ENGLISH LINGUISTICS

REVIEW
 PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY

1.Phonetics and Phonology

a.What is phonetics?
*Phonetics and articulators/organs of speech
*Articulatory Phonetics:
*Auditory Phonetics:
*Acoustic Phonetics
*3 aspects of the study of phones/sounds:
-physical: articulation, height, length, quality, loudness, pitch, melody
-accent: regional characteristics
-social: phonetically distinctive features, social effect
Phoneme - Phone - Allophone
1.Speech sounds are the movements of the air through human articulators (organs
of speech). The air moves through
* the nasal cavity (the nose), nasal sounds /m, n, …/ appear;
* the oral cavity (the mouth), oral sounds /p, b, f, v, t, d, …/ appear;
* the two lips, bi-labial sounds /p, b, m,…/ appear…

2.Unit of Phonetics and Phonology: Phoneme, phone, and allophone:

* A phonetic unit or segment is called a phone.
* A phoneme is a more abstract unit. It is defined as the smallest unit of language
existing as such a speech - sound which is capable of distinguishing one word from
another or one grammatical form of a word from another form of the same word.

* An allophone can be defined as a predictable phonetic variant of a phoneme. An

actually pronounced speech sound is always a variant ( allophone) of a phoneme.
Different allophones of one and the same phonemes are speech sounds which have one
or more articulatory features and, therefore, acoustic features in common and at the
same time differ from each other in some (usually slight) degree because of the
influence of their position, of the neighboring speech sounds and of other purely
phonetic factors upon them.
* An allophone is a variant of a phoneme. The allophones of a phoneme form
a set of sounds that
(a) do not change the meaning of a word,
(b) are all very similar to one another, and
(c) occur in phonetic contexts different from one another and
(d) have non -distinctive differences.

* In other words,
+ Phoneme is the minimal meaningless unit of language. It contains a
bundle of phonetic distinctive features,
e.g. / i: / [vocalic] [front] [long] [unrounded] [close] [high];
/ k / [consonantal] [velar] [stop/plosive] [voiceless]
b.The classification of phonemes:
*Segmental phonemes (consonants, vowels) based on
-phonetically distinctive features, articulation, height,
length, quality
*Suprasegmental phonemes (stress, intonation) based on
-loudness (height, length, voice quality),
-loudness, tempo, timbre, melody
c.The classification of Consonants based on
*Points of articulation/Articulators/Organs of speech
*Manner of articulation
*Voice
*Aspiration
d.The classification of Vowels based on
*Position of the tongue
*Length of the tongue
*Height of the tongue
*Shape of the lips
HỆ THỐNG PHIÊN ÂM QUỐC TẾ- IPA ALPHABETS
IPA: CONSONANTS/PHỤ ÂM QUỐC TẾ
 DIPHTHONG
 A diphthong is a combination of two vowels pronounced within one syllable.

 The first element of a diphthong is called the nucleus, the second element is called the
glide. The nucleus is a strong, clear and distinct vowel sound. The glide is weak in the
articulation of a diphthong. The organs of speech start from the position necessary for
the first vowels and glide in the direction of the second vowels . The first element in
all the diphthongs is stressed and is stronger than the second.

e.g. /ai/ /au/ /i/ /u/

Diphthongs can be classified into
a- retracting ( ending in /u /, e.g. now, town, go, show),
b- fronting (ending in / i /, e.g. eye, why, say, day, boy, destroy), and
c- centering (ending in / ∂ /, e.g. hear, near).

Diphthongs can also be classified into

a- closing ( ending in either / i / or / u /, e.g. life, like, say, waiter, phone,
know ) or
b- centering (ending in / ∂ /,e.g. here, near, hair, sure).
e.Syllables based on
*the structure: ONSET + RHYME (NUCLEUS + CODA)
*the ending +with vowel: OPEN SYLLABLE
+with consonant: CLOSED SYLLABLE
*stressed or unstressed syllables
f.Stress placed
*over + the root
*over + prefix
*over or before + suffix
*over + compounds
g.Intonation types classified into
*fall (affirmation, confirming information in WH-question)
*rise (YES-NO question)
*rise-fall (listing, correcting wrong facts...)
*fall-rise (politeness, uncertainty, tail-questions)
*level (a feeling of saying something routine, uninteresting or boring)
 PHONOLOGICAL CHANGES

