Gricean Approach to Study Implicatures is Revisited

Abstract

Implicature is one of the important pragmatic concepts. What is said is different from what is implicated or intended by the speaker. The current study is concerned with the main theories that have introduced and viewed implicatures. It also attempts to shed light on the main differences and similarities between these theories. It is divided into five sections: (1) it is an introduction to the topic, (2) It deals with Grice’s view of meaning, implicature and its maxims, and implicatures in literary texts (3) It tackles the Neo-Gricean theories such Horn’s Theory (1984) and Levinson’s theory (1987), (4) It is concerned with the Post-Gricean theories mainly Relevance Theory (1995). The study ends up with some conclusions that are the outcome of this study.