Implicatures of Questions

---- By J. L. S


------------ STILL TRYING TO RETRIEVE

that bit by Grice on xy-questions ("When and where was the murder commited?")

vis a vis Kramer's 'brain-teaser' apres M. v. Savant.

This is more general. But may do with th logical form of questions (e.g. "What width is the lake?")

For Grice there are two types of implicatural questions.

Some questions are


JUDICATIVE INTERROGATIVE:


Here,

Utterer wills that

Addressee wills

that Utterer judges P


But then there's


VOLITIVE INTERROGATIVE


Here:

Utterer wills that

Addressee wills that

Utterer WILLS p.


Grice notes:


"The distinction between judicative and volitive [cfr. 'conative', ugly. JLS]interrogatives correspond with the difference

between cases in which

a questioner is indicated

as being, in one way or another,

concerned to obtain information

("Is he at home?"

[What width is the lake?. JLS]).

"and cases in which the

questioner is indicated

as being concerned to settle

a problem about what he is to DO

("Am I to leave the door open?",

"Is the prisoner to be released?",

"Shall I go on reading?", [surviving, whatever. JLS]).

Grice concludes this little note:

"This difference is well represented in

English grammar, and

much better

represented in the grammars of
some other languages."

(Gr01:55).


such as his Deutero-Esperanto.