1.Assimilation: Two adjacent consonants within a word or at word

boundaries often influence each other in such a way that the
articulation of one sound becomes similar to or even identical with the
articulation of the other one.
2.Degrees of Assimilation:
2.1.Complete Assimilation: For example, horse shoe /ho:s u:/ --->/'ho:
u:/.
2.2.Partial Assimilation: For example, in the assimilation of the alveolar
variants of the consonants /t/, /d/, /n/, /l/, /s/,/z/ to the dental consonant
// and// the main phonemic features of the former are retained, but
the point of articulation is changed, and they are replaced by the
dental variants of the same phonemes under the influence of the
following // and// . Another example is the assimilation of the
sound /v/ in fivepence /faiv pns/---> /faifpns/.
2.3.Intermediate Assimilation: Examples of intermediate assimilation
are gooseberry /'guzbri/, where / s/ in goose /gu:s/ is replaced by /z/
under the influence of /b/ in berry; /'ko ŋ gres/, where / n / is replaced
by /ŋ/ under the influence of /g /.
2.Accommodation
In accommodation the accommodated sound does not change its main
phonemic features and is pronounced as a variant of the same
phoneme slightly modified under the influence of a neighbouring
sound. In modern English there are six main types of
accommodation:
2.1. Rounding: An unrounded variant of a consonant phoneme is
replaced by its rounded variant under the influence of a following
rounded vowel phoneme, as at the beginning of the following words :
Unrounded variants of Rounded variants of
consonant consonant
/ti:/ tea /tu:/ too
/les/ less /lu:s/ loose
2.2.Nasalization: a vowel becomes nasalized when it stands
before, after or between nasal consonants. For example:
at, attack ---> an, mad, man
2.3. Aspiration: a consonant /p, t, k/ becomes aspirated
when it stands before a vowel except rounded vowels.For
example: hat, stop, sky ---> time, people, can
2.4.Syllabication: some clusters of consonants become
syllabic when they are prounced as a syllable with a vowel
inserted between them.For example: /pl, bl, tl, dn/ --->
apple, table, little, garden
3.Elision
 The nature of elision may be stated quite simply : under certain
circumstances sounds disappear : one might express this in more
technical language by saying that in certain circumstances a phoneme
may be realized as zero, or have zero realization. As with
assimilation, elision is typical of rapid, casual speech. We will look at
some examples of elision:
3.1.Loss of weak vowel after p,t, k. In words like potato, tomato, canary,
perhaps, today, the vowel in the first syllable may disappear; the
aspiration of the initial plosive takes up the whole of the middle
portion of the syllable, resulting in these pronunciations : /p'teitou/,
/t'ma:tou/
3.2.Avoidance of complex consonant clusters. E.g. acts ---> /æks/,
looked back /luk bæk/
3.3.Loss of final v in "of" before consonants. E.g. lots of them /lot 
ðm/
3.4.Contractions of grammatical words. E.g. Had---> 'd; Is ----> 's
4.Weakening:
In English speech, there are certain words which have two forms of
pronunciation:
a- strong, or full, form and
b- weak, or reduced form.
As an example, the word can can be pronounced as /kæn/ (strong form)
or /k∂n/, /kn/ (weak forms). The words which can have both strong
forms and weak forms belong to a category which might be called
grammatical words. It is important to remember that there are certain
contexts where only the strong form is acceptable, and others where
the weak form is the normal pronunciation.
There are three degrees of the reduction of strong forms:
1.The reduction of the length of a vowel without changing its quality
Strong form Weak forms with qualitative reduction
You [ju:] [ju] [ju]
He [hi: ] [hi] [hi]
Your [jo:] [jo] [jo]
2.The second degree of reduction consists in changing the quality of a vowel
Strong forms Weak forms with qualitative reduction
For [fo:] [f∂]
Her [h∂ ] [h∂]
3.The third degree involves the omission of a vowel or consonant.
Strong form Weak forms
Am [æm] [m]
Of [ov] [v]
Can [kæn] [kn] [kη]
5.Linking and Insertion of /r/
 In natural communication, we sometimes link words together.
5.1.The normal linking is:
Ex.: What time is it? (It’s half past twelve.)

