TTLV: Symmetry and the theory of implicature (on English and Vietnamese materials)

MASTER'S THESIS INFORMATION

1. Student's full name:Cao Thanh Viet                  

2. Gender: Male

3. Date of birth: August 1, 1991

4. Place of birth: Duc Tho, Ha Tinh

5. Decision on recognition of students No. 3215/2014/QD-XHNV-SDH dated December 31, 2014 of the President of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi

6. Changes in training process: No

7. Thesis topic name:Symmetry and the theory of implicature (on English and Vietnamese materials)

8. Major: Linguistics; Code: 60.22.02.40

9. Scientific instructor:TS. Trinh Huu Tue(University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)

10. Summary of thesis results:

One consequence of Grice's conversational maxims is that the uttered proposition is the most informative of the important propositions that the speaker believes to be true (Grice 1967). This consequence contradicts the facts in the case where there are two propositions that are both more important and more informative than the uttered proposition but that negate each other. This contradiction is technically known as the "symmetry problem". This essay introduces the symmetry problem and discusses two ways of resolving it, the second of which develops and complements the first.

11. Practical application:

12. Further research directions:

Supplement and develop the grammatical theory of implicature based on some observations in Vietnamese.

13. Published works related to the thesis:

INFORMATION ON MASTER'S THESIS

1. Full name: Cao Thanh Viet 2. Sex: Male

3. Date of birth: August 1, 1991 4. Place of birth: Duc Tho, Ha Tinh

5. Admission decision number: 3215/2014/QD-XHNV-SDH Dated: December 31, 2014,by President University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University Hanoi.

6. Changes in academic process: None

7. Official thesis title:Symmetry Problem and Theories of Implicatures (in English and Vietnamese )

8. Major: Linguistics Code: 60.22.02.40

9. Supervisors:Dr. Tue Trinh (Assistant Professor at Department of Linguistics, University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee)

10. Summary of the findings of the thesis:

A consequence of Grice's maxims is that the proposition which is asserted is the most informative one in the set of relevant propositions which the speaker believes to be true (cf. Grice 1967). This contradicts in reality in the case there are two relevant propositions which are both more informative than the assertion but contradict each other. This contradiction is the so-called “symmetry problem” in the literature. This thesis introduces the symmetry problem and discusses two approaches to dissolve it, in which the second one develops from the first one.

11. Practical applicability, if any:

12. Further research directions, if any:

Develop the grammatical theory of implicatures based on some observations in Vietnamese.

13. Thesis-related publications: None