Analysis Of Conversational Implicature

This thesis applies the Cooperative Principle and the politeness theory to analyze implicatures of some conversations among the main characters chosen from Moment in Peking. The thesis also probes into the mentality and personality of the important figures, and traces back the cultural origination in relation to the cases analyses of the chosen conversations.Moment in Peking is a novel that begins with the Boxer Rebellion in 1901 and ends in the beginning of the Sino-Japanese War. It shows the great changes of both Chinese people and society in about more than thirty years with a description of the life stories of three prestigious families in Peking. The fiction provides an excellent text for the case analysis of conversational implicatures with rich implications of conversation made among the numerous characters.Conversational implicatures could arise by means of violating or observing the CP maxims. Those produced by flouting the Cooperative Principle are called the non-standard conversational implicatures while the standard ones refer to those produced by observing the Cooperative Principle. The violation of CP maxims characteristically gives rise to conversational implicatures. Some typical conversations among the main characters in context of the main events are chosen for case analyses to detect conversational implicatures. The relevant context elements and the main characters'nonverbal behaviors are also described for a better understanding and analysis of conversational implicatures.A case study helps us to have a better understanding of reasons hiding behind the enriched conversational implicatures as well as the inference and manifestations of implicatures. It can also help us to penetrate the characters'personalities and cultural connotations portrayed in Moment in Peking.