Language communication in a pragmatic perspective: Flouting the cooperative principle

Abstract

The aim of the article is a pragmatic analysis of various linguistic communication situations in the light of Grice’s principle of cooperation (1975). The analysis shows that language strategies involve a deliberate flouting of the cooperative principle using various pragmatic functions. The presented communication strategies in English, German, Polish and Russian show similarities in their occurrence. The sender may convey intentions not directly, but by hidden means of expression which often become an exponent of an apparent question, a change in the argumentative direction, the use of ambiguous words, irony or even silence. Hence, we can talk about the implementation of the pragmatic functions of “language avoidance”, “counter-argumentation”, “counter-proposal”, “irony” etc.