Pragmatics Of Daily Conversation

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Introduction

Linguistics is a science that study the units, nature, structure and modification of human language. Linguistics spans a large number of subfields, each dealing with different part of the language faculty. These branches are: phonetics, phonology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. Pragmatics is considered as the center of linguistics fields. Pragmatics is concerned with the relation of sentences to the environment in which they occur. This research will discuss one of an important concepts in pragmatics called Cooperative Principle (CP) and analyze a daily conversation using Grice conversational theory.

Theoretical Background

Language is important in every aspect of our lives and a vital tool for communication. It is not only a way of communicating and exchange ideas, but it also builds friendships and cultural ties. So good communication is one of the most important process that we use in our life daily. Fahmi (2016) study found the following: Herbert Paul Grice, developed a mode of interaction for successful communication called the Cooperative Principle (CP) Which is to make your conversational contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged. Then the principle generated four maxims as a criteria of successful and meaningful conversation. Grice (1975) formulates four major norms to be fulfilled when people communicate to one another. Those four maxims are: Maxim of quantity/information, Maxim of quality/truthfulness, Maxim of relevance/relation and Maxim of manner/clarity. (p. 92)

“(1)Maxim of quantity/information contribution as informative as is required, and do not make your contribution is more informative than is required. An example of obeying the maxim of quantity Background: Imam and Komang are doing a conversation, talking about football game last night. At a particular time Komang leave Imam suddenly then Imam ask him:” (Fahmi, 2016, p. 92) “Imam: where are you going? Komang: I am going to canteen.” (Fahmi, 2016, p. 94) “From the example above Komang replies Imam’s question properly, not more nor less about where is he heading to.” (Fahmi, 2016, p. 94) “(2)Maxim of quality/truthfulness that means to be truthful, do not give information that is believed to be false and do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence. An example of obeying maxim quality: Background: two men (Adi and Bambang) sitting in front of Adi’s terrace. At particular moment Bambang asks Adi how old is him:” (Fahmi, 2016, p. 94) “Bambang: how old are you, Di? Adi: I am 21 years old.” (Fahmi, 2016, p. 94) “From the example above, Adi obeys the maxim of quality where require someone to give true and genuine information.” (Fahmi, 2016, p. 94) “(3)Maxim of relevance/relation that means to stick to the point and to be relevance to the topic of the discussion. An example of obeying maxim relevance: Background: Azim ask Munir about where is his cellphone.” (Fahmi, 2016, p. 94)

“Azim: bro..where is my cellphone?

Munir: it is on the table.” (Fahmi, 2016, p. 94)

“In the example above Munir give answer that relate to Azim’s question.” “(4)Maxim of manner/clarity requires the peaker to avoid obscurity of expression and ambiguity statements/sentences. It demands the speaker to be clear, and brief. An example of obeying maxim of manner: Background: a stranger man ask Azam where the nearest Bank.” (Fahmi, 2016, p. 95) “Stranger man: excuse me. May I ask you something? Azam : yes. please Stranger man: how to get to the nearest bank? Azam: go ahead until you find crossroad. Go straight at the crossroad. The bank is 100 away from the crossroad. It is in your left side.” ( Fahmi, 2016, p. 95) “From the example above Azam’s answer about stanger’s question is brief, orderly without any abscurity of expression and ambiguity utterance.” ( Fahmi, 2016, p. 95) When the participants obey the whole maxims, they can be said cooperative in communication or create effective and efficient communication.

According to Yule (2014), there are certain types of expressions or devices used by speakers to ‘explain’ utterances beforehand in relation to the four maxims called hedges. It uses to mark that the speakers may be in danger of not fully adhering to the principles. For example we may say: “As far as I know…” to show that we respect the maxim of quality. (Yule, 2014, p. 145) Fahmi’s (2016) study found the following: Implicature is meanings that are not explicitly conveyed in what is someone said. For example, A ask B to come out tonight by saying, “Do you want to come out with with me tonight? Then B answers, “I am busy tonight”. From B’s answer the possible implicature that arise is B does not want to come related with A’s question, Instead of saying no I don’t B prefer to say I am busy tonight. (p. 93) Taghiyev’s (2017) found “according to Grice, the above four super maxims can be violated in the following four ways:” (p. 286)

1. Quietly and unostentatiously

“A: Do you love me?

B: Yes.” (Taghiyev, 2017, p. 286)

“Supposing speaker B does not love really, he quietly violates the maxim of quality.” (Taghiyev, 2017, p. 286)

2. By opting out a maxim

“A: How much are you paid per month?

B: Sorry, that is confidential.” (Taghiyev, 2017, p. 286)

“This is explicit information given by the speaker B that maxim of quantity cannot be satisfied.” (Taghiyev, 2017, p. 286)

3. Coping with a clash between maxims

“A: Where was that poet born?

