___________________________________________________TSL3101 INTRODUCTION TO

LINGUISTICS
INTRODUCTION
Language is a system of communicating with other people using sounds, symbols and
words. Language is the greatest human possession. We need language to function. While
being the principal medium for communication, it is also the bond that links people together and
binds them to their culture ( Ain Nadimah Abdullah and !haali "amaruddin #$$% & ' (. )his
course deals with an awareness of key issues to aspects of language used. *n addition, we will
also obser+ing con+ersations between people where the intended meanings of utterances are
mediated by !rice,s -a.ims.
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___________________________________________________TSL3101 INTRODUCTION TO
LINGUISTICS
/on+ersations between two people or more are the ma0or instrument for people
to get their ideas and +iews for certain topic to be understood by others. *n order to
construct meaningful con+ersations, the speakers will try to contribute meaningful and
producti+e utterances with the listeners and assume that the listeners are doing the
same thing. 1aul !rice (%234( proposed this assumption as the /ooperati+e 1rinciple.
According to him, all con+ersations follow a basic set of rules which people use to
e.press themsel+es when speaking. )his set of rules can be identified by four groups of
ma.ims which are ma.im of 5uantity, ma.im of 5uality, ma.im of relation, and ma.im of
manner. 6owe+er, not all people follow these rules during their con+ersations. )hey
would sometimes purposely or unintentionally +iolate these rules when implying hidden
or indirect meaning. *t is up to the listeners on how they interpret implication that the
speakers, want to get across.
)he ma.im of 5uantity is all about being informati+e. 7uring the con+ersation, it is
essential for the speakers to be truthful and make their contribution as informati+e as
re5uired. 6owe+er, it is not necessary for them to make their contribution more
informati+e than it is re5uired. 8or e.ample&
Man : Hey, what time is it?
!"man : It#s ten $ast th%ee&
(9efer Audio %(
*n the abo+e con+ersation, the man asks about the time in which the woman
answers it with the proper information that the man re5uired. )he woman follows the
ma.im by not e.ceeding her contribution.
)he second ma.im is the ma.im of 5uality. )his ma.im is about truthfulness. *n
the con+ersations, people are e.pected to pro+ide true and accurate information to their
con+ersation partners. )hey ought to utter what they know to be the truth or pro+able by
ade5uate e+idence. 8or e.ample&
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___________________________________________________TSL3101 INTRODUCTION TO
LINGUISTICS
Man : !h" is "'% Ministe% "( Hi)he% *+',ati"n?
!"ma
n
: It#s -. Dat"# Se%i M"hame+ /ha0e+ N"%+in&
(9efer Audio #(

)he abo+e con+ersation follows the ma.im of 5uality where the woman contributes
information that she belie+es to be true and substantiated, thus pro+iding the right
answer that the man need. Ne+ertheless, the +iolation of 5uality can occur when the
speakers do not pro+ide proper information. 8or e.ample&
1n+
y
: -"' 2n"w, I 3'st 0i2e t" $"'% a ,'$ "( tea an+ "$en '$ a 4i)
4""2 an+ 3'st %ea+ a 4""2&&
.e%t : -"' 0i2e t" %ea+?
1n+
y
: I 0"5e %ea+in), yeah&
.e%t : I 0"5e t" %ea+&
1n+
y
: Is that 0i2e y"'% thin)?
.e%t : -eah6
1n+
y
: !hat#s the 0ast 4""2 y"' %ea+?
.e%t : Oh&&I&&'hm&&"ne "( th"se 'hm7+e$%esse+ R'ssian n"5e0ist&
-eah&
1n+
y
: Uh h'h&
(:outube& /on+ersations With ;ert& Andy <amberg, 1art % (#&%3=#&>?((
8rom the con+ersation, ;ert who e.citedly claims that he lo+es to read could not pro+ide
the information about the recent book that he read. 6is +ague and unclear answer about
the author,s name indicates that ;ert does not e+en like reading in the first place. ;ert
+iolates the ma.im of 5uality by gi+ing false information. 8rom this, Andy would assume
that ;ert is lying about his allegedly interest with books.
