Glossary:Implicature

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Implicature

/ˈɪmplɪˌkətʃə,/

Definition

The action of implying a meaning beyond the literal sense of what is explicitly stated.

Comment:

There are many different types of implicature (i.e. conversational, conventional, scalar), but they all consist of meanings which a speaker or writer intends to portray, but which he or she does not convey directly.

Examples

1. Utterance: “A bus!” → Implicature: “We must run.”
2. Utterance: "The frame is nice" → Implicature: "I don't like the picture in it."
   
3. Utterance: Alan: Are you going to Paul's party? Barb: I have to work. → Implicature: "No, I'm not going to the party"

Related terms

• Glossary - Presupposition
• Glossary - Entailment

Back to the glossary.

References and links

• Group 4's page on implicatures
• Definition of Implicature from the Online English Dictionary
• Definition from the Stanford Encylopedia of Philosophy
• Definition from Universal Teacher

Literature

• Bieswanger, Markus & Annette Becker (2006): Introduction to English Linguistics (2nd edition). Tübingen and Basel: A. Francke Verlag.
• Levinson, Stephen C (1983): Pragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.