by violating the maxim of quality, or being intentionally misleading by violating another maxim. For example, if there was not in fact a gas station around the corner in the example statement above and B was just playing a cruel prank, then B is violating the maxim of quality. A speaker violating the maxim of relevance might imply some fact is important when it is not; warning a cook that it takes a considerable length of time to heat the oven implies that preheating the oven is helpful and should be done, but perhaps the speaker knows the recipe does not actually involve baking anything. Violating the maxim of quantity can involve intentionally including useless details in an attempt to obscure or distract, or via telling half-truths that leave off important details such as the gas station being abandoned and not in operation anymore.
254:: the information provided should be relevant to the current exchange and omit any irrelevant information. In his book, Grice uses the following analogy for this maxim: "I expect a partner's contribution to be appropriate to the immediate needs at each stage of the transaction. If I am mixing ingredients for a cake, I do not expect to be handed a good book, or even an oven cloth (though this might be an appropriate contribution at a later stage)."
327:...e need first to get clear on the character of Grice's maxims. They are not sociological generalizations about speech, nor they are moral prescriptions or proscriptions on what to say or communicate. Although Grice presented them in the form of guidelines for how to communicate successfully, I think they are better construed as presumptions about utterances, presumptions that we as listeners rely on and as speakers exploit.
378:. One can flout the maxim of quality to tell a clumsy friend who has just taken a bad fall that his gracefulness is impressive and obviously mean the complete opposite. Likewise, flouting the maxim of quantity may result in ironic understatement, the maxim of relevance in blame by irrelevant praise, and the maxim of manner in ironic ambiguity. The Gricean maxims are therefore often purposefully flouted by
427:. To push back on this point, Harnish (1976) points out that Grice only claims his maxims hold in conversations where the cooperative principle is in effect. The Malagasy speakers choose not to be cooperative, valuing the prestige of information ownership more highly. (It could also be said in this case that this is a less cooperative communication system, since less information is shared.)
385:
Speakers who deliberately flout the maxims usually intend for their listener to understand their underlying implicature. In the case of the clumsy friend, he will most likely understand that the speaker is not truly offering a compliment. Therefore, cooperation is still taking place, but no longer on
241:
In his book, Grice uses the following analogy for this maxim: "I expect your contributions to be genuine and not spurious. If I need sugar as an ingredient in the cake you are assisting me to make, I do not expect you to hand me salt; if I need a spoon, I do not expect a trick spoon made of rubber."
152:
This purpose or direction may be fixed from the start (e.g., by an initial proposal of a question for discussion), or it may evolve during the exchange; it may be fairly definite, or it may be so indefinite as to leave very considerable latitude to the participants (as in a casual conversation). But
473:
can arise in uncooperative situations, which cannot be accounted for in Grice's framework. For example, assume that A and B are planning a holiday in France and A suggests they visit their old acquaintance GĂ©rard; and further, that B knows where GĂ©rard lives, and A knows that B knows. The following
357:(with the listener being expected to not note this). Flouting means that the circumstances lead us to think that the speaker is nonetheless obeying the cooperative principle, and the maxims are followed on some deeper level, again yielding a conversational implicature. The importance is in what was
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We might then formulate a rough general principle which participants will be expected (ceteris paribus) to observe, namely: 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.
95:
of how people normally behave in conversation. Lesley
Jeffries and Daniel McIntyre (2010) describe Grice's maxims as "encapsulating the assumptions that we prototypically hold when we engage in conversation." The assumption that the maxims will be followed helps to interpret utterances that seem to
148:
Our talk exchanges do not normally consist of a succession of disconnected remarks, and would not be rational if they did. They are characteristically, to some degree at least, cooperative efforts; and each participant recognizes in them, to some extent, a common purpose or set of purposes, or at
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Though the maxim itself is terse, its formulation conceals a number of problems that exercise me a good deal: questions about what different kinds and focuses of relevance there may be, how these shift in the course of a talk exchange, how to allow for the fact that subjects of conversations are
422:
follow a completely opposite cooperative principle to achieve conversational cooperation. In their culture, speakers are reluctant to share information and flout the maxim of quantity by evading direct questions and replying on incomplete answers because of the risk of losing face by committing
168:
On the assumption that some such general principle as this is acceptable, one may perhaps distinguish four categories under one or another of which will fall certain more specific maxims and submaxims, the following of which will, in general, yield results in accordance with the
Cooperative
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In his book, Grice uses the following analogy for this maxim: "If you are assisting me to mend a car, I expect your contribution to be neither more nor less than is required. If, for example, at a particular stage I need four screws, I expect you to hand me four, rather than two or six."
