Cooperation principle (language)
The cooperation principle described by Paul Grice relates in the context of linguistics to how people use language and how they interact with one another in linguistic communication . In connection with his theory of conversational implicature, Grice formulated the principle of cooperation as follows:
- "Make your contribution to the conversation as it is required by the accepted purpose or the accepted direction of the conversation (talk exchange) in which you are participating." (Translated from Meggle, p. 248)
The principle is to be understood descriptively and not prescriptively, i.e. it is meant as a description of the normal behavior of communication participants, not as a prescribed linguistic law. Grice believed that was the basis of the language usage. Following the principle of cooperation, a speaker makes a statement in order to be conducive to the respective purpose and aim of the conversation. The purposes and goals can be different for different conversations. For his part, the listener naturally assumes that the utterance follows the principle of cooperation, that is, he assumes the speaker's cooperativity in the process of understanding this utterance as a prerequisite. Only as a last resort does he move away from it and interpret an utterance as not cooperative or as a signal that the conversation has been broken off.
Put simply, the principle of cooperation can be expressed in such a way that the speaker makes his statement in such a way that the special listener will understand what the speaker means in the respective context of the conversation. On the other hand, this listener bases his interpretation on the fact that the speaker has already said something meaningful, and searches for the most likely meaningful context in the case of comprehension problems, for example.
The cooperation principle can explain, for example, that a conversation can obviously be useful, even if there is no direct semantic or general linguistic connection between question and answer that can explain the intended meaning, as in:
- A: "Smith doesn't seem to have a girlfriend at the moment." - B: "He's been to New York a lot lately ." (Translated from Meggle, p. 256)
The principle of cooperation was specified by Grice and, according to his theory, is subdivided into four conversation maxims , which describe rational and logical laws that are observed by the speaker and listener in order to communicate as effectively as possible and to convey the intended meaning of a linguistic utterance to one another. The cooperation principle becomes effective when the meaning of a conversational implicature is opened up , whereby a distinction is made between two modes of action, on the one hand by following the maxims or the cooperation principle, on the other hand by their apparent break.
The principle of cooperation was taken up or retained as a postulate in the following linguistic research. Some of the maxims have been combined, and other maxims have been added.
For examples see under implication and conversation maxims .
literature
- H. Paul Grice : Logic and Conversation . In: Peter Cole, Jerry L. Morgan (Eds.): Speech acts . Academic Press, New York et al. 1975, ISBN 0-12-785423-1 , ( Syntax and semantics 3), pp. 41-58.
- H. Paul Grice: Logic and Conversation . In: Georg Meggle (ed.): Action, communication, meaning . Suhrkamp-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1993, ISBN 3-518-28683-8 , ( Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch Wissenschaft 1083), pp. 243-265, (German translation).