Seminar 9 Entailment, presupposition, Implicature, Conversational maxims. ncept Is relevant for this anecdote: entallment, presupposition, implicature? What cor Consider the following situations. fx, _Johnate all the apples. => Somebody ate frult. John killed Bill => Bill is deat BuT “finally killed John’s parrot, Bil’ ‘So, it’s dead then?” ‘No, | didn’t say that.” “But if you klled it, it must be dead.” “No, lwas quite careful about it. killed it very carefully o it’s not dead.” Whats the statement about the word concerned in this short dialogue that the interlocutor seems not to accept? Entailment is a logical relation between propositions. Definition: A proposition P ENTAILS a proposition Q ifthe truth of Q follows necessarily from the truth ofp, Yf p> For a proposition P to-entail a proposition Qi is not enough for the truth of Q to be merely an expected consequence. For instance, ‘Kis a bird’ does not entail x can fly’, even though most birds can fly. ‘TASK 1. Look at the following pairs of examples and say which are entailments: a John cooked an egg. => John boiled an egg. '\NQ- b. John boiled an egg. => John cooked an co. [> «. Isawa boy. => I sawa person. d. John stole a car => John took a ear. e. His speech disturbed me, => His speech deeply disturbed me. WO, His speech deeply disturbed me. => His speech disturbed me Definition: A presupposition is a proposition whose truth is taken for granted by the producer of an utterance and which must be known and [taken account of] for the utterance to make sense to an interpreter. Ex. Pete has stopped smoking. ‘The hearer takes it for granted that Pete was previously a smoker, although this is not explicitly stated. The presumption that Pete had been a smoker is necessary for the sentence to make sense to a hearer, even if that fact was not previously known, Presupposition is not the same as entailment. “Mad Hatter: Would you like a little more tea? Alice: Well, | haven't had any yet, so | can't very well take more. ‘March Hare: Ah, you mean you can't very well take less. Mad Hatter: Yes. TASK 2. Consider the following examples; what are possible presuppositions in each case? ‘2. The flying saucer landed right here. WOK ARON \Yio/, : (ouch b. Lizregrets selling the house. uz. Oduantd l. Mad ( c. Uzdoes not play the bassoon very well. An 4. Has John stopped beating his wife? Hy Barton por! fos tin wal Beach John took a car=> John stole a car NO Scanned with CamScanner‘The study of conversational Implicature Is a major subarea within pragmatics are parts of the meanings of utterances which, although intended, are not Definition: Implicatures In the act of utterance, nar do they follow logically from what is said strictly part of ‘what Is said” There are two basic sorts of Implicature those which have a stable association with particular linguistic expressions (conventional Jement of surprise associated with yet in Haven't you finished yet? (speaker a ) Haven't you finished yet? Have you finished? Ai terminat? N- implicatures), such as the el does not actually say he or she is surprised) i terminat? b those which must be Inferred, and for which contextual information is crucial (conversational implicatures), such as the implied negative in B’s reply in: A:CantspeaktoJane? tied aun, B: She's in the shower. NO Conversational implicature arises only In a particular context of utterance. ‘TASK 3. Considering the Cooperative Principle is observed in all the following case, what is the impicature: ‘a. A:Can you tell me the time? ~ b. Sue: Does Mary have a boyfriend? 4 ‘ thot ous me ty bw fon BH: She's been rng to Sra Barbara every weetee John: Do you know how to change “platy Jane: | know how to call a tow truck 4. Helen: Can borrow £5? ny on Ji: My parse i inthe hall. ‘fla oo faa Qaate shige ‘The Cooperative Principle The basic idea behind the Cooperative oe (cP) according to P. Grice (1913 - 1988) is that interlocutors are attempting to be cooperative in conversation. Even when one might assume the participants are in fact being utterly uncooperative ~ say, in the course of a bitter ‘argument — they are in fact being conversationally cooperative, for instance they stick to the topic (or at least relevant side topics ~ presenting other grievances, perhaps, but not abruptly mentioning irrelevant sports scores), they say interpretable things in a reasonably concise way, and