Abstract Grice’s theory of conversational implicature creates a way of understanding the implied information。 On the basis of the theory, the paper tries to explore the conversational implicature in Sherlock Season One。 Sherlock is a representative English TV series, also being famous as a detective play。 In this paper, some typical examples from the play are analyzed according to the four maxims of Cooperative Principle。 Moreover, the functions of conversational implicature in the play will be explored。 The study is meant not only to interpret the implied meaning in some conversations to the audience but also to reveal the great contributions that conversational implicature makes to the play’s success。 After reading the paper, readers may have a better understanding of conversational implicature and a deeper comprehension of the play’s language charm。93189

Key words: conversational implicature; Cooperative Principle; Sherlock Season One；function 

摘要 格莱斯的会话含义理论开创了一种理解隐含信息的途径。在此理论基础上，本文试着探究《神探夏洛克》第一季中的会话含义。《神探夏洛克》是英剧的代表，同时也是知名的侦探剧。文章根据合作原则的四个准则对剧中的典例进行了分析，另外还探究了剧中会话含义的功能。这项研究不仅是为了向观众阐释一些对话中隐含的意思，还为了揭示会话含义对这部电视剧的成功所作的贡献。通过阅读本文，读者或许能够对会话含义有更好的理解，同时对这部电视剧的魅力有更深的领会。

毕业论文关键词：会话含义；合作原则；《神探夏洛克》第一季; 功能

Contents

1。 Introduction1

2。 Literature Review。。。2

3。 Detailed Analysis of Conversational Implicature Examples in Sherlock Season One。。。。。。3

   3。1 Violating the Maxim of Quantity。。。。。。。。。。3

   3。2 Violating the Maxim of Quality。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。4

3。3 Violating the Maxim of Relation。。。5

   3。4 Violating the Maxim of Manner 。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。6

4。 The Functions of Conversational Implicature in the Play。。7

4。1 In shaping images of the characters。。7

   4。2 In twisting the plot 。。。。9

4。3 In amusing the audience 。。。。。。。。。10 

5。 Conclusion。。。。。11

Works Cited。。。13

1。 Introduction 来自优O尔P论R文T网WWw.YoueRw.com 加QQ7520`18766

Conversational implicature is a significant concept in pragmatics which refers to the implied or suggested meaning in conversation。 Raised by Grice in the first place, it draws great attention and interest from the Linguists。 As Levinson said, it stands as a paradigmatic example of the nature and power of pragmatic explanation of linguistic phenomena (Levinson, 97)。 With implicature, people can express more than what words mean。 In this way, conversational implicature endows abundant connotations to people’s talking。 论文网

Sherlock is a very popular English play that describes a series of detective stories。 It narrates the exciting and unusual experiences happening to Sherlock Holmes, a genius detective and his friend John Watson。 Of all seasons, the first one is the most famous and is of greatest reputation。 Instead of expressing ideas or views directly, characters in the play like to talk in a roundabout way, leaving people a lot of space to think about and deduct the meaning behind。 After figuring out the implied meaning of those discourses, one can find that the play is of profundity and is very interesting。 The charm of conversational implicature is well embodied in this detective play。 However, hiding under the cover of literal meaning, implicature is not easy to perceive and even harder to interpret。 For this reason, the audience of the play may easily ignore or misunderstand the real meaning that the interlocutors intend to convey。 Making out the implicature in the characters’ conversations can help the audience read their inner thoughts and understand the ongoing plot better, which is also important for them to appreciate the language charm of the play。 A further investigation of the functions of conversational implicature in the play is also necessary because it can not only show the influence of conversational implicature on the play but also explain the reasons for the play’s success from the perspective of pragmatics。 There are several types of implicature existing in the play but this paper only focuses on the particularized conversational implicature produced by violating the maxims of the Cooperative Principle (CP)。