Grice in MeaningNN and Donellan in Definite Description

8/20/2019 Grice in MeaningNN and Donellan in Definite Description

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Grice in meaningNN and Donellan in definite description

Indah Lestari

Fakultas Ilmu Linguistik, Universitas [email protected]

Grice on Meaning

Grice’s notion about meaning is more ocused on conte!tual meaning or in "ragmatics

rather than semantics. In his short but crucial and im"ortant article #$eaning%, Grice e!"lained

about t&o kinds o senses o the "hrase #to mean%. 'he "hrase can be taken into t&o dierent

&a(s &hich Grice calls as )natural meaning’ and )non*natural meaning’. )+atural meaning’ is

also he called as )indicator meaning’ and the )non*natural meaning’ is also he called as

)communicative meaning’.

+atural meaning is the kind o meaning that something has &hen it is a natural and

reliable sign or s(m"tom o or evidence or something. It is all about natural relation bet&een the

sign, or s(m"tom, or evidence, and something it indicates. -ne o the Grice e!am"les can

illustrate,

• 'hose s"ots mean measles

For the term #mean% to be "ro"erl( used in the sentence above, it has to be the case that a "erson could not have those "articular s"ots on the skin &ithout having measles. o, the s"ots

must meet the characteristics to be ackno&ledged as measles. /e rel( on the natural relations

bet&een the s"ots and measles &hen &e are sa(ing the sentence. It does not rel( on an(

convention or an( intention o the s"eaker.

+on*natural meaning, or also mentioned as meaning++, is the kind o meaning

distinctive o linguistic e!"ressions and communication. Grice distinguishes t&o kinds o non*

natural meaning, namel( 12 3onventional $eaning, &hich is ho& a term is standardl(, literall(,

or conventionall( used and 2 "eaker*$eaning, &hich is related to &hat the s"eaker &ants to

conve( b( the e!"ression in a given conte!t. 'o illustrate the conventional meaning is, take a

look on the e!am"les "ro"osed b( Grice belo&,

• 'hose three rings on the bell o the bus2 mean that the )bus is ull’.

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]



motivated b( the argument o tra&son’s and Aussell’s accounts o deinite descri"tions. I &ill

give an illustration

'here &ere t&o &omen, the irst &oman’s name is LiBa. he has &hite

skin and blond straight hair. 'he second &oman’s name is 7ill. he has dark skin

and curl( black hair. 'he( &ere bestriends and liked to &alk in the "ark ever(

aternoon. LiBa had a little bab( and brought him along to the "ark. 'he bab(

kne& 7ill ver( &ell and liked her ver( much. /hen the( &ere &alking, the( sa& a

bench in the "ark and then decided to sit or a &hile. 'he( then had a chat. /hile

the( &ere having a chat, the bab( &ere "la(ing around. 'he bab( &ent back and

orth bringing some stu he ound on the ground. ometimes, he brought a stone

or a lo&er, then gave them to 7ill &hile smiling. 6 "air o old ladies sa& the bab(

and one o them gave a comment #a&&...the bab( is so cute. Look, he brings his

momm( a git%

Cased on m( "oor2 short stor( above, des"ite the old ladies’ belie, 7ill is not the bab(’s

mother. It is >ust the bab( likes 7ill ver( much. 6ccording to Aussell’s theor( o deinite

descri"tions, the statement made b( the old ladies is alse. /hile according to tra&son’s theor(

o deinite descri"tions, the statement has no truth value. Ho&ever, the old ladies’ statement

reers to someone, to the bab(’s mother, although it seems that the s"eakers are not reerring to

LiBa, as the real mother o the bab(, &hen the( sa( #his momm(%. In other &ords, the s"eakers

e!"ect that there is a mother and in act, the mother e!ist.

onnellan "ro"oses his distinction bet&een attributive and reerential use o deinite

descri"tion &hich he deines in the ollo&ing &a(,

6 s"eaker &ho uses a deinite descri"tion attributivel( in an assertion

states something about &hoever or &hatever is the so*and*so. 6 s"eaker &ho usesa deinite descri"tion reerentiall( in an assertion, on the other hand, uses the

descri"tion to enable his audience to "ick out &hom or &hat he is talking about

and states something about that "erson or thing. 19:;, ". 102

In attributive use, the old lad( has in mind the mother the( are s"eaking about. 'he

attribute o being so*and*so is thus im"ortant, because #the s"eaker &ishes to assert something

about &hatever or &hoever its that descri"tion,% &hile in the case o reerential use it is not

im"ortant, because #the deinite descri"tion is merel( one tool or= calling attention to a "erson



or thing.% /e are using it to hel" the audience to "ick out a "erson or a thing that &e are s"eaking

about.

'he statement #...He brings his momm( a git% can be used in reerential &a( i there is

urther conversation bet&een the old ladies, or e!am"le, #He brings a git to &hoD%, &hich can

be ans&ered b( #the one &ith curl( black hair%, or #7ill% i both ladies have kno&n the name o

the &oman2. 'he s"eaker aims the audience to "ick out the right "erson she reers to. /hile, in

attributive use, the "hrase )his momm(’ is not reerred to an( s"eciic "erson. 'o the Euestion

#He brings a git to &hoD% can be ans&ered b( #someone &ho is2 his mother%.

/hat I can conclude rom the t&o theories above is, in the case based on m( short stor(

above, the reerent o #his momm(% &as 7ill b( s"eaker’s reerence &hile it &as LiBa b(

semantic reerence. -n the other hand, onellan does not dierentiate such a reerence. He is too

ocus on the s"eaker reerence, that there is the bab(’s mother, regardless &hether she is 7ill or

LiBa.

BIBLIOGRAP!

onnellan, 8. 19:;. Aeerence and einite escri"tions, in< Semantics< 3ambridge

Universit( ress

Grice, H. . 19:;. $eaning, in Semantics< 3ambridge Universit( ress

8ri"ke, . 19::. "eaker’s Aeerence and emantic Aeerence. d ocument

Grice in MeaningNN and Donellan in Definite Description

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