ConversationalImplicature会话含义实用

会计学1ConversationalImplicature会话含义实用AnOverview

1SignificanceoftheNotionofImplicature2ConventionalImplicature&ConversationalImplicature3Grice’sDistinctionbetweenGeneralizedConversationalImplicatureandParticularizedConversationalImplicature第1页/共24页1SignificanceoftheNotionofImplicature1.1Thenotionofimplicatureprovidessomeexplicitaccountofhowitispossibletomeanmorethanwhatisactually‘said’,ormorethanwhatisliterallyexpressed.Considerthefollowingexchange:

A:Shallweholdthefootballmatchtomorrow?B:Itisraining.Semanticandliteralmeaning:hisanswerunrelatedtothequestion.Intendedmeaning:

thefootballmatchwillbecanceledasthegroundiswetandslipperyaftertherain.第2页/共24页Anotherexample:A:Canyoutellmethetime?B:Well,themilkmanhascome.

B’semanticandliteralmeaning:Well,themilkmancameatsometimepriortothetimeofspeaking.B’simplicature:Sorry,Idon’tknowtheexacttimeofthepresentmoment,butIcanprovidesomeinformationfromwhichyoumaybeabletodeducetheappropriatetime,namely‘themilkmanhascome’.第3页/共24页Conclusion:Thereisagapbetweenwhatisliterallysaidandwhatisimplied.Thisgapissosubstantial(本质的)thatwecannotexpectasemantictheorytoexplainhowwecommunicateusinglanguage.Thenotionofimplicature,however,bridgesthegapbyexplaininghowmeaningsareeffectivelyconveyed.

第4页/共24页1.2Thenotionofimplicaturesimplifiesboththestructureandthecontentofsemanticdescription.Inthissense,implicaturedoesnotexplainhowawordorexpressionhasseveralliteralmeaningsbutexplainshowawordorexpressioncouldimplydifferentmeaningsbydifferentlanguageusers.e.g.Thelonerangerjumpedonhishorseandrodeintothesunset.ThecapitalofFranceisParisandthecapitalofEnglandisLondon.第5页/共24页Sofromsemanticpointofview,itmayholdthat‘and’hastwomeaningsinthetwosentences.Butfrompragmaticpointofview,itholdsthattheword‘and’isaconjunction.Itislanguageuserswhouseittoconveyvariousmeaningsunderspecificcontext.Conclusion:Sointhissense,pragmaticstudyofthenotionofimplicaturesimplifiesboththestructureandthecontentofsemanticdescription.Itholdsthatawordmeaningisgenerallysimple,straightforwardandsteady.Onlycontextmakesawordtakeondifferentshadesofmeanings.e.g.Theclothiswhite.Theclothiswhite,redandgreen.第6页/共24页1.3Thenotionofimplicaturehasaverygenerativeexplanatorypower.Withthehelpofthecontext,implicaturemayexplainhowalargenumberofapparentlyunrelatedsentencesmayconveythesamemeaning.Inthiswayimplicaturehelpstomakeourlanguageusecolorful.Takethefollowingsentencesasexamples

1)Iwantyoutoclosethedoor.2)Pleaseclosethedoor.3)Canyouclosethedoor?4)Howaboutabitlessbreeze?5)Now,Johnny,whatdobigpeopledowhentheycomein?6)Okay,Johnny,whatamIgoingtosaynext?第7页/共24页Conclusion:Sointhiscase,implicaturehelpstoexplainhowsomeseeminglyunrelatedsentencescometomeanthesame.Withthehelpofcontext,theuseofimplicaturemakesourlanguageusemorecolorful.Wemayexpressthesamemeaningindifferentwaystosuitappropriatecontexts.

(何自然PP67-69)第8页/共24页Becauselanguageisbasicallyculture-specific,conventionalimplicatureofthesameexpressionmayvaryunderdifferentculturalbackground.Forexample,‘white’givestheimplicatureofpurityandchastity(贞操、贞洁)inwesternculturesandisassociatedwithabride;butitindicatesill-luckandmisfortuneinChinaandisassociatedwithmourning.Oftentheconventionalimplicaturesareformedbytheconventionaluseoflanguagewithinspecificculturalbackground.Theymayormaynotbesharedbyallcultures.第9页/共24页2conventionalimplicature&conversationalimplicature2.1ConventionalImplicature

Thereisthekindofmeaningthatisalwaysassociatedwithanexpressionsothatoneveryoccasionwhentheexpressionoccurs,themeaningoccurs.Thismeaningwhichisnaturallyassociatedwithanexpressionisknownasconventionalimplicature,or‘entilment’(规约含义),or‘naturalmeaning’.第10页/共24页Grice

于1957年在《哲学评论》（PhilosophicalReview)上发表了《意义》(Meaning)一文。在文中，Grice把“意义”分为两类：“自然意义”(naturalmeaning)和“非自然意义”(non-naturalmeaning)，并正式提出了“非自然意义理论”。关于“自然意义”，他举了这样一个例子：

