За един основен въпрос на прагматиката – качеството на съобщението
On a basic issue in pragmatics – the quality of the message

Summary/Abstract: The article reviews a major issue in general pragmatics – the cases in which Grice’s maxim of quality, i.e. of truthfulness, is flouted. Such flouting occurs when the speaker is not speaking frankly because of the specificity of the communicative situation (diplomacy, politics, administration, etc.) or because of the peculiarities of following particular speech etiquette. Other instances of flouting are related to the adequacy of the state of being well informed on the part of the speaker. The existence of varying degrees between the two poles true vs. untrue has been firmly established. Various hedges are used by the speaker for signalling how adequately they are informed in relation to what is being talked about and for avoiding any critical attitude on the part of the listener concerning the truthfulness of the message. The relation of the implicitness of the activity being described by the use of evidentials in Bulgarian and the truthfulness of the message is discussed at length.

• Details
• Contents