会话含义的产生要有下列条件：会话含义的产生要有下列条件：说话者S的话语要有会话含义q，就必须：（1）假定S遵守合作原则；（2）为了使上述假定成立，就要推测出S认为q；（3）S了解，自己和听话者H都知道，H能推导出需要q来使“S遵守合作原则”这一假定成立。
而为了推导出会话含义q，听话者必须知晓：（1）S的话语的内容；（2）合作原则及其所属准则；（3）话语的上下文；（4）某些有关背景信息；（5）上述各条为S和H所共知Grice归纳出推导会话含义的下列步骤：归纳出推导会话含义的下列步骤：归纳出推导会话含义的下列步骤（1）他（S）说了话语P；（2）没有理由假定他不遵守合作原则；（3）他说了P，又确实在尽力合作（遵守合作原则），那么，他肯定认为q；（4）他肯定了解，我和他都懂得，要认为他遵守合作原则，就必须假定q；（5）他丝毫没有阻止我认为q；（6）那么，他就是要我认为q，故此，你的含义就是q。
4.5 Conversational ImplicatureUnlike conventional implicatures, conversational implicatures are produced by relating to the conversational context. To know what people mean, we have to interpret what they say. But interpretation is a tricky affair, and misunderstandings are always possible. As Leech remarks, ‘interpreting an utterance is u ltimately a matter of guesswork’. e.g. A: When is Tom’s birthday? B: It’s sometime in October. B’s implicature: the only thing he remembered about Tom’s birthday was the month in which it occurs, and that he honestly didn’t know whether it was at the begin ning, the middle or the end of that month.How does a conversational implicature come about? In analyzing an utterance, depending on strict semantic or logical criteria will not help. The ‘guesswork’ that Leech talks about will have to be of a somewhat qualified nature. The qualified guessing must depend on the context, that is, the circumstances of this particular question, the person involved in the situation, these persons’ background, etc. The more we know about this context, the more wellgrounded our ‘guesswork’ is going to be. e.g. A: I could eat the whole of that cake. B: Oh, thanks. A’s literal meaning: a statement of a fact. The context: an exchange between a guest and a host. A’s implicature: I compliment you on the cake, it is so delicious that I want to eat thewhole of it. e.g. A: Where is my box of chocolates? B: I was feeling hungry. I have got a train to catch. Where is your diet sheet? The children were in your room this morning. B’s semantic meanings: nonsense B’s intended meanings: He has eaten the chocolates as he was hungry. He took the chocolates as he got a train to catch. He hid the chocolates as he knew that A was on diet. (to lose weight, A should not eat them.) He suggested that the chocolates might be eaten by the children. Conclusion: The intended meanings of different speakers are not drawn from semantic or logical content of language, but are drawn from conversatinal implicature which tries to explain language use from functional, communicative and contextual aspects rather than from linguistic aspects which include phonology, syntax and semantics. Question: Why don’t people just say what they mean so as to avoid all ‘guesswork’ and ‘misunderstanding’? __ the way language users go about their communicative businesses Communication is not a matter of logic or truth, but of co-operative; not of what people say, but of what they can say under certain circumstances. According to Grice, the reason why people don’t say what they mean is that they try to be cooperative by observing certain rules in communication so as to make communication smooth and successful. 在言语交际中，一句话的全部意义，即有意图的信息交有意图的信息交流内容应作下列图式分解（Levinson,1983:131）：流内容非自然意义（=有意图的信息交流内容）字面意义含义规约含义非规约含义非会话含义会话含义一般性会话含义特殊性会话含义由这个图式可以清楚地看到，Grice 认定“非自然意义”是由字面意义含义两部分共同组成字面意义和含义字面意义含义的。
