When we speak we usually expect to be clear in communicating enough information that we lead the listener to know exactly what we mean and how we mean it, and to actually have an exchange in the conversation the listener must cooperate with what the speaker said. This means that we are using the cooperative principle as stated by Yule (1996), "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 engage" (p. 37). Basically, you must make your input have meaning when it's relevant. The cooperative principle is extended to H.P Grice's Maxims which include the following:
Quantity- Make your contribution as formative as required, don't make it more informative than required. People use hedges are used to mark the quantity maxim.
Quality- Try to make your contribution one that is true and don't say what you believe to be false.
Relevance-Be Relevant!
Manner-Avoid obscurity, ambiguity, be brief, be orderly.
To follow these maxims people tend adhere, flout or violate depending on the situation. Flouting means to violate or ignore with communicative intent. Adhering will be to pay attention and follow, and violating will be to have no communicative intent.
In my opinion, human violates Maxims easily. People want to talk about something else rather than the topic that is being discussed. Hence, they talk about something which is the violation of relevance. Meanwhile, some people have a lot to say which leads to the violation of quantity. I believe these two are the most common violations.
ReplyDeleteI believe I violate maxims sometimes.
My sister: What time did you go home last night?
Me: 12. After practice, I and my friends went to Applebee's for dinner. We ordered taco chips and buffalo wings. They were delicious. My favorite dish was the buffalo wings. I think we should visit Applebee's one day.
Obviously, the violation of quantity can be seen in this example.
According to H.P. Grice, conversations in order to be meaningful and relevant must follow certain aspects to allow the information exchange between people to be effective. People follow the maxims of conversations as explained by Yorquidia above in her explanation of the cooperation principles to establish a meaningful conversation.
ReplyDeleteAn example to demonstrate some of the maxims of conversations is the following.
Question - What are you doing today?
Answer - Today is a nice day to play tennis. I think i'm going to try that.
This example illustrates a few maxims of conversation, adherence, violation flouting, and hedges.
The maxim of quantity is being violated in this example because it is giving too much information.
The maxim of quality is being adhered to thanks to the hedge used as a reply. Even though it isn't a sure thing that the person replying to the question will play tennis today, they are letting the listener know with their response that it is a probability that they might play tennis, and they are replying with what they believe to be the truth.
The maxim of relevance is being flouted because they aren't exactly being relevant, they aren't giving a concrete reply but their is the purpose of communicating that they are interesting in playing tennis.
The maxim of manner is being violated or probably flouted. The reply is really ambiguous, so in this aspect, the person violated the maxim of manner. However, there might be communicative intention in this answer because the person might try to let the listener know that they are planning on playing tennis.
A proper conversation needs the cooperation from both the speaker and listener. The usage of Grice's maxims, as well as the flouting, adherence, and violation of them are necessary for successful communication. Here is a hypothetical situation in which relevance is adered, but quantity is violated:
ReplyDeleteAnnie: Did you have a nice day today?
Bob: Yes. I had a delicious breakfast with mmy sister, then went for a stroll in the Botanical Garden, then I had an ice cream cone. When I got home, I took a nap