Showing posts with label Actual implicature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Actual implicature. Show all posts

Sunday, August 19, 2018

Actual Implicature

An actual implicature is any potential implicature that is not canceled by its context.
Example (English) :
The expression I think that some went has two potential implicatures:
  • The matrix sentence I think ... has the potential implicature "I don’t know [that some went]."
  • The complement clause ... some went has the potential implicature "not all went."

Of the two potential implicatures, only I don’t know that some went is an actual implicature, because the other occurs in a complement clause that the matrix clause does not entail. If some went were uttered independently, as a main clause, its potential implicature ‘not all went’ would also be its actual implicature.

Here are some kinds of actual implicatures:
  • What is conventional implicature?
Conventional implicature is an implicature that is part of a lexical item’s or expression’s agreed meaning, rather than derived from principles of language use, and
not part of the conditions for the truth of the item or expression.
  • What is a nonconventional implicature?
An nonconventional implicature is a implicature that is drawn in accordance with pragmatic principles, such as the cooperative principle or the informativeness principle, rather than the meaning of a lexical item or expression.