Thosespotsmeantmeasles(那些斑点意味着麻疹)。他指出，如果不存在施事者（因而也不涉及施事者的意图），话语的意义只是“自然地”被理解，那么，这类话语就只表达“自然意义”。第11页/共24页关于“非自然意义”，Grice

认为它具有如下特点：

S发出U，具有非自然意义，当且仅当：

(i)S发出U，试图在H那儿引起某种效果Z；

(ii)通过H认可S的意图而使S的愿望不折不扣地实现。

S→说话人H→听话人

U→由语言符号构成的话语

Z→粗略地代表在听话人那儿产生的信仰或意志力，或作出的反应。

Grice的“非自然意义理论”实际上是一种交际理论（atheoryofcommunication）。第12页/共24页2.2ConversationalImplicatureUnlikeconventionalimplicatures,conversationalimplicaturesareproducedbyrelatingtotheconversationalcontext.Toknowwhatpeoplemean,wehavetointerpretwhattheysay.Butinterpretationisatrickyaffair,andmis-understandingsarealwayspossible.AsLeechremarks,‘interpretinganutteranceisultimatelyamatterofguess-work’.e.g.A:WhenisTom’sbirthday?B:It’ssometimeinOctober.B’simplicature:theonlythingherememberedaboutTom’sbirthdaywasthemonthinwhichitoccurs,andthathehonestlydidn’tknowwhetheritwasatthebeginning,themiddleortheendofthatmonth.第13页/共24页Howdoesaconversationalimplicaturecomeabout?

Inanalyzinganutterance,dependingonstrictsemanticorlogicalcriteriawillnothelp.The‘guesswork’thatLeechtalksaboutwillhavetobeofasomewhatqualifiednature.Thequalifiedguessingmustdependonthecontext,thatis,thecircumstan-cesofthisparticularquestion,thepersoninvolvedinthesituation,thesepersons’background,etc.Themoreweknowaboutthiscontext,themorewell-groundedour‘guesswork’isgoingtobe.第14页/共24页e.g.A:Icouldeatthewholeofthatcake.B:Oh,thanks.

A’sliteralmeaning:astatementofafact.

Thecontext:anexchangebetweenaguestandahost.

A’simplicature:Icomplimentyouonthecake,itissodeliciousthatIwanttoeatthewholeofit.e.g.A:Whereismyboxofchocolates?B:Iwasfeelinghungry.Ihavegotatraintocatch.Whereisyourdietsheet?Thechildrenwereinyourroomthismorning.第15页/共24页B’ssemanticmeanings:nonsenseB’sintendedmeanings:

Hehaseatenthechocolatesashewashungry.Hetookthechocolatesashegotatraintocatch.HehidthechocolatesasheknewthatAwasondiet.(toloseweight,Ashouldnoteatthem.)Hesuggestedthatthechocolatesmightbeeatenbythechildren.第16页/共24页Conclusion:Theintendedmeaningsofdifferentspeakersarenotdrawnfromsemanticorlogicalcontentoflanguage,butaredrawnfromconversatinalimplicaturewhichtriestoexplainlanguageusefromfunctional,communicativeandcontextualaspectsratherthanfromlinguisticaspectswhichincludephonology,syntaxandsemantics.第17页/共24页Question:

Whydon’tpeoplejustsaywhattheymeansoastoavoidall‘guesswork’and‘misunderstanding’?__thewaylanguageusersgoabouttheircommunicativebusinessesCommunicationisnotamatteroflogicortruth,butofco-operative;notofwhatpeoplesay,butofwhattheycansayundercertaincircumstances.AccordingtoGrice,thereasonwhypeopledon’tsaywhattheymeanisthattheytrytobeco-operativebyobservingcertainrulesincommunicationsoastomakecommunicationsmoothandsuccessful.第18页/共24页在言语交际中，一句话的全部意义，即有意图的信息交流内容应作下列图式分解（Levinson,1983:131）：非自然意义meant-nn（=有意图的信息交流内容）字面意义said含义implicated规约含义conventionally非规约含义non-conventionally

非会话含义non-conversationally会话含义conversationally一般性会话含义generally特殊性会话含义particularly第19页/共24页

由这个图式可以清楚地看到，Grice认定“非自然意义”是由字面意义和含义两部分共同组成的。因此，要全面地、深入地研究交际中话语的意义，就必须既研究话语的字面意义又研究话语的含义，而含义中又以会话含义最为重要。语用学是在言语交际的总框架中研究话语意义的恰当表达和准确理解的。正因为如此，“合作原则”和“会话含义”就成为重要的研究课题。第20页/共24页3Grice’sDistinctionbetweenGeneralizedCon-versationalImplicatureandParticularizedConversationalImplicature3.1Standard(generalized)implicatureistheimplica-turethatarisesasaresultofobservingthemaxims.Thistypeofimplicaturecanbeunderstoodandinter-pretedwithoutmakingreferencetoanyconversa-tionalcontexts.(不需上下文也能产生的会话含义叫一般会话含义)e.g.Iwalkedintoahouse.+>Thehouseisnotmyhou