An Analysis on Short Message Language with Cooperative Principle

Abstract: This paper analyzes the disadvantages of SMS conmmunication on the basis of Cooperative Principle and propose solutions to avoid the disadvantages.

Key words: SMS Cooperative Principle

Short Message Service (SMS) is a text-based messaging service through the digital data expressing of mobile phone， web， or mobile communication systems. With an approximately 3.5 billion active users at the end of 2010， SMS is well recognized as a new ways of communication. However， the characteristics of