5.2.The most familiar case is the use of linking r.

Examples are:
a- here / hi∂ / but here are / hi∂r∂ /
four /fo: / for egg / fo: regz /
b- formula A / fo:mi∂l∂r ei /
c- media event / mi: di∂r ivent /
Sometimes we should be careful when we link words together. For
example, / maitrein / can be my train or might rain.
 GRAMMAR: MORPHOLOGY

1.1.WORD-STRUCTURE
a.What is morphology?
*Rules of word-structure: rules of forming words from morphemes
b.What is a morpheme?
*A minimal/smallest meaningful unit of language
*An elemental minimal meaningful unit of forming word-structure
*MORPHEME and ALLOMORPHS/ MORPHS
c.Types of morphemes identified on the basis of
*FREE-BOUND: IDENTIFIED = IDENTITY + FY (derivational) + ED
(inflectional)
*ROOT-AFFIXES (PREFIXES, INFIXES, SUFFIXES) – STEM/BASE
*DERIVATIONAL – INFLECTIONAL
d.Rules of word-formation
*Types of Word based on types of morphemes:
SIMPLE (EASE) – COMPLEX (EASY) – COMPOUND (EASY-GOING)
1.2.WORD-FORMATION
1. AFFIXATION : adding affixes to the old roots/ words
Ex.: GANGSTER, LONDONER, NON-SMOKING

2. COMPOUNDING : joining the old roots/ words

Ex.: EASY-GOING, MISSING-IN-ACTION

3. CONVERSION : changing the word classes of the old words

Ex.: KNIFE (n) ---> KNIFE (v),
MOTHER (n)---->MOTHER (v)

4. BACK-FORMATION : shortening the ending of the old words

Ex.: BURGLE (v) <-----BURGLAR,
TELEVISE (v) <------TELEVISION (n)
5. ABBREVIATION / CLIPPING : shortening the initial, middle, or / and
final parts of the old words
Ex.: (IN)FLU(ENZA), (TELE)PHONE, EXAM(INATION)

6. ACRONYMY / INITIALISM : shortening the final parts of each word in

the old phrases and joining their initial parts into one new word
Ex.: A(TOMIC)-BOMB, UN, UNESCO,...

7. BLENDING : shortening the final part of the first word and the initial
part of the second word and blending them into one new word having the
new concept
Ex.: SM(OKE) + (F)OG = SMOG, TRANSISTOR,...
8. REDUPLICATION : doubling the old words by repeating the same rhyme
of the old words
Ex.: TALKIE-WALKIE, TICK-TOCK,

9. BORROWING : borrowing the foreign words and changing the sounds by

assimilation
Ex.: SOVIET, SPUTNIK,...

10.INTERNATIONAL TRANSLATION:
Ex.: 3-READINESS MOVEMENT;
3-NO CAMPAIGN- 3-YES CAMPAIGN;
RED AND EXPERT;
ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION;
1ST 5-YEAR PLAN
 GRAMMAR: SYNTAX

1.WORD-CLASS (PARTS OF SPEECH)

