Some Constraints of Consideration on Conversation: Interactions of Politeness and Relevance With Grice's Second Maxim of Quantity
Donaldson, Susan Kay
This item is only available for download by members of the University of Illinois community. Students, faculty, and staff at the U of I may log in with your NetID and password to view the item. If you are trying to access an Illinois-restricted dissertation or thesis, you can request a copy through your library's Inter-Library Loan office or purchase a copy directly from ProQuest.
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/69822
Description
Title
Some Constraints of Consideration on Conversation: Interactions of Politeness and Relevance With Grice's Second Maxim of Quantity
Author(s)
Donaldson, Susan Kay
Issue Date
1984
Department of Study
Linguistics
Discipline
Linguistics
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Language, Linguistics
Abstract
In his by now well-known paper 'Logic and conversation' philosopher of language Paul Grice establishes four maxims speakers follow in conversing: maxims of quantity, quality, relation, and manner. The maxim of quantity he divides into two parts, saying that conversational participants must give enough information to each other, but must not give too much. However, after once establishing this maxim, Grice immediately casts doubt on its validity, saying that its second part is adequately covered by the maxim of relation, which states that what one says should be relevant--that is, that any remark that would be considered overinformative would be discounted by its being irrelevant, anyway, thus eliminating the need for the second half of the maxim of quantity.
This dissertation, employing examples from both tape-recorded 'real' conversations and conversations from short stories and novels, argues that Grice's first intuitions were correct, namely, that the second half of the maxim of quantity is both valid and necessary. Speakers refrain, at times, from conveying to one another information that could be highly relevant to the material at hand, the thesis maintains, for reasons that stem in large part from consideration for one another. A lengthy review of the literature is included, as well as a chapter distinguishing conversation from other sorts of verbal interaction, and one on the nature of consideration and precedents from the literature on human interaction for consideration as a valid form of motivation. Transcripts of four 'real' conversations follow the text.
Use this login method if you
don't
have an
@illinois.edu
email address.
(Oops, I do have one)
IDEALS migrated to a new platform on June 23, 2022. If you created
your account prior to this date, you will have to reset your password
using the forgot-password link below.
