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the assumptions in which particular information is not true e.g. “We imagined we
were in Hawaii. This is assumed that we were not in Hawaii. The last type of presupposition is counterfactual presupposition. It deals wirh the assumptions in
which certain information has the opposite meaning to the fact e.g “If you were
my friend, you would have helped me ”. This is assumed that you are not my
friend.
c. Cooperative Principles
The cooperation between the interlocutors determines whether or not a conversation runs succcesfully. Grice 1975 states that the cooperative principles
can be used as a guidance for the speakers and hearers in a conversation. Moreover, Yule 1996 says that cooperative principle is the basic assumption in
conversation in which each participant tries to contribute appropriately, at the required time, to the current exchange of talk. In referencce to
Grice’s idea, the cooperative principle in conversation can be explained in terms of four
conversational maxims. They include maxim of quantity, quality, relation and manner. Each is described as follows.
The first maxim is maxim of quantity. It puts emphasis on the information. The information delivered by speakers in a conversation are supposed to be
neither too little nor too much. In other words, the conversation should be performed as informative as required. The following is an example of the maxim
of quantity: a You can see me at 10.30 am at my office.
b You can see me at 10.30 am at my office. However, if you don‘t mind,
we can just go outside and have lunch together discussing your new PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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pr oject. I‘m extremely hungry. Oh, and I hope it‘s going to be a success
for you Grice, 1975 The conversation above shows that the speaker wants to make an
appointment with hisher colleague. In utterance a, the speaker has fulfilled the maxim of quantity by providing the required information i.e. the time and place of
the meeting. Meanwhile, the utterance b has violated the maxim of quantity since it contains too much information abo
ut the speaker‘s intention. In this case, the speaker overlaps the knowledge that must be shared by both i.e. having a
meeting. The second maxim is maxim of quality. This maxim means that speakers
should provide valid infomation. They are supposed not to say something that they believe to be false or make statement without adequate evidence as presented
in the following exmple: a
I will be there at 2 o‘clock sharp. Prepare what we‘ve been discussing.
b Em, I will be there at 2 o‘clock as far as I remember. Well, prepare
what we‘ve been discussing. I hope I remember what I should do, I guess. Grice, 1975
The two sentences above share the same context i.e.a person promises to
come to a meeting. This person has conducted a discussion with hisher friends. The information presented in utterance a is accurate. In other words, the speaker
is not doubtful with hisher statement that heshe may not come late and even prepares for things they have discussed. Meanwhile, the utterance b indicates
that what the speaker is saying may not be totally true. Therefore, the utterance in b violates the maxim of quality.
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The next maxim is maxim of relation. It emphasizes on relevance. In this case, the speaker
’s talk must be relevant with the topic being discussed. Speakers who turn the topic of conversation abruptly are considered uncooperative. The
sentences below are examples of the maxim of relation: a
Q: There is someone at the door. R: I‘m in the bath.
b I don‘t really know if this is important, but what time is it? Grice,
1975 The utterances a and b above have different context. The context in a
conversation a is that someone knocks at the door. R expects Q to understand that hisher
reason is relevant to Q‘s utterance i.e. even if there is someone at the door, R cannot go and see who they are because R is in the bath. Meanwhile, the
context in utterance b is in a first date. In this case, there is a potential for the speaker to have non-relevant material because he or she wants to stop the dating
due to some reasons such as getting bored with the situation or getting too late to go home. In short, the speaker who utters sentence b flouts the maxim of
relation. The last is maxim of manner. This kind of maxim emphasizes clarity. In a
conversation, speaker’s utterances are supposed to be clear and are not ambigious. With regard to this, the speakers must avoid obscurity of expression.
The following presents an example of the maxim of manner: a When I was 7, I vividly remembered the way I fell down from the
stairs. I was spinning so hard so I felt every single cold and hard stair. I had acrophobia since then.
b This may be a bit confusing to me, but I remembered being in stairs‘
accident. Grice, 1975 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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The sentences above show that there is a person who tells how heshe fells down from the stairs when heshe was a child. The utterance a has met the
maxim of manner. On the contrary, utterance b fails to fulfill the maxim of manner since the person tries to remember the event but it becomes awkward
when he cannot actually remember what happened to himher when heshe was a child.
d. Implicature