Лекции по теоретической грамматике английского языка. Тивьяева И.В. - 125 стр.

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If at a party, A stands before B and asks if B if s/he likes wine, B is allowed

to infer that A is offering B wine even though A did not literally make an offer of

wine. The Maxim of Relation licenses B to infer that A is offering wine since that

understanding would make A’s question most relevant to the context in which it

was said. In other words, understanding what someone is saying to us involves not

just understanding the literal meaning of their utterances, but also making

inferences about how that literal meaning is relevant to the current situation. This

means that we could infer two different messages from the same utterance

depending on how we interpret the situation. So, if someone says, A: You can close

the door. we could interpret the statement as a not-too-polite request to close the

door or as a statement about the condition of the door [= ‘the door can be closed’]

depending on the context in which it is uttered: conversational implicature is

sensitive to the context of the utterance.

The other maxims are also important. For example, consider the following

letter of recommendation:

Dear Sir or Madam:

Mr. Hardbottom faithfully turns his work in on time and actively

participates in discussions in seminars.

Yours sincerely,

Prof. Bonebreak

This letter does not contribute the correct amount of information [thus

violating the Maxim of Quantity], which allows the inference that there is a reason

why the correct amount of information is not being provided, namely that to do so

would involve saying negative things about the recommendee.

According to Grice, the maxims are learned guidelines for social interaction.

“It is just a well-recognized empirical fact that people do behave in these ways [i.e.

in ways that the maxims prescribe]; they learned to do so in childhood, and have

not lost the habit of doing so” (Grice 1989:29).

Grice does not of course prescribe the use of such maxims. Nor does he

suggest that we use them to construct conversations. But they are useful for