*Criteria to classify words into word classes: N, V, ADJ, ADV, ART,
PRO, NUM, AUX, PREP, CONJ, RELATOR, NEGATOR,
INTENSIFIER, ...
 +word order/position
 +grammatical function
 +form/word stress
 +meaning
 +development:
 -OPEN CLASSES: N, V, ADJ, ADV
 -CLOSED CLASSES: PRO, ART, AUX, MODAL, NUM, PREP,
CONJ.,EXCLAMATIONS, INTENSIFIER……
2.PHRASES:
2.1.Syntactic relations in Phrases: MODIFICATION,
COMPLEMENTATION, COORDINATION
2.2.PHRASES can be classified on the basis of
+sentence structure: NP, VP
+word classes of the head/centre: NP, VP, ADJP, ADVP, PREPP
+ -ENDOCENTRIC P./HEADED-P.
-EXOCENTRIC P./NON-HEADED-P.
+meaning:
-FREE P.
-SET P. (Idiomatic)
3.CLAUSES/SENTENCES:
3.1.Syntactic relations in Clauses/SENTENCES: PREDICATION
3.2.Characteristics of SENTENCES (PREDICATION):
3.2.1.proposition: 1.S+V/2.NP+VP
2.ideational meaning: complete thought
3.2.2.modality: 1.Verb moods
2.Modal verbs, Modal words
3.Intonation, Punctuation marks
3.2.3.communicativity= 1.Topic-Comment
2.Theme-Rheme
3.Given/Old – New
4.Transitivity
3.3.Clauses classified on the basis of
+VERB Clauses:
1.Finite clauses
2.Non-Finite Clauses
3.VERBLESS Clauses
+grammatical functions:
1.-INDEPENDENT – DEPENDENT Clauses
-SUPERORDINATE/main – SUBORDINATE clauses
2.THAT-Clauses, Comparative-Clauses, If-Clauses…
4.Sentence elements:
4.1.in Sentences:
-Subject (S): - Helen came here.
-Verb (V): - Helen came here.
-Direct/Indirect Object (DO/IO): - Helen gave sweets to Jim.
-Complement (C): - Helen was director of the company.
-Adverbial (A): - Helen came here.
4.2.in Phrases:
-Modifier (M): - English pronunciation is very difficult.
-Determiner (D): - This man is head of the club.
5.Basic structures/ Obligatory structures:
5.1.S+V: Birds fly in the sky. (NP+VP)
5.2.S+V+A: Helen lived here. (NP+V+ADV)
She stayed in this city. (NP+V+PP)
5.3.S+V+C: They were students here.(NP+V+NP)
They were intelligent. (NP+V+ADJ)
5.4.S+V+DO: Helen loved Jim much. (NP+V+NP)
5.5.S+V+IO+DO:Helen gave him sweets. (NP+V+NP+NP)
S+V+DO+IO:Helen gave sweets toJim.(NP+V+NP+TO+NP)
5.6.S+V+O+A: They put many books on the table.
(NP+V+NP+PP)
They put many books here.(NP+V+NP+ADV)
5.7.S+V+O+C: I voted her monitor of the class. (NP+V+NP+NP)
They painted the house green. (NP+V+NP+ADJ)
6.TYPES OF SENTENCES
6.1.Grammatical structures:
6.1.1.Simple – Compound – Complex sentences
6.1.2.Kernel – Transformational sentences:
-Simple/Kernel – Conjoined – Embedded sentences
6.1.3.Complete/Full element – One-element sentences
6.2.Functional structures:
6.2.1.Message structure: TOPIC + COMMENT
6.2.2.Information structure: OLD/GIVEN + NEW
6.2.3.Transitivity structure:
 +IDENTIFICATIONAL sentences
 +QUALITATIVE sentences
 +ACTIONAL sentences
 +CAUSATIVE sentences
 +MOTIONAL sentences
 +EMOTIONAL sentences
 +EXISTENTIAL sentences
6.2.4.Communicative structure:
 +Statement
 +Declaration/Affirmative
 +Question/Interrogative
 +Negative
 +Order/Imperative
 +Command
 +Request
 +Greeting
 +Exclamation
 +Performative
7. Sentence analysis:
 *Branching-tree Diagram
*Branching-Tree Diagrams for Sentence Analysis
S

S1 S2

NP VP N(P) V(P)

VP NP

Dem N Aux MV Quant Adj N Conj. N/Pro V

These students had made many serious mistakes before they graduated.
 SEMANTICS

a.*Semantics: the study of sense, proposition (meaning in language)

