implicature
1
9.9
- noun
- /ɪmˈplɪkətʃər/
- Specialized
:
implicatura
- Linguists call these implicatures: messages that go beyond the strict meaning of a phrase or sentence.
- a conversational implicature
- an expressive implicature
Grice says that in that case, we're asking for conversational implicature, which is to say that we are implying something not said.
- Grice says that in that case, we're asking for conversational implicature, which is to say that we are implying something not said.
Examples
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Grice says that in that case, we're asking for conversational implicature, which is to say that we are implying something not said.
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His tone created an implicature that he was joking, even though his words were serious.
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So my comment should not be taken as an implicature to the contrary.
Blog text (7) -
But the implicature that the situation no longer holds in the present is cancelable.
Academic text (2006) -
The question is why 'used to' has this implicature while the other putative expressions of habituality do not.
Academic text (2006) -
Hence, it is a conventional implicature: an implication dependent on context.
Academic text (2006) -
Another important thing about implicatures is that they can be canceled without contradicting what has been said.
Blog text (7) -
The requirement for contrast always trumps the implicature that the situation no longer holds, which is why 64 is not as odd as 65.
Academic text (2006) -
Tokens of the infamous expression "Can you pass the salt?" no longer function merely as conversational implicatures.
Academic text (2001) -
Our results suggest that autistic traits are associated with weaker tendencies to draw pragmatic implicatures.
Academic text (2018)
Synonyms
308
4.3
A result or meaning suggested but not said
How Suggestive
- NSFW
43
8.0
18
7.2
- Specialized
1
9.9
308
4.3
136
2.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
implicature = implicate (opaque) = implic + ature
Although related in form to 'implicate'/'imply', 'implicature' is a specialized pragmatic term whose meaning (an implied meaning not directly stated) is not straightforwardly predictable by a general learner from the base verb.
Etymology
The word implicature comes from Latin parts in- ('in') and plicare ('to fold'), and it shares the same root as the common words imply and implicit. Think of a meaning 'folded into' a sentence — it is not said out loud but hidden inside what someone says, so an implicature is a meaning that is implied but not directly stated.