Conversational Implicature
A conversational implicature is a process in which hearers understand the speakers' intentions even if they are not explicitly mentioned. It is the suppositions people make in their conversations in order to protect the meanings that are not clearly conveyed in what is said (Geurts, 2011). Mey (1993, p. 141) states, “often we may have to disregard the surface form of the verb when trying to determine what kind of speech act we are confronted with.” That is, speech acts may be insincere because their surface meanings may be different from the
speaker's intentions. Grice (1975, p. 51) uses the following example to illustrate the conversational implicature.
A: I am out of petrol.
B: There is a garage round the corner.
In this example, A lacks petrol for his car and wants B to help him to get some . A does not say that he wants help, but B understands A's intention (can you help me to get some petrol?). Besides, B's answer was not relevant to A's expectations. B does not give a direct answer for A's question that provides him by the necessary information to get petrol. On the one hand, when B answers, he thinks that the garage is open, has petrol to sell, etc. and expects that A is able to understand his intents. A, on the other hand, was able to grasp B's intended meaning. Therefore, the implicatures are what A and B believe.