*Pragmatics: the study of the relationships among sense, proposition, referent and the
speaker’s/ writer’s intentions (meaning in use/ communication)
b.*Words with sense but without referent
*Words/Sentences with the same referents but with different
senses/propositions
c.*Sense of words/expressions (the place of a word/an expression in a system of
semantic relationships with other words/expressions in the language; an indispensable
hard core of meaning)
*Proposition of sentences (part of the meaning of the utterance of a declarative
sentence which describes some state of affairs)
Ex: -The weather is fine. ---> weather FINE
-Is the weather fine? ---> weather FINE
-The weather is not fine. ---> weather FINE
-How fine the weather is! ---> weather FINE
d.Sense relations in words and sentences: relations of the senses of predicates/
lexemes/word-forms or the propositions of sentences
*Homonymy: predicates with same sounds or/and spellings but unrelated senses. Ex:
(the) barks (of the tree) – (The dog) barks; aunt – aren’t – ain’t [ant];(the) wind – (to)
wind.
*Polysemy: predicates with related senses by means of metaphor, metonymy. Ex: He is
a HEAD of the company; he has a hard HEAD but no intelligent HEAD.
*Synonymy: predicates denoting the same referent/concept with same senses
(semantic, connotative, situational/stylistic, regional synonyms)
Ex: begin – start – commence – depart; country – motherland – fatherland; parent –
mother/father – dad/mum; fall - autumn
*Antonymy: predicates denoting the same referent/concept with contradictory,
complementary, gradably opposite, relationaly/reversively opposite, or incompatible
senses. Ex: alive – dead; long – short; give – receive, older – younger; spring –
summer – autumn - winter
*Hyponymy: predicates with general senses including predicates with specific senses.
Ex: flower (rose, lily, daffodil, flamboyant…); vehicle (car, truck, van, bus,
motobike…)
*Meronymy: predicates with senses denoting the
whole and predicates with senses denoting its parts.
Ex: tree  trunk, root, branch, ; human (body) 
head, body, hands, legs…)
*Lexical/Semantic Fields (Collocations):
predicates with senses denoting the same concept
(Large Fields can contain all above-mentioned sense
relations). Ex: FLOWER (flower, rose, florist, garden,
beauty, woman, happiness, unhappiness, birthday..)
e.SEMANTIC CHANGE

1- Semantic broadening
 Semantic broadening is the process in which the meaning of a word becomes
more general or more inclusive than its historical earlier form. Examples:
 Bird : small fowl -> any avian
 Barn : place to store barley -> any agricultural building
 Aunt : father's sister -> father's or mother's sister

2.Semantic narrowing
 Semantic narrowing is the process in which the meaning of a word becomes
less general or less inclusive than its historically earlier meaning. Examples:
 Meat : any type of food ->flesh of an animal
 Fowl : any bird ->a domestic bird
 Disease : any unfavourable state ->an illness
3.Amelioration
 In amelioration the meaning of a word becomes more positive or more
favourable. Examples:
 Pretty: tricky, sly, cunning ->attractive
 Knight: boy -> a man of honorable military rank

4.Pejoration
 In pejoration, the meaning of a word becomes more negative or
unfavourable. Examples:
 Silly: happy, prosperous ->foolish
 Wench: girl -> wanton woman, prostitute
4.Semantic weakening
 In this process of language change, the meaning of the word becomes
weakened. Examples:
 Wreak: avenge, punish ->to cause, to inflict
 Quell: kill, murder -> to put down, to pacify

