1. Nofsinger. R., Everyday Conversation, Sage, 1991
Indirect Speech Acts
Lenny Shedletsky
Nofsinger. R., Everyday Conversation, Sage, 1991

2. Getting Meaning Out of A ConversationP A O
In talking to one another and deriving meaning from the talk, we rely upon a great deal of information besides the utterance itself.
Speakers communicate meanings beyond the
literal meanings of their words.

3. Can we be sure that what the speaker meant is what is understood?No

4. Meaning is Constructed in a Variety of Ways
Propositional or linguistic meaning
Speech Act meaning
Indirect Meaning

5. Meaning that Goes Beyond
Communicators often fill in or expand on what was said
Indirect meaning makes use of situations
Hence, context requires our consideration
How do we explain how communicators derive indirect meaning?

6. Conversational Implicature
Conversational Implicature is a theory about how we infer meanings from talk
The speaker’s utterance implies some meaning
The hearer infers the meaning
What is said and what is understood as the meaning may be very far apart
The “surface” speech act and the understood speech act may have an indirect connection--hence, an indirect speech act

7. Constructing Inferences
Grice proposed that we operate on a general principle called the cooperative principle
The cooperative principle proposes that we operate as if we are trying to cooperate with our conversational partners
We follow maxims or rules to cooperate

8. Maxims Constitute the The Cooperative Principle
Maxim of strength:
Say enough!
Maxim of Parsimony:
Say no more than is necessary!

9. Maxim of Truth
Do not say anything that you believe to be false (don’t lie)!

10. Maxim of Evidence Do not say anything for which you lack
adequate evidence!

11. Maxim of Relevance
Be relevant!

12. Maxim of Clarity
Avoid language that is unfamiliar to the recipient(s)!

13. From the Hearer’s Perspective
We generally assume that the speaker is trying to cooperate unless we have repeated evidence to the contrary

14. What Happens When the Speaker Violates a Maxim?
The recipient will attempt to interpret the utterance so as to have it meet the requirement of the maxim
And, at the same time, the speaker has constructed the utterance with the idea that the hearer can figure out (infer) the intended meaning

15. This is more than I can eat. It’s huge. Do you like Lobster, John?
Indirect Speech Act
This is more than I can eat.
It’s huge. Do you like Lobster, John?
Thanks. I’m full.
Mary
John
Bill

16. Context
How does the immediately surrounding talk influence the meaning of an utterance?
What happens to the lobster offer if we take out part of the utterance?

17. Indirect Speech Act
It’s huge.
Yes, it is.
Mary
John
Bill