TheApplicationoftheCooperativePrincipleinTextMessages

【Abstract】The language of text messages speeds up the transmission of information，shows the richness of languages，and contains all kinds of implication. Many researches on text messages have been published but the analysis of the languages of text messages in the domain of Grices cooperative principle is open to investigate. This paper explores the language of text messages based on Grices Cooperative Principle （CP） and its maxims，which aims to understand how the theory influences the text message communication and create some humorous effect. It is of practical significance to research text messages as a kind of language phenomenon.

【Key words】text messages； the Cooperative Principle； conversational implicature；

1.An overview of text messages

Text messages overthrow traditional language standards and pursue simple sentence structure for communication. Written representations of the sounds and compressions which can make interpersonal communication language vivid are common phenomena in text messages. For example，Hi dr xyz bro. How r u？ M sorry 2 say that m sufring from high temp. So tis not possible 4 me 2 join u. （D?ring，2002）. Generally speaking，text messages can be explored from four aspects： the communicative perspective，the sociological perspective，the psychological perspective，and the language and culture perspective.（Yang，2012） Bai Guiqin and Lan Jie （2012） analyzes humor in short message texts based on the Relevance Theory. Xu Zhengke （2008） interprets text messages with reference of the presupposition. Wang Yiling （2004） studies the rhetorical style and language characteristics of text messages as well as related culture background，especially the youngs life attitude and values. And this paper will analyze the language of text messages under the guidance of Cooperative Principle.

2.The Cooperative Principle and the Conversational Implicature

In 1967，an American linguist Herbert Grice put forward the Cooperative Principle，which is defined as “Make your conversational contribution such as is required，at the stage at which it occurs，by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged”. （Hu，2001） And to specify the CP further，Grice introduced four categories of maxims： the maxim of quantity，quality，relation and manner. First，the quantity maxim focuses on the quantity of the provided information，which requires exact quantity of information. Second，quality maxim concerns the truth of the provided information. During conversations people should be loyal to themselves and the receivers. Third，according to the maxim of relation，all the information provided by the speaker should be relevant and coherent to the purpose of his discourse. Fourth，the manner maxim is about the speakers ways of expression. However，Grice noticed that in daily conversation people do not usually say things directly but tend to imply them. He coined the term “implicature” to refer to such implied meaning. If the speaker seems to violate the CP，the hearer must try to make out the underlying cooperation，with the belief that the speaker does follow the CP. The meaning of the underlying cooperation is the conversational implicature.

3.Pragmatical analysis of text messages

According to CP，the communicators have a common purpose and make relevant contribution. Though they are in the texting environment，people still keep these maxims of CP in mind. For example，“Where shall i meet u tonite？ What time？ See u soon”，“at the school gate，7：00”. It shows the application of the four maxims，namely，the maxim of quantity，of quality，of relation，of manner. However，its interesting and important to note that those maxims are not always strictly observed. For various reasons they are often violated，which gives rise to conversational implicatures.

3.1 Violation of the quantity maxim

Violation of the maxim of quantity occurs when the speaker gives more or less information than the situation required. The maxim of quality is often violated in the communication of text messages. For instance，“wake？ Busy？ Can call？ Gonna let me wait long？” Obviously，the questions are over the quantity required. Basically，the information “call me” is enough，but here is a series of four interrogatives indicating the conversational implicature of the senders insistence that the receiver return the call. Here is another example. “Go away！ Farther and better！ Plz dont follow me any longer. I really cant bear u. All u can do is to hurt me. The more gently u treat me，the more upset I am. Just go away，u damn mosquito！” The texter deliberately sends the messages with more information and till the end do they express the key point，or the conversational implicature，which aims to give rise to humor.