5.Semantic shift
 Semantic shift is a process in which a word loses its former meaning
taking on a new, but often related, meaning. Attention is usually paid
to the following phenomena of semantic shift (or the transference of
meaning): metaphor and metonymy.
 *Metaphor
 Metaphor is a figure of speech based on a perceived similarity
between distinctive objects or actions. Metaphorical change usually
involves a word with a concrete meaning taking on a more abstract
sense, although the word's original meaning is not lost. The meanings
of many English words have been extended through metaphor.
 Metaphor may be based on similarity of
a- shape (e.g.head of a cabbage),
b- position (e.g.the tail of procession),
c- movement (e.g. the caterpillar of a tank),
d- function (e.g. the finger of the instrument),
e- colour (e.g. orange), and
f- size (e.g.elephantine).
 *Metonymy
 Metonymy can be considered as the semantic shift on the basis of the
real relation between different objects.
 This kind of meaning transfer can be based on
a-the use of the name of the container for the thing contained (e.g. the
auditorium for the audience),
b-the name of a material for the thing made from the material (e.g. the
marble, the iron..),
c-the name of a part used for the whole (e.g.roof for a house).
f.Sense properties of the sentence
*Analytic sentence : necessarily TRUE, as a result of the
senses of the words in it. Ex: - Vietnam is located in Asia.
– 2 and 2 is 4.
*Synthetic sentence : NOT analytic, but may be either
true or false, depending on the way the world is. Ex: - The
teacher is from Hue. - She is happy.
*Contradictory sentence: necessarily FALSE, as a result
of the senses of the words in it. A contradiction is in a way
the opposite of an analytic sentence. Ex: - The bachelor
has two sons. - She is a good man.
g. Semantic and pragmatic relations among utterances
*Paraphrase: Ex: - He is an orphan. He has no father nor mother.
*Presupposition: Ex: - Her son sold his old car. She was married. She had a son. Her
son bought a car long time ago.
*Entailment: - Ex: - Her son sold his old car. Someone did something to something.
Someone sold something. Something happened to the car.
*Speech acts:
*Utterances traditionally classified into
+Constative Utterance: describes/ asserts some state of affairs and
is NOT performative: Ex: -The weather is fine. –She is beautiful.
+Performative Utterance: actually describes the act that it performs,
i.e. it PERFORMS some act and SIMULTANEOUSLY DESCRIBES
that act. Ex: - I invite you to have dinner with me. – Go out!
*3 acts/meanings an utterance performs:
+LOCUTIONARY ACT (LOCUTION) = proposition
Ex: - There are some pieces of fish on the table. =
There existed something on the defined table.
+ILLOCUTIONARY ACT (ILLOCUTION) is the act viewed in terms of the
utterance’s significance within a conventional system of social interactions. Illocutions
are acts defined by social conventions.
Ex: - There are some pieces of fish on the table. =
The diner complains that the table is not clean.
+PERLOCUTIONARY ACT (PERLOCUTION) carried out by a speaker making an
utterance is the act of causing a certain effect on the hearer and others.
Ex: - There are some pieces of fish on the table. =
The diner suggests the waiter should clean the table,
the manager should dismiss the waiter, ……….
*These 3 acts can be understood by PERFORMATIVE FORMULA.
*PERFORMATIVE FORMULA:
I + (HEREBY) + PERFORMATIVE VERB + NP + to VP/ THAT-clause
We (affirmative, simple present tense, indicative mood, active voice)
They + (passive voice)
He/She/It
*A PERFORMATIVE VERB is one which, when used in a simple positive present tense sentence,
with 1st person singular subject, can make the utterance of that sentence performative.Ex: invite,
greet, ask, inform,…
*Explicit performative utterances containing performative hypothesis/ formula.
Ex: - I agree with your ideas. – I recommend that we should book rooms at that hotel. – I apologize
that I dis wrong things to you.
*Implicit performative utterances implicitly explained by performative formula.
Ex: - Go out! (I order you to go out).
- Have a beer please! (I invite you to have a beer).
- All passengers are requested to go through this check point. (We request the passengers to go
through this check point.).
- Are you OK? (I ask you about your health.)

