Generalized and Particularized____ Implicatures

Non-detachability

Conversational implicatures are generated from the semantic content by assuming the Cooperative Principle. So they are attached to the content rather than to the form, or in other words, it is not possible to get rid of the implicatures by substituting words with synonyms.

The speaker has said something P, by considering the present situation the hearer cannot find any reason to treat the speaker as being uncooperative or not following the general principle; the speaker cannot be thought of as being so unless he actually means something Q. The speaker knows that the hearer is aware that the supposition that the speaker actually means Q is required; the speaker intends the hearer to think Q as well, or at least the speaker is willing to allow the hearer to think Q. So the speaker, by producing the utterance
Special Features of Implicatures
Cancellability
They
can be cancelled by adding one more clause to them. It may be contextually cancelled, if the form of utterance that usually carries it is used in a context that makes it clear that the speaker is opting out.
The following is a set of factors which have to be analyzed if we want to work out the implicature:
1.
The conventional meaning of the utterance, i.e., the propositional content. This is the first step, for , if we don’t know what these meanings are, the utterance is only a series of sounds not much different from the sounds in nature. 2. The Cooperative Principle and submaxims.
Scalar implicatures



Jane: Who used all the printer paper? Steve: I used some of it. Jane: I hear you're always late with the rent. Steve: Well, sometimes I am
Non-conventionality
Since
the conversational implicature is worked out from the literal meaning in terms of the Cooperative Principle and maxims, and the sentence meaning is already known before the implicature is worked out, the implicature cannot be part of the literal meaning.
Generalized Implicatures
Generalized
implicature is obtained by assuming that the speaker is observing the conversational maxims and his uttering of the prior sentence will generally carry some implicatures.




1. Carmen: Did you get the milk and the eggs? Dave: I got the milk. Did Dave buy the eggs'? 2. Faye: I hear you've invited Mat and Chris. Ed: I didn't invite Mat. Did Ed invite Chris?

When only one of the questions or propositions has been mentioned in the response, we normally assume that the speaker is still adhering to the co-operative principle and therefore is implying a response for the second one as well. And, we normally take it to be the opposite of the one mentioned.
Particularized Implicatures
These
implicatures are generated in a conversation by overtly and deliberately violating some submaxims for communicative purposes. They are inferences dependent on particular time, place, and people. The speaker in this situation follows the general Cooperative Principle, but he violates some submaxims.
3.
The context. This may include time, place, people, attitude and evaluation of the world. 4. The mutual understanding of the participants, what has been said and what is expected to follow. 5. All these things must be accessible to the participants in the conversation.


wk.baidu.com
Scale of quantity: some most all Scale of frequency: sometimes often always Scale of coldness: cool cold freezing Scale of likelihood: possibly probably certainly
refers to the fact that an expression with a single meaning can produce different implicatures as the contexts and participants vary.
Conventional implicatures
Generalized and Particularized Implicatures
Generally, conversational implicatures can be divided into two kinds: Generalized and Particularized.

Exercise1 For each dialogue, answer the accompanying question based on the implicature that you can draw from the second speaker's response. Think about why you drew those implicatures.
Calculability
This
means that for every conversational implicature, it is possible to make an argument like that given by Grice in the earlier discussion on the process of generating implicature.
The
literal meaning remains the same in all contexts, but conversational implicatures will vary or be lost as the context changes.
Indeterminacy
This

In certain contexts, if one expression has given rise to the conversational implicature, then no matter what other synonymous forms are used, the implicature will be shared by all these synonymous forms.

We normally assume (following the co-operative principle) that, where speakers have a scale of values at their disposal, they will choose the one that is truthful (maxim of quality) and optimally informative (maxim of quantity). So, we normally draw the implicature 'not any of the higher values on the scale'.

With “the literal meaning or the sense of the utterance on the one hand, and the Cooperative Principle and the maxims on the other, it follows that an addressee would make the inference in question to preserve the assumption of cooperation.”