Abstract: With the development of network， American cartoon films began to be liked by English learners， especially young students. This paper is designed to analyze some conversations in American cartoon films based on the four conversational maxims put forward by American philosopher Grice. It aims to draw people’s attention to the application of implicature by violating the four conversational maxims in American cartoon films and furthermore help us to have a deeper understanding of characters in the films.

摘 要：隨著網(wǎng)絡(luò)的發(fā)展，美國(guó)動(dòng)畫電影受到很多英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)者的喜歡，本文主要以格萊斯的合作原則來(lái)分析一些美國(guó)動(dòng)畫片里的經(jīng)典對(duì)話，讓人們對(duì)美國(guó)動(dòng)畫片里的會(huì)話含義加以注意，幫助我們更好的理解這些動(dòng)畫電影。

Key Words： cooperative principle； conversational implicature；cartoon films

關(guān)鍵詞：合作原則 ；會(huì)話含義； 動(dòng)畫電影

[中圖分類號(hào)]：H31 [文獻(xiàn)標(biāo)識(shí)碼]：A

[文章編號(hào)]：1002-2139(2012)-16-0-02

Ⅰ Grice’s Cooperative Principle and Conversational Implicature

The Cooperative Principle is proposed by the American philosopher Grice in his “Logic and Conversation”. According to Grice， in the process of communicating， people have to observe the cooperative principle to make themselves understood. The cooperative principle consists of the following four maxims:

(1). Quantity Maxim

Make your contribution as informative as required. (Don’t say too much or too little)

Make the strongest statement you can.

(2). Quality Maxim

Do not say what you believe to be 1.

Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.

(3). Relation Maxim

Be relevant. (Stay on topic)

(4). Manner Maxim

Avoid obscurity of expression.

Avoid ambiguity.

Be brief. (Avoid unnecessary prolixity)

Be orderly.

The cooperative principle is an invisible rule existing in all normal conversations. These maxims specify what participants have to do in order to converse in a maximally efficient， rational， co-operative way. They should speak sincerely， relevantly and clearly， while providing sufficient information.

But in reality， non-cooperation， that is， violations of the Cooperative Principle are a very common phenomenon in the communicative activity. The speakers are always violating the “Cooperative Principles” and its four maxims， whether on purpose or not. However， in most cases， the speakers are able to understand each other and， in some cases， even make the communications more successful.

Then it comes to the conversational implicature. Conversational implicature is something which is implied in conversation， that is， something which is left implicit in actual language use. For example:

A: Mrs. X is an old bag.

B: The weather has been quite delightful this autumn.

In this conversation， the participants violate the maxim blatantly to deliver the implicative meaning. What B said is not relevant to what A’s said， B’s meaning is that A’s talk is not appropriate and should change the topic.

Grice's conversational implicature do not from the language itself， that is， from the aspects of phonetics， grammar and semantics to study the meaning of language， but start from the context to find out the true meaning of the conversation.

Ⅱ The Violating of Cooperative Principle in American Cartoon Films

With the popularity of network， American cartoon films quickly became popular. In fact， watching cartoon films can improve students’ interest in learning English， and learn authentic English. However， while these American cartoon films all have subtitles to watch， we still feel that the translated language is sometimes obscure for us to understand， one important reason is the different context. How can we understand better? Using the cooperative principle to analyze the actors’ remarks in cartoon films and understand the conversational implicature in that context will provide a great help for English learners to understand and appreciate American cartoon films. This section is intended to find out how the conversational maxims are violated in American cartoon films and what implicature it generates.

1. The Violating of Quantity Maxim

Coraline: Wybie’s got a cat like you at home. Not the quiet Wybie. The one that talks too much. You must be the Other Cat.

Cat: No， I’m not the other anything. I’m me.

Coraline: I can see you don’t have button eyes， But if you’re the same cat， how can you talk?

Cat: I just can.

Coraline: Cats don’t talk at home.

Cat: No?

Coraline: Nope.

Cat: Well， you’re clearly the expert on these things， After all， I’m just a “big fat wuss puss”!