they try to complete their thoughts while not giving distracting or irrelevant details. The CP consists of four “maxims,” each of which covers one aspect of linguistic interaction and describes what is expected of a cooperative speaker with respect to that maxim. The maxims, with rough saraphrases of their content, are: L. The Maxim of Quantity: Say enough, but don’t say too much. ». The Maxim of Quality: Say only what you have reason to believe is true. |. The Maxim of Relation: Say only what is relevant. . The Maxim of Manner: Be brief, clear, and unambiguous. Scanned with CamScanner‘TASK 4, Consider the Karnes Cistogve with Peters end Kientty pols where the four monime are cluded in Hamlet's speech. + POLONIUS: What do you rend, ny lora? HAMLET: — Words, words, words. = P(t of NG. why POLONIUS: What isthe matter, my lord? HAMLET: Betweenwho? —— ~*> 4Jigpewer Of sonar oLomuti eos Une natetat oo onl od Slanders, sir, for the satirical rogue says here that old men have gray beards, that their faces are wrinkled, their eyes purging thick amber and plum-tree gum, and that they have a plentiful lack of wit, together with most weak hams; all which, sit, though, | most powerfully and potently believe, yet | hold it honesty to have it thus set done; for yourself, sir, should grow old as | am. tf like a crab you te tens w J praca ‘There are four ways in which the speaker can behave [with respect to] the Cooperative Principle: the speaker can ‘+ dbserve the maxims ~ to obey them observe a rule + violate a maxim ~ to fail to observe it, but to do so inconspicuously, with the assumption that ‘your hearer won't realize that the maxim is being violated e.g. a lie ~ the speaker makes an utterance which he/she knows to be false + flout a maxim ~ also to violate it - but in this case the violation is so intentionally blatant that the hearer is expected to be aware of the violation * opt out of the maxims ~ to refuse to make a relevant contribution HAMLET TASKS, Consider the following eters of recommendation il ikely to get he jb? Explain in terms of observing (or not) conversational maxims. a. Dear Professor Stanhope: 1 am writing in support of Sally Smith's application for a job in your department. Ms. [miz] Smith was a student of mine for three years, and | can tell you that she has excellent penmanship and wes aways gn time forces. : Srcerey Sh OWE Ohh, toget “the Toucntevern of seatown Sulivas oud evalily sitter bears b. Dear Professor Stanhope: 11am writing in support of Sally Smith's application for a job in your department. Ms. Smith was a student of mine for three years, and | can tell you that she is a fine mother, a terrific practical jokester, and has A genuine eee for pes bilities in both table tennis and badminton. Sincerely, thay xo ALOK oP the cl ee For an utterance to ae considered a lie, it has to simultaneously meet at least three conditions (coleman & Kay, 1981): 2. The statement is in fact false. NO b. The speaker intends it to be false. NO Scanned with CamScannerThe speaker intends to deceive the hearer by uttering diferent question: &. Did you steal ariy money? b Mow much aid you steal? vor of these conditions I mictng, there might reasonably be disagreement over whather the Hone or speaker has hed saci. Conse the following shuations: did the bookshop owner fa? Give arguments w nookstore owner tells a customer that a certain book wil arrive i the shop on January 1 She 1d her of it In fact, however, the . a if wii ave 2 tretieves this & 40 when she says, because the publisher has assure took does not arrive until January 8. Has she fied? Ki BU, yo . jG yn mA fouit fe wil arrive on January b. This same bookstore owner, with the same belief (and evidence) that the the customer that it won't arrive until January 8 (because she wants to be able to snap up all the arriving until 7 A fo ahn 1. els copies for family members). As it happens, a delay in shipping results in the book January 6 Has she lee AA, Leica (he MCugat odin ul ay 4. The bookstore owner has been told by the publisher that the book wl arrive on Janus pessimist and doesnt believe it. So just to be onthe sae side, she tells the customer it will arrive on ned January 8. Has she lied? And does the answer depend on the book’s actual date of arrival? oe genet (tatu . fod Cae | 7 oy aud Ccawtte Jer, ou Mil Breese ole vy Yu Loot ’ we ' , Scanned with CamScanner