3.2 Violation of the quality maxim

The quality maxims are，also，called the true maxims. To make the other maxims come into operation，the maxim of quality need be satisfied. To satisfy the maxim of quality，the texters have to communicate what they believe to be true and they have adequate evidence. According to Grice，the rhetorical devices such as simile，metaphor，personification，irony，etc. can be regarded as flouting of the quality maxims. For example，“尊敬的用戶，得悉您每天吃咸菜打电话，我们深表同情，特在每年2 月30 日凌晨为您95折优惠，谢谢。” “Ive been arrested 4 being the ugliest person in Britain； can u come to the police station & show them its a mistake？” （Li，2007） For the first one，at first，we may be honored and happy to read it. Then we realize that there is no the 30th in February. The texter deliberately violates the quality maxim to achieve humorous effect. In the second message，the first sentence is lack of enough evidence and it violates the quality maxim. But when we read the sentence，we are amused by this big humor.

3.3 Violation of the relation maxim

Grice thinks that the information given by texters needs to be relevant to keep conversation go smoothly. However，sometimes senders of text messages may write something unconcerned and violate the maxim of relation on certain occasion，which establishes humorous atmosphere. For instance，student A send a text message to student B in class “Miss Lees hairstyle is so ugly”，then B replied “Its a nice day，how about hang out after school”. It is very clear that the student B flouts the maxim of relation. B was not willing to talk about this topic with A，nor to displease A. So he refused A wisely and indirectly by changing the direction. College student A sends a message to his classmate，“Could u help me receive my package at the school gate，plz.” For a while，B answers，“I am in the canteen.” Obviously，B doesnt want to bother himself by getting the package. Of course，he must be careful with this answer. Although his answer has no direct connection with the requirement，he implies that he isnt free and couldnt help A.3.4 Violation of the manner maxim

Based on CP，the maxim of manner orders that the utterance should be clear and brief，avoiding obscurity and ambiguity. But it is very common to see the violation of the manner maxims in text messages. This type of language is always unconventional，and shows distinctive characteristics of the times，by using a variety of language symbols as well as novel expressions. For instance，“I have the I，the L，the O，the V，and the E. So，could I have U？” “What do the parents want from their daughters suitors？ Pleasing PESO – nality，good CAR – racteristics，good Family BANK- ground. ” （Li，2007） In the first one，the texter doesnt say “I love you” directly or concisely，but by continuously using the structure “I have”，the meaning “I love” can be sensed. Obviously，this is a better and funny way to express love. In the second one，we may think that the parents expect their child to find someone that has the quality of pleasing personality，good characteristics and wealthy family background. And the wrong spelling is a mistake. In fact，by this way the texter implies that the parents hope the daughters boyfriend should be rich （PESO，a unit of currency），owns a car （CAR），and lives luxuriously. This message reflects the unhealthy standard of choosing boyfriend.

4.Conclusion

Text messages，as a special means of communication，exert great and constant influence on texters life. Gradually，theyve become one of popular means for people to enhance communication，and humorous message is，in particular，preferred because of its funny and witty language style. Having reviewed some precious theories and many valuable messages，the author focuses on text messaging implicature and explores how texters flout these maxims，which maxim do they violate，and the reason why they are likely to flout the maxims of the CP. From the viewpoint of Cooperative Principle in pragmatics，it is of practical significance to research text messages as a kind of language phenomenon.

References：

[1]D?ring，N.Abbreviations and acronyms in SMS communication.http：//www.nicola-doering.de/.2002.

[2]擺贵勤，兰杰.关联视角下手机短信的言语幽默与反讽[J].阜阳师范学院学报（社会科学版），2012.

[3]胡壮麟.语言学教程[M].北京：北京大学出版社，2001.

[4]李雪燕.幽默手机短信中的合作原则[J].泰山乡镇企业职工大学学报，2007.

[5]王艺玲，马宏基.手机短信息的语言及其文化关照[J].山东理工大学学报，2004，（2）：92-95.

[6]徐正科.从语用预设解读幽默手机短信[J].黑龙江：牡丹江大学学报，2008，（11）：19-21.

[7]杨炎雨，牛钢钢，刘琼.从合作原则分析手机短信[J].四川教育学院学报，2012.

作者简介：

李军霞（1990-），女，安徽舒城人，天津外国语大学研究生，主要研究方向为英语语言学。