Transcript Tourettes Syndromes and its violations of Conversational

By Nick & Trey
Paul Grice
Born March 13, 1913 in Birmingham,
England
 Linguistic Philosopher
 Educated at Clifton College, then at
Corpus Christi College in Oxford
 Taught at UCal Berkley

Conversational Maxims
Guidelines that one should follow when
speaking; regulate how the message is
conveyed
 Communication determines the
effectiveness of the conversation.
 The Maxims are broken up into 4
subcategories:

 Quantity, Quality, Relation, and Manner
Maxims of Quantity:

Make your contribution to the conversation
as informative as necessary.
 “How long does it take to get from Wilmington from
Hillsborough?” “Forever”

Do not make your contribution to the
conversation more informative than
necessary.
 “How long does it take to get from Wilmington from
Hillsborough?” “Well, if there is no traffic or
construction, you have a full tank of gas, and go a
constant speed of 75 mph; it should take
approximately 2 hours and 39 minutes.
http://www.usingenglish.com/articles/gricesconversational-maxims.html
Maxims of Quality:

Do not say what you believe to be false.
 “Should I paint a mural of Obama on the side of
our house?” “Well if it’s facing our radical
Republican neighbors, I’m sure they’d love to
look outside every day and see it.

Do not say that for which you lack
adequate evidence.
 “Who do you think will win the World Series this
year?” “Well, from my vast knowledge of
baseball, I think it will come down to either the
Packers or the Lakers.”
http://www.usingenglish.com/articles/gricesconversational-maxims.html
Maxim of Relation:

Be relevant.
 “How long does it take to get from Wilmington
from Hillsborough?” “Well if you’re traveling by
camel, then it should take you 2 days tops.”
http://www.usingenglish.com/articles/gricesconversational-maxims.html
Maxims of Manner:
Avoid obscurity of expression.
 Avoid ambiguity.
 Be brief.
 Be orderly.

 “Can you tell me what time it is?” “I can tell you
what time it isn’t! But really, what is time? The
measure of how long the Earth moves?”
http://www.usingenglish.com/articles/gricesconversational-maxims.html
Sources
http://www.usingenglish.com/articles/gric
es-conversational-maxims.html
 http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/grice/
 http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfL
inguisticTerms/WhatIsAConversationalM
axim.htm
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gricean_max
ims
