The medium of Netspeak 49
fourmaximsofconversationthatunderlietheefficientco-operative
use of language.^34 They can be expressed as follows:
The maxim of Quality
Try to make your contribution one that is true, specifically:
Do not say what you believe to be false.
Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.
The maxim of Relevance
Make your contributions relevant.
The maxim of Quantity
Make your contribution as informative as is required for the
current purposes of the exchange.
Do not make your contribution more informative than is required.
The maxim of Manner
Be perspicuous, and specifically:
Avoid obscurity.
Avoid ambiguity.
Be brief.
Be orderly.The point of an analysis of this kind is not to suggest that we always
behave exactly according to the principles; common experience
shows that we do not. But we do seem to tacitly recognize their role
as a perspective or orientation within which actual utterances can
be judged. For example, people who tell lies or make false claims
can be challenged; if they talk too much they can be told (in so
many words) to shut up; if they say something irrelevant, they can
be asked to stick to the point; and if they fail to make themselves
clear, they can be requested to say it again. The fact that we do
all of these things indicates that we are bearing these maxims in
mind. Moreover, if someone makes a remark that seems to flout
these maxims, we instinctively look for ways to make sense of what
has been said. If Joe asks ‘Where’s Uncle Kevin?’ and Jill replies ‘I
expect there’s a dilapidated blue bicycle outside The Swan’, we do
not criticize her for breaking all four maxims at once. Rather, we
take it for granted that she is co-operating in the conversation, and
that (a) she has good grounds from past experience for knowing
(^34) Grice (1975). For a general discussion, see Levinson (1983: ch. 3).