The Cooperative Principle

      The American  philosopher Paul Grice is sometimes considered as the father of pragmatics. Grice said that all people are cooperative with each other in language just as they helpful in their daily life. He suggested   four maxims for this theory of communication. The cooperative principle is a concept from pragmatics , a subfield of linguistics that studies how context influences the interpretation of meaning in communication.

         Maxim of quantity 

Give the right amount of information when you talk . For example when someone ask you about something , you should give an exact answer not an over brief one or an over long –one

Maxim of quality

Be truthful . It means that  your speech should be truthful. 

Maxim of relevance 

Be relevant . It means that you speech should be relevant to the subject.

Maxim of manner . It means that when you describe things should be orderly and clear.

These are called cooperative principles introduced by Paul Grice to say that all people are cooperative with each other.

Manaf abdul Hussain