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said. For example, answering "Are you interested in a game of tennis?" with "It's raining" only disrespects the maxim of relation on the surface; the reasoning behind this utterance is normally clear to the interlocutor.
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the literal level. When speakers flout a maxim, they still do so with the aim of expressing some thought. Thus, the
Gricean maxims serve a purpose both when they are followed and when they are flouted.
331:
Often the addressee of an utterance can add to the overt, surface meaning of a sentence by assuming the speaker has obeyed the maxims. Such additional meanings, if intended by the speaker, are called
370:
It is possible to flout a maxim and thereby convey a different meaning than what is literally said. Often in conversation, a speaker flouts a maxim to produce a negative pragmatic effect, as with
137:
principles observed by people who follow the cooperative principle in pursuit of effective communication. Applying the
Gricean maxims is therefore a way to explain the link between
346:
A will assume that B obeyed the maxim of relation. However, B's answer is only relevant to A if the gas station is open; so it has the implicature "The gas station is open."
130:(1989), Grice outlined four key categories, or maxims, of conversation—quantity, quality, relation, and manner—under which there are more specific maxims and sub-maxims.
442:
conversationalists. However, the
Gricean maxims, despite their wording, are only meant to describe the commonly accepted traits of successful cooperative communication.
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quantity, quality, relation, and manner. They describe the rules followed by people in conversation. Applying the
Gricean maxims is a way to explain the link between
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communication in common social situations—that is, how listeners and speakers act cooperatively and mutually accept one another to be understood in a particular way.
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Grice did not, however, assume that all people should constantly follow these maxims. Instead, he found it interesting when these were not respected, namely either
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Make your 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.
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Some argue that the maxims are vague. This may explain the criticism that the
Gricean maxims can easily be misinterpreted to be a guideline for
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legitimately changed, and so on. I find the treatment of such questions exceedingly difficult, and I hope to revert to them in later work.
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and writers, who may hide the complete truth and choose their words for the effect of the story and the sake of the reader's experience.
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Be orderly — i.e., provide information in an order that makes sense, and makes it easy for the recipient to process it.
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In other words: say what you need to say, when you need to say it, and how it should be said. These are Grice's four
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Harnish, R. (1976). "Logical form and implicature". In Bever T G; Katz J J; Langendoen, D T (eds.).
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oneself to the truth of the information, as well as the fact that having information is a form of
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Make your contribution as informative as is required (for the current purposes of the exchange).
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This is understood by A as B not wanting to say where exactly GĂ©rard lives, precisely
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Grice's theory is often disputed by arguing that cooperative conversation, like most
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Avoid obscurity of expression — i.e., avoid language that is difficult to understand.
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Ochs Keenan, Elinor (1976). "On the universality of conversational postulates".
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For arguments that Grice's maxim is best understood in terms of knowledge, see:
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possible conversational moves would be excluded as conversationally unsuitable.
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For the principles governing the functioning of co-operative organizations, see
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Grice, Paul (1975). "Logic and conversation". In Cole, P.; Morgan, J. (eds.).
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820:"Grice's Maxims of Conversation: The Principles of Effective Communication"
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353:(with the listener being expected to be able to understand the message) or
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Okanda, Mako, Kosuke Asada, Yusuke
Moriguchi, and Shoji Itakura. 2015. "
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The concept of the cooperative principle was introduced by the linguist
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948:""Look At All These Ducks There Are At Least Ten." Why Is This Funny?"
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Understanding violations of
Gricean maxims in preschoolers and adults
555:. Vol. 3: Speech acts. New York: Academic Press. pp. 41–58.
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flout them on a surface level; such flouting often signals unspoken
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173:, I call these categories Quantity, Quality, Relation, and Manner.
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307:— i.e., avoid language that can be interpreted in multiple ways.
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Do not make your contribution more informative than is required.
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Kaufer, D. S. (1981). "Understanding ironic communication".
275:. Whereas the previous maxims are primarily concerned with
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theory. Grice researched the ways in which people derive
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279:is said, the maxims of manner are concerned with
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904:: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
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221:Try to make your contribution one that is true.
849:Benton, Matthew A. (2016). "Gricean Quality".