.
*Speech acts represented through sentence types creating Direct and Indirect Illocutions:
-Declarative: Ex: -I suggest that we should go home earlier.
-Interrogative: Ex: -How are you? (I ask you about your health)
-Imperative: Ex: -Excuse me!
*Speech acts classified into 5 types:
1.Commissive : a speech act that commits the speaker to doing something in the future,
such as a promise or a threat, Ex: -I 'll take you to the movies tomorrow.
2.Declarative : a speech act which changes the state of affairs in the world. For
example, during the wedding ceremony the act of marriage is performed when the
utterance I now pronounce you man and wife is uttered.
3.Directive : a speech act that has the function of getting the listener to do something,
such as a suggestion, a request, or a command.
4.Expressive : a speech act in which the speaker expresses feelings and attitudes about
something, such as an apology, a complaint, to thank someone, to congratulate
someone.
5.Representative : a speech act which describes states or events in the world, such as
an assertion, a claim, a report. Ex: -This is a German car.
*Inference: any conclusion that one is reasonably entitled to draw from a sentence or
utterance. Inferences are represented through entailments and conversational
implicatures.
*Implicature/Implication: another kind of inference, distinct from entailment. Implicature
is a matter of utterance meaning, and not of sentence meaning. Implicature is not a
form of inference that can be predicted solely from a knowledge of the system of sense
relations between sentences.
---> Grice distinguished 2 different sorts of implicature:
* conventional implicature and
* conversational implicature.
They have in common the property that they both convey an additional level of
meaning, beyond the semantic meaning of the words uttered.
They differ in that in the case of conventional implicature the same implicature is
always conveyed, regardless of context, whereas in the case of conversational
implicature, what is implied varies according to the context of utterance.
*Implicature is based on maxims of (1) quantity/informativeness; (2) quality/truthfulness;
(3) relation/relevance, (4) manner/clarity,...in conversational co-operativeness/
cooperative principle)
1.Quantity: : Make your contribution as informative as is required (for the
current purpose of the exchange)
: Do not make your contribution more informative than
required.
2.Quality : Do not say what you believe to be false
: Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence
3.Relation : Be relevant
4.Manner : Avoid obscurity of expression
*Conventional implicatures are associated with specific words and result in additional
conveyed meanings when those words are used: BUT, EVEN, YET, AND,
THEREFORE, FOR...Conventional implicatures are not based on the co-operative
principle or the maxims. They do not have to occur in conversation, and they do not
depend on special contexts for their interpretation.
BUT: The interpretation of any utterance of the type “p but q” will be based on
the conjunction p & q plus an implicature of “contrast” between the
information in p and the information in q.
Ex: -Mary suggested black, but I chose white.
EVEN: when EVEN is included in any sentence describing an event, there is an
implicature of “contrary to expectation”
Ex: -Even John came to the party.
YET: the implicature of YET is that the present situation is expected to be
different, or perhaps the opposite, at a later time.
Ex: -Denis isn’t here yet.
AND: the implicature of AND is “in addition, plus”.
Ex: -Yesterday, Mary was happy and ready to work.
AND: the implicature of AND is “and then”.
Ex: -She put on her clothes and left the house.
*Conversational implicatures arise only in a particular context of utterance.
(1a) Generalized conversational implicatures: no special background knowledge is
required in the context to calculate the additional conveyed meaning.
Ex:
1.Charles: I hope you brought the bread and the cheese.
Dexter: Ah, I brought the bread.
----> Charles must intend that Dexter infer that what is not mentioned was
not brought.
---->The maxim of quantity
2.Doobie: Did you invite Bella and Carthy?
Mary: I invited Bella.
----> The maxim of quantity
3.I was sitting in a garden one day. A child looked over the fence.
----> The garden and the child mentioned are not the speaker’s.
----> The maxim of quantity (specific, informative)
(1b) Scalar (Generalized conversational) implicatures: are commonly
communicated on the basis of a scale of values by using words expressing
quantity from the highest to the lowest value:
<all, most, many, some, few>
<always, often, sometimes>
or the scale of “likelihood” <certain, possible>; the scale of “obligation’’
<must, should>; the scale of “coldness’ <cool, frozen>...
The basis of scalar implicature is that, when any form in a scale is asserted,
the negative of all forms higher on the scale is implicated.
Ex:1: I’m studying linguistics and I’ve completed some of the required courses.
-----> some +> not all
-----> the maxim of quantity (most informative) and of quality (truthful)
2.It’s possible that they were delayed.
-----> possible +>not certain
3.This should be stored in a cool place.
-----> should +>not must
(2) Particularized conversational implicatures (typically Implicatures): our conversations take
place in very specific contexts in which locally recognized inferences are assumed. Such
inferences are required to work out the conveyed meanings which result from particularized
conversational implicatures.
Ex:1.Rick: Hey, coming to the wild party tonight?
Tom: My parents are visiting.
-----> +>Tom won’t come to the party.
-----> the maxim of relation (relevant)
2.A: “What subjects is Jack taking?”
B: “He’s not taking Linguistics”
-----> +> B does not know exactly which subjects Jack is taking.
-----> the maxim of quantity (informativeness)
3.A: “Who was that man you were talking to?”
B: “That was my mother’s husband”
-----> +> B’s mother’s husband is not B’s father.
-----> the maxim of manner (clarity, brevity)
4.A: “Was there a fiddler at the bar last night?”
B: “As far as I know, there was a man scraping a bow across a violin”
----> +>The fiddler at the bar was not very good.
----> the maxim of quality