terms, is made by means of pragmatic implications called Conversational Implicatures.
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B. Implicature
Grice introduce the verb “implicate” and the related nouns “implicature” cf. implying and implicatum cf. what is implied. The point of this maneuver is
to avoid, on each occasion, to choose between this or that member of the family of verbs for which “implicate” is to do general duty. For example, that A and B are
talking about a mutual friend C who is now working in a bank. A ask B how C is getting on in his job, and B replies, “oh quite well”, at this point A might well
inquire what B was implying, what he was suggesting or even what he meant by saying that C had not yet been to prison. The answer might be one of such things
as that C is the sort of person likely to yield to the temptation provided by his occupation that C’s colleagues are really very unpleasant and treacherous people,
and so forth. It might, of course, be quite necessary for A to make such an inquiry of B, the answer to it being, in the context clear, in advance. It is clear that
whatever B implied, suggested, meant, etc
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. According to Mey, the word ‘implicature’ is derived from the verb ‘to
imply’, as is its cognate “implication”. Originally, ‘to imply’ means ‘to fold something into something else’ from the Latin verb plicare ‘to fold’; hence, that
which is implied is ‘folded in’, and has to be ‘unfolded’ in order to be understood.
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Ibid. pp.7-9.
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H.P Grice, “Logic and Conversation” in Syntax and Semantics Vol.3, ed. Peter Cole and Jerry L. Morgan New York: Academic Press. INC, 1975, pp. 43-45.
A conversational implicature is, therefore, something which is implied in conversation, that is, something which is left implicit in actual language use.
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It’s not different from Leech’s opinion: interpreting an utterance is ultimately a matter of guesswork, or to use a more dignified term hypothesis
formation. Guessing depend on context, including problems of conversational
participant and background of speaker and hearer. Progressively in a context comprehended, gain strength guess base. Example, “It’s sometime in April” it is
the answer to the question “When’s Aunt Rose’s birthday?” implication that “the only thing the speaker remembered about Auntie’s birthday was the month it
occurred, and the speaker honestly didn’t know whether it was at the beginning, the middle or the end of the month”.
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From examples and explanations above, it can be comprehended that implicature is intention which consists in utterance and understanding about
implicature is needed in pragmatics. According to Levinson implicature provides some explicit account of how it is possible to mean more than what is actually
said.
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C. Pragmatic Principles