489:B is not following the cooperative principle.
418:. Keenan (1976) claims, for example, that the
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1019:. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp.
695:. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674852710.
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233:Do not say that for which you lack adequate
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882:The Top 10 Misconceptions about Implicature
652:Jeffries, Lesley; McIntyre, Daniel (2010).
342:B: There is a gas station round the corner.
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1046:An Integrated Theory of Linguistic Ability
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656:. Cambridge University Press. p. 106.
102:that add to the meaning of the utterance.
27:Pragmatics of conversational communication
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711:, and Richard Warner. 2005 December 13. "
257:With respect to this maxim, Grice writes,
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434:, instructing speakers on how to be
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1140:Syntax and Semantics 3: Speech Acts
672:Syntax and Semantics 3: Speech Acts
310:Be brief — i.e., avoid unnecessary
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1091:. Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 273f.
339:A (to passer by): I am out of gas.
141:and what is understood from them.
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335:. For example, in the exchange
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1153:. Blackwell. pp. 76–77.
1120:. London: Sage Publications.
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1058:Frederking, Robert E. 2004. "
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246:Maxim of relation (relevance)
1016:Languages and Their Speakers
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715:" (revised 2017 October 9).
574:"Konverzacijske implikature"
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122:from language. In his essay
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1151:Pragmatics: An Introduction
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471:conversational implicatures
333:conversational implicatures
128:Studies in the Way of Words
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1168:Wardhaugh, Ronald (2006).
478:A: Where does GĂ©rard live?
465:It has also been noted by
250:The maxim of relation is:
182:The maxim of quantity is:
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992:10.1017/s0047404500006850
514:Question under discussion
267:Maxim of manner (clarity)
209:The maxim of quality is:
161:One might label this the
1013:Shopen, Timothy (1987).
786:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00901
454:, approbation, modesty,
271:The maxim of manner is:
205:Maxim of quality (truth)
133:These describe specific
777:Frontiers in Psychology
719:. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
1235:Philosophy of language
1207:Frederking, Robert E.
1202:. Stanford University.
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668:Logic and Conversation
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283:what is said is said.
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1194:Davis, Wayne (2024).
1138:." Pp. 41–58 in
1134:Grice, Paul (1975). "
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584:(in Serbo-Croatian).
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666:Grice, Paul. 1975. "
553:Syntax and semantics
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390:Violating the maxims
87:Though phrased as a
1048:. New York: Crowel.
980:Language in Society
879:Bach, Kent (2005),
633:on 2 September 2012
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366:Flouting the maxims
169:Principle. Echoing
144:According to Grice:
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709:Grandy, Richard E.
322:Maxims in practice
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211:be truthful
189:Submaxims:
93:description
43:linguistics
1240:Principles
1230:Pragmatics
1224:Categories
1147:Mey, Jacob
1030:0812212509
892:2011-10-09
834:2021-06-06
748:2021-06-06
713:Paul Grice
654:Stylistics
637:9 February
525:References
452:generosity
139:utterances
112:Paul Grice
82:utterances
58:Paul Grice
1000:143078397
602:440780341
594:0586-0296
456:agreement
432:etiquette
402:Criticism
396:paltering
380:comedians
312:verbosity
305:ambiguity
116:pragmatic
62:pragmatic
1149:(2001).
1087:(1996).
900:citation
828:Archived
689:. 1989.
624:429609-6
572:(1991).
493:See also
460:sympathy
450:: tact,
425:prestige
355:violated
273:be clear
235:evidence
135:rational
1068:7924807
1021:112–158
963:20 June
610:3442421
487:because
372:sarcasm
351:flouted
120:meaning
114:in his
64:theory:
1176:
1157:
1124:
1095:
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998:
622:
620:ZDB-ID
608:
600:
592:
458:, and
440:polite
303:Avoid
1212:(PDF)
1064:S2CID
996:S2CID
953:Slate
886:(PDF)
631:(PDF)
578:(PDF)
469:that
436:moral
410:, is
376:irony
1174:ISBN
1155:ISBN
1122:ISBN
1093:ISBN
1025:ISBN
965:2014
906:link
851:Noûs
639:2019
606:SSRN
598:OCLC
590:ISSN
277:what
171:Kant
155:some
1062:."
988:doi
929:doi
859:doi
782:doi
774:."
374:or
359:not
281:how
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76:or
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