Implicature is meaning that is conveyed by an utterance but not explicitly stated. The concept was formalised by H.P. Grice (1975) in his William James Lectures, published as "Logic and Conversation." Understanding implicature is central to Pragmatics and a key component of Pragmatic Competence.
Meaning derived from context and the assumption that speakers follow the Cooperative Principle. Conversational implicatures are:
Example:
A: "Are you coming to the party?" B: "I've got an early start tomorrow."
B does not say "no" but implicates a refusal. The hearer infers this by recognising that B's response is only relevant (Maxim of Relation) if it explains why they cannot come.
Meaning attached to specific words or constructions, independent of context. Unlike conversational implicature, it is not derived from the Cooperative Principle.
Example:
"He is poor but honest."
The word but conventionally implicates a contrast: that poverty and honesty are somehow unexpected together. This implicature holds regardless of context.
Conversational implicature arises when a speaker appears to flout one of Grice's maxims (see Cooperative Principle):
| Maxim flouted | Example | Implicature |
|---|---|---|
| Quantity | "She has three children" (she has five) | Not enough information: being evasive |
| Quality | "Oh sure, and I'm the Queen of England" | Sarcasm: the literal statement is obviously false |
| Relation | "Nice weather, isn't it?" (during a tense meeting) | Topic avoidance: deliberately irrelevant |
| Manner | "He caused the car to stop" (vs "he stopped the car") | Something unusual about how he stopped it |
Implicature is a major source of cross-cultural miscommunication:
Understanding implicature is essential for developing Pragmatic Competence and connects directly to the interpretation of Speech Acts in real communication.