B: Somewhere in the South.” (Taghiyev, 2017, p. 286)

“The speaker B does not know exactly where the poet was born. To avoid violating the maxim of quality– providing less information than that was asked for.” (Taghiyev, 2017, p. 286)

4. Flouting a maxim in order to exploit it.

“A: John is the CEO of the company, is he not?

B: Uh-huh, and I am the Emperor of Japan.” (Taghiyev, 2017, p. 286)

“Speaker B, unlike someone who simply violates the maxim, flouts the maxim (here the maxim of quality) and expects the listener to notice it.” (Taghiyev, 2017, p. 286)

Review of Literature

The objects in Risdianto’s study are ten utterances of conversational implicature in Oscar Wilde‘s short story ‘‘Happy Prince’’. Those conversational implicature are obtained through frequent reading and analysis. The research findings is that in Oscar Wilde‘s short story ‘‘Happy Prince’’ there are there are six forms of politeness principle, two forms of cooperative principles and two ironical principles. (Risdianto, 2016, p. 209- 219) While the research by Govindarajulu and Krishnamurthy (2017) aim is to explore the nuances of Maugham’s implicature to bring out his artistry, by analyzing the conversations in the story through an application of H.P. Grice’s Cooperative Principle. The research findings is that a rigorous application of Grice’s theory of implicature exposes the violation of maxims in the conversation of the characters.

Text Analysis

(1)“Marlene: Hi! What are you doing here? Jung-soo: Buying school supplies. I need some binders.” (Richards, Bycina, & Wisniewska, 2005). By looking to the question above, Jung-soo obeys the maxim of quality where require someone to give true and genuine information. He gives information that is true “Buying school supplies”.

(2)“Marlene: I’m out of paper! Where’s the copy paper?” (Richards, Bycina, & Wisniewska, 2005) By looking to the answer above, From Marlene answer the possible implicature that arise is Marlene does not want to come related with Jung-soo question, Instead of saying I come to buy a paper she prefer to say ‘I’m out of paper!,’ So she delivered the meaning indirectly to be more communicated.

(3)“Jung-soo: I think it’s in this aisle, on the top shelf, to the right of the computer disks.” (Richards, Bycina, & Wisniewska, 2005) By looking to the answer above, Jung-soo’s answer about Marlene’s question is brief, orderly without any obscurity of expression and ambiguity utterance. So Jung-soo obeys the maxim of manner.

(4)“Jung-soo: Do you know where the binders are? Marlene: Yealh, they’re on the middle shelf, next to the paper clips.” (Richards, Bycina, & Wisniewska, 2005) By looking to the question above, Marlene’s answer about Jung-soo’s question is brief, orderly without any obscurity of expression and ambiguity utterance. So Marlene obeys the maxim of manner.

Interpretation of the analysis:

By applying H.P. Grice’s Cooperative Principle, I find that there are two forms of cooperative principle which are one maxim of quality and two maxim of manner. There is also one implicature and it’s used to make the conversation more communicated. The reason of using all above is to show how to ask about where things are in formal and informal ways and how to show someone where things are in polite way.

Conclusion

Study of pragmatics is an essential part of linguistics. One of the most important topics that the pragmatism covered is Cooperative Principle. Paul Grice was the first scientist who introduce the concept of maxims or expectations that we bring into our conversational behavior. This theory can be summarized in four individual maxims: Quantity, Quality, Relevance, and Manner. The four conversational maxims serve as guidelines in any normal interaction and their application ensures that the speaker can convey a message and the hearer can interpret it.

References

Fahmi, R. (2016). An analysis of Grice’s maxims violation in daily conversation. Journal of Languages and Language Teaching,4(2). doi:10.33394/jollt.v4i2.325
Govindarajulu, S. K., & Krishnamurthy, B.(2017). An Application of H.P. Grice’s Theory of Implicature to Somerset Maugham’s Short Story The Punctiliousness of Don Sebastian. Global Journal for Research Analysis,6(5). doi: 10.36106/GJRA
Richards, J. C., Bycina, D., & Wisniewska, I. (2005). Person to Person: Communicative Speaking and Listening Skills. (United Kingdom, UK): Oxford University Press.
Risdianto, F. (2016). A Conversational Implicature Analysis In Oscar Wilde’s Short Story “Happy Prince”. Register Journal,4(2). doi: 10.18326/rgt.v4i2.461
Taghiyev, I. (2017). Violation of Grice’s maxims and ambiguity in English linguistic jokes.IJASOS- International E-journal of Advances in Social Sciences,3(7). doi:10.18769/ijasos.309688.
Yule, G. (2014). Discourse analysis: The Co-operative Principle. England: Cambridge University Press.

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