Arabic ConjunctionWA: A Conflict in Pragmatic Principles

• Authors: Sane Yagi , Mohamed Ali
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

This paper discusses the Arabic coordination particle wa and its use and function on the basis of the Gricean cooperative principle. It aims to provide an outline of the maxims utilized by Arabic speakers in their interpretation of this conjunction. It demonstrates that interpretation brings out a conflict between the Gricean conversational maxims. The context of communication is investigated for a resolution of the conflict. It is argued that context and the functional understanding of language are more decisive in the interpretation of language utterances than either the conventional meaning of a linguistic element or the principle of communicative cooperation.

Keywords

EN

Arabic; coordination; cooperative principle; conversation maxim; context

• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Journal: Poznań Studies in Contemporary Linguistics
• Year: 2008
• Volume: 44
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 617-627

Dates

published

2008-12-01

online

2009-01-23

Contributors

author

Sane Yagi

• University of Jordan

author

Mohamed Ali

• University of Sharjah

References

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Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/v10010-008-0029-4