Glossary:Implicature

From Lexical Resource Semantics
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Warning:
The material on this page has been created as part of a seminar. It is still heavily under construction and we do not guarantee its correctness. If you have comments on this page or suggestions for improvement, please contact Manfred Sailer.
This note will be removed once the page has been carefully checked and integrated into the main part of this wiki.


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

Back to the glossary.

References and links

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.