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___________________________________________________TSL3101 INTRODUCTION TO
LINGUISTICS
Ne.t is the ma.im of relation. 1eople are e.pected to stay on the topic and gi+e
responses that are rele+ant to the topic of discussion. 8or e.ample&
Man 1 : Hey 4'++y, h"w#s y"'% +ay at w"%2 t"+ay?
Man . : 8hint "( sa+ness9 I#+ %athe% n"t ta02 a4"'t it&
(9efer Audio >(
*n the abo+e e.ample, A intends his answer to be rele+ant to A,s 5uestion. )hrough ;,s
answer, it implied that ; is not ha+ing a good day at his workplace, or perhaps he has
been fired by his employer. 8rom that, A would conclude that ; has problem at his
workplace. @n the other hand, not most con+ersations would follow the ma.im of
relation. 8or e.ample&
!i(e : G"+, this a+"$ti"n st'(( is s" "5e%whe0min)& The%e#s inte%:
,"'nt%y a+"$ti"n, +e$en+en,y a+"$ti"n; s" many ways t"
)" an+ it#s 0i2e this is the 4i))est +e,isi"n "( "'% 0i5es&
H's4an
+
: The%e#s a hai% in my ,"((ee&
(:outube& 8riends& )here,s a hair in my coffee.(
*n the abo+e e.ample, the wife talks about +arious adoption process that they ha+e to
go through. @b+iously, the topic is about adoptionA howe+er the husband +iolates this
principle by going off topic by saying The%e#s a hai% in my ,"((ee& )his may indicates
that he does not wish to talk about the discussed topic with his wife anymore. )his kind
of +iolation may effects the whole con+ersation, making the speaker loses his or her
con+ersation partners.
Lastly is the ma.im of manner. 7uring the con+ersations, it is e.pected for the
participants to gi+e direct and clear comments, a+oiding ambiguity or obscurity
e.pression to their partners. 8urthermore, it is also important for the speakers to be
orderly and brief when presenting their information during the con+ersations. *n other
words, the speakers should use appropriate language and con+erse in a much simpler
manner, rather than using long and metaphorical way of speaking. 8or e.ample&
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___________________________________________________TSL3101 INTRODUCTION TO
LINGUISTICS
Tea,he
%
: Oh n", what ha$$ene+ t" him?
St'+ent : He#s 4een sta%5in) himse0( sin,e yeste%+ay an+ n"w he
$asse+ "'t6
(9efer Audio '(
)he con+ersation abo+e follows the ma.im of manner where the speaker
pro+ides the information in an orderly way. )he student inform the teacher the e+ent in
the actual order in which it occurred& (%( he star+ed himself, (#( he passed out.
6owe+er, people would sometimes +iolate this ma.im in a +ery ob+ious way that the
listener would assume that the speaker,s intention is to be ironic or sarcastic. 8or
e.ample&
<%in,e Cha%min) : -"' ,an=t 0ie& S" te00 me $'$$et, whe%e is Sh%e2?
<in",,hi" : Uh we00 'h, I +"n=t 2n"w whe%e he=s n"t&
<%in,e Cha%min) : -"'=%e te00in) me y"' +"n=t 2n"w whe%e Sh%e2 is?
<in",,hi" : It w"'0+n=t 4e ina,,'%ate t" ass'me that I ,"'0+n=t
e>a,t0y n"t say that it is "% isn=t a0m"st $a%tia00y
in,"%%e,t&
<%in,e Cha%min) : S" y"' +" 2n"w whe%e he is6
<in",,hi" : On the ,"nt%a%y, I=m $"ssi40y m"%e "% 0ess n"t
+e(inite0y %e3e,tin) the i+ea that in n" way with any
am"'nt "( 'n,e%tainty that I 'n+enia40y +" "% +" n"t
2n"w whe%e he sh"'0+n=t $%"4a40y 4e, i( that in+ee+
wasn=t whe%e he isn=t& *5en i( he wasn=t at whe%e I
2new he was& That=+ mean I=+ %ea00y ha5e t" 2n"w
whe%e he wasn=t&
(:outube&
1inocchio(
*n the abo+e con+ersation, the character 1rince /harming wants to ac5uire <hrek,s
whereabouts form 1inocchio. 6owe+er, 1inocchio pro+ides information that is not clear
5
___________________________________________________TSL3101 INTRODUCTION TO
LINGUISTICS
and understandable by the prince. *nstead of pro+iding him with the right information,
1inocchio uses complicated and confusing words that the listener could not completely
comprehend in order to mislead him.
