Cooperation and implicature

Cooperation and implicature

In our daily life, speakers and listeners involved in conversation are generally cooperating with each other. In other words, when people are talking with each other, they must try to converse smoothly and successfully. In accepting speakers’ presuppositions, listeners have to assume that a speaker is not trying to mislead them. This sense of cooperation is simply one in which people having a conversation are not normally assumed to be trying to confuse, trick, or withhold relevant information from one another.
However, in real communication, the intention of the speaker is often not the literal meaning of what he or she says. The real intention implied in the words is called conversational implicature.
Example:
[1]

A: Can you tell me the time?
B: Well, the milkman has come.

In this little conversation, A is asking B about the time, but B is not answering directly. That indicates that B may also not know the accurate time, but through saying “the milkman has come”, he is in fact giving a rough time. The answer B gives is related to the literal meaning of the words, but is not merely that. That is often the case in communication. The theory of conversational implicature is for the purpose of explaining how listeners infer the speakers’ intention through the words.

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Pragmatics Meaning vs. Semantics Meaning

Curious about the pragmatic meaning vs. semantic meaning in linguistics? Learning the difference can not only help linguistics students, it can also help new language learners. The following article describes the difference between the two terms and shows examples of them.

Whether you are taking a class on linguistics or are teaching a language class, understanding pragmatic meaning vs. semantic meaning can be a valuable tool to maximize learning in the classroom. Although semantics and pragmatics are both terms used in relation to the meanings of words, their usage is drastically different.

What Is Semantics?

Semantics refers to the meaning of words in a language and the meaning within the sentence. Semantics considers the meaning of the sentence without the context. The field of semantics focus on three basic things: “the relations of words to the objects denoted by them, the relations of words to the interpreters of them, and, in symbolic logic, the formal relations of signs to one another (syntax)" [1]. Semantics is just the meaning that the grammar and vocabulary impart, it does not account for any implied meaning.

Pragmatic Meaning

When you consider the pragmatic meaning vs. semantic meaning, you find that they are quite different. Pragmatics deals with all of those same words and grammar except within context. In each situation, the various listeners in the conversation define the ultimate meaning of the words. For example, if you were to tell your wife, “You look good in that dress,” it would be a compliment according to the semantic meaning. The meaning of the words and the sentence on their own is a positive thing. Pragmatically, this could be insult. Had your wife just tried on a different dress? She could assume that your intended compliment actually implied that her first outfit looked terrible.

Pragmatics Meaning vs. Semantics Meaning