A Linear Grammar of Speech 105
Grice’s maxim of manner states that cooperative speakers avoid being
prolix. If a speaker overtly realizes predictable lexical elements a hearer is
entitled to assume that the speaker fl outed Grice’s maxim in pursuit of a
communicative purpose. Similarly, Sperber and Wilson (1995: 49) argue
that speakers, according to their Principle of Relevance, attempt to reduce
hearers’ processing costs. If they overtly realize predictable lexical elements
and make them prominent the hearers can assume that these lexical items
are likely to be of added communicative value. Finally to identify and code
all potential predictable occurrences of ellipsis.
In order to highlight the added communicative value of prominent
lexical elements which an analyst predicts should not have been overtly
realized the following coding is suggested.
(42) A: What’s the matter?
W V d N
B: // I’ ve got an awful COLD //
NØ V V' d e N
(43) A: What’s the matter?
W V d N
B: // i HAVE got an awful COLD //
N VØ V' d e NIn (42) the NØ coding indicates a marked case where an N element
was produced and made prominent whereas in the unmarked case the N
element would have been realized by zero or uttered without prominence.
A similar argument applies to the VØ coding in (43).
(44) A: What’s the matter?
W V d N
B: // i’ ve got an awful COLD //
N V V' d e NIn (44) the speaker realizes I’ve but does not make either the N or the V
element prominent. This indicates that the speaker projects that neither
element represents a sense selection; the elements are redundant slot
fi llers in the grammatical chain. The intermediate state created by the NV
elements I’ve was an intermediate state already available to the hearer. Little
if anything would have been altered had the speaker not overtly realized
these lexical elements. They are, however, included in the grammar simply