Pragmatic Analysis of Conversational Implicature in Krisagbedo’s … a Darkling Plain
Keywords:
Implicatures, Conversational Analysis, Pragmatics, Non-detachability, CalculabilityAbstract
The paper examines conversational implicature as it applies in … a Darkling Plain, a novel written by Krisagbedo from the pragmatic point of view. The specific objectives of the study are: to investigate the characteristics of conversational implicature in characters’ conversations, point out instances of implicatures in … a Darkling Plain and analyse the implicated strategies employed in the novel by some characters using nine (9) excerpts. In order to analyse the implicatures in characters’ conversations, the study adopts the theoretical tenets of Conversational Analysis (CA) by Grice (1967). The findings of the paper reveal that there are features that differentiate conversational implicature from conventional implicature and other conversational styles; these features aid understanding during communication. There are instances of implicatures in characters’ conversations in … a Darkling Plain. The study discovers that in everyday parlance, people say not exactly what they have in mind or rather; they indirectly pass across messages, hoping their listeners will understand the actual meanings based on the context of usage. The paper concludes that implicatures, especially conversational implicature is a part and parcel of human speeches which every speaker of a language must understand to ensure the smooth-flowing of every conversation.
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