*n conclusion, these ma.ims act as guidance to the speakers and the listeners to
ha+e a decent and meaningful con+ersation. 6owe+er, no one is obliged to follow these
rules. Biolations of these ma.ims can make the con+ersation to be rather biarre and
odd, where the speakers probably implying that they want to change the topic of the
con+ersation or end it altogether or perhaps they assume that the listeners would
understand the hidden meaning of the con+ersations.
REFLECTION
6
___________________________________________________TSL3101 INTRODUCTION TO
LINGUISTICS
)he cooperati+e principle that was proposed by !rice (%234( stated that each
con+ersation participants will make a contribution that is re5uired when it occurs during
the con+ersations. We subconsciously make use of this principle when communicating
with one another in order to make sense of the presumption of con+ersation.
8urthermore, not only that the four ma.ims are the rules that implicitly guide us to
interpret the inferences to make sense of con+ersation, but they also help us in
interpreting ambiguous statements in the con+ersation.
)he +iolation of the !rice,s ma.ims is one of a creati+e yet powerful way to
e.press oursel+es. C+en though it is less precise and more ambiguous, this +iolation
helps us speakers to pro+ide information indirectly in order to a+oid certain discomfort or
embarrassment that would probably happen when we utter unpleasant things directly.
@ther than that, we can also imply hidden meaning during the con+ersations without
ha+ing them to defend our +iew.
)he only problem with these ma.ims is that they are easily o+erlapped with each
other. <ometimes, it is not clear on how to distinguish which ma.im is being +iolated
during the con+ersation. Lengthy information that the speakers pro+ided could be
identified as either +iolation of 5uantity or +iolation of relation for being irrele+ant to the
other participant. *t also can be considered as the +iolation of manner and the +iolation
of 5uality when the information is being too wordy.
REFERENCES
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___________________________________________________TSL3101 INTRODUCTION TO
LINGUISTICS
Applying !rice,s -a.ims. 9etrie+ed on <eptember #3
th
, #$%% from
krpb.pbworks.comDfD!rice.pdf
/on+ersations With ;ert& Andy <amberg, 1art %. 9etrie+ed on <eptember #E
th
, #$%%
from http&DDwww.youtube.comDwatchF+Gp.g%%>@H<9*
8riends& )here,s a hair in my coffee. 9etrie+ed on <eptember #3
th
, #$%% from
http&DDwww.youtube.comDwatchF+Gbn)#9%5+r2'
! is for !rice (and his -a.ims(. 9etrie+ed on <eptember #3
th
, #$%% from
http&DDscottthornbury.wordpress.comD#$%$D$>D#EDg=is=for=grice=and=his=ma.imsD
!ricean ma.ims. 9etrie+ed on <eptember #3
th
, #$%% from
http&DDen.wikipedia.orgDwikiD!riceanHma.ims
!riceIs -a.ims. 9etrie+ed on <eptember #3
th
, #$%% from
http&DDccat.sas.upenn.eduDJharoldfsDdra+lingDgrice.html
!riceIs ' -a.ims. 9etrie+ed on <eptember #3
th
, #$%% from
http&DDuid.misck.com.auDgrice.html
1inocchio. 9etrie+ed on <eptember #3
th
, #$%% from http&DDwww.youtube.comDwatchF
+Grd%rK;$r!iCLfeatureGrelated
)ales and !riceIs /ooperati+e 1rinciple. 9etrie+ed on <eptember #E
th
, #$%% from
http&DDwww%.appstate.eduDJmcgowantDgrice.htm
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