The conversation is taken from American carton films “Coraline”. In this conversation， Coraline saw the cat talking to her and asked him how can he talk， the cat answered “I just can”. Obviously， the cat did not give enough answers for this question， as the cat was bewitched by the other bad mother and he could not tell Coraline about this， so he violated the maxim of quantity. And the cat violated this maxim again when Coraline asked him how did he get into this magic world， the cat just said “I have been coming here for a while”， he did not give answer that Coraline wanted because he did not want Coraline to know， lest she hurt.

2. The Violating of Quality Maxim

Housekeeper: Lord and Lady Everglot...

...Mr. and Mrs. Van Dort.

Mr. Van Dort: Why， you must be Miss Victoria. Yes， I must say， you don't look a day over 20. No. Oh， yes.

The conversation is taken from American carton films “Corpse Bride”. In this conversation， Mr. Van Dort’s remark is just contrary to his original intention. The housekeeper introduced Lord and Lady Everglot to him at first sight they met， Mr. Van Dort should notice Lady Everglot， but he said “ you don’t look a day over 20”， we at first thought he must mistake Lady Everglot for Miss Victoria. However， let us cast back， we may know Mr. Van Dort made an ironic comment. He violated the maxim of quality intentionally. In one aspect， he wanted to flatter Lady Everglot， in another aspect， he despised her dress which did not look her age. And we could also find the evidence in his last sentence “No. Oh， yes”.

3. The Violating of Relation Maxim

Dave: They do sing. We’ve been practicing all morning.

Ian: Oh， you’ve been practicing. I never realized. Okay， well. Yeah. Okay， no. Dave， I’m going to pretend... ...that I have a lunch to go to.

This conversation is taken from American famous cartoon films “Alvin and The Chipmunks”. It happened after the chipmunks’ first show in front of Ian， the manager of Jett Records. Dave wanted the chipmunks to sing a song for Ian， but the chipmunks are a little stage fright so they were unable to sing. However， Ian thought that Dave was too desperate to behave normal and traded chipmunks as singers. If Ian followed the maxim of relation， he could answer “I think they are really great” or “I think you are crazy”. If Ian knew the chipmunks could speak and sing before， he would use the first answer to appreciate Dave’s talent. The problem is that Ian did not come across a chipmunk that can even speak， let alone can sing， but out of politeness， he could not use the second to reject Dave directly， therefore he said he had a lunch to go to to avoid the possible unpleasant that may occur.

4. The Violating of Manner Maxim

Garfield: This is exactly what I deserve anyway. I promise if I survive， I’ll never compete with a dog again. Okay! You got me! But before I say good-bye. . . Oh， isn’t this the final irony?

This is taken from the famous cartoon films “Garfield 1”， which occurred in dog exhibition when Garfield was chased by a band of dogs. “I promise if I survive， I’ll never compete with a dog again”， this sentence used a pun to create ambiguity. One meaning is that Garfield should not come to the dog exhibition to compete with other dogs， the other is that he should not compete with the dog “Odie”. This sentence did not have sufficient and clear meaning. It violated the maxim of manner -- avoid ambiguity.

Ⅲ Conclusion

After the detailed introduction to Grice’s Cooperative Principle and the four of its maxims， together with the examples of the violations of the Cooperative Principle in American cartoon films， we can make better understanding about both the Cooperative Principle and the violations of the CP. It is not hard to see that the four maxims in cooperative principle are not so absolute that can not be violated. In fact， people usually violated the cooperative principle in communication on account of politeness， embarrassment， humor， rhetoric， cultural difference， politics， diplomacy and so on. Strictly following the cooperative principle in sometime or somewhere will result in the termination of communicative activities， or cause the unpleasant of both sides of communication. At this time， violating the cooperative principle appropriately and skillfully will help the speaker to achieve communicative purpose in a better way， and therefore bring the communication to success.

All in all， a deeper and more complete understanding of Cooperative Principle and the maxims would help a lot in the process of conversation and will make the communication much more fluently and much more successfully.

References:

[1]、 Grice， H. P. Logic and Conversation [M]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press， 1975:45 - 46.

[2]、 Gillian Brown， George Yule. Discourse Analysis [M]. London: Cambridge University Press， 2000: 33.

[3]、 何兆熊. 新編語(yǔ)用學(xué)概要[M]. 上海：上海教育出版社，2002：150.