Principle of conversation 会话原则

American philosopher Paul Grice concluded that natural language had its own logic. His idea is that in making conversation, the participants must first of all be willing to cooperate. This general principle is called the Cooperative Principle (CP).

美国哲学家保罗.格赖斯提出的会话原则旨在解释会话意义。他提出自然语言有其独特的逻辑关系。他认为会话的最高原则是合作，称为合作原则。

To be more specific, there are four maxims under this general principle:

在最高原则，即合作原则下，人们在交际中要遵守如下四个准则：

a) The maxim of quantity 数量准则

Make your contribution as informative as required (for the current purpose of the exchange).

使自己所说的话达到当前交谈目的所要求的详尽程度。

 Do not make your contribution more informative than is required.

不能使自己所说的话比所要求的更详尽。

b) The maxim of quality 质量准则

 Do not say what you believe to be false. 不要说自己认为不真实的话。

Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence. 不要说自己缺乏足够证据的话。

c) The maxim of relation 关联准则

Be relevant. 说话要贴切，有关联。

d) The maxim of manner 方式准则

Avoid obscurity of expression. 避免晦涩的词语。

Avoid ambiguity. 避免歧义。

Be brief (avoid unnecessary prolixity). 说话要简要（避免累赘）。

Be orderly. 说话要有条理。

It is interesting and important to note that while conversation participants nearly always observe the CP, they do not always observe these maxims strictly. For various reasons these maxims are often violated, or “flouted”. Most of these violations give rise to what Grice calls “conversational implicature”. In other word, when we violate any of these maxims, our language becomes indirect.

虽然会话参与者几乎总是遵守合作原则的，但并非严格遵守。由于种种原因，这些原则经常被违反，尔对合作原则的违反则导致产生格赖斯所说的“会话含意”。也就是说，对任何一种合作原则的违反，都会使语言变得间接。

示例1：

Do you know where Mr. X lives?

Somewhere in the southern suburbs of the city.

违反数量准则

示例2：

Would you like to come to our party tonight?

I’m afraid I’m not feeling so well today.

违反质量准则

示例3：

The hostess is an awful bore. Don’t you think?

The roses in the garden are beautiful, aren’t they?

违反关联准则

示例4：

Shall we get something for the kids?

Yes. But I veto I-C-E-C-R-E-A-M.

违反方式准则