implicature (n.)

A term derived from the work of the philosopher H. P. Grice (1913–88) and now frequently used in LINGUISTICS as part of the study of conversational structure. Conversational implicatures refer to the implications which can be deduced from the FORM of an UTTERANCE, on the basis of certain CO-OPERATIVE PRINCIPLES which govern the efficiency and normal ACCEPTABILITY of conversations, as when the sentence There’s some chalk on the floor is taken to mean ‘you ought to pick it up’; they contrast with explicatures, which are the propositions that are explictly communicated (the fact that the chalk is on the floor, in this example). Several types of implicature have been discussed, in the context of the relationship between language and logical expression, and of the conditions which affect the APPROPRIATENESS of utterances. In particular, implicatures have been classified into generalized and particularized types – the former not being restricted to a particular context; the latter requiring a specific context. Also, a contrast has been drawn between conversational (or non-conventional) implicatures, which are inferences calculated on the basis of the MAXIMS OF CONVERSATION, and conventional implicatures, which are not derived from these principles but simply attached by convention to particular expressions. Examples of the latter which have been suggested include utterance-INITIAL oh, the use of therefore, even and yet, and sequences of the type He is an Englishman; therefore he is brave. However, relatively little detailed linguistic investigation has yet taken place into these matters, and several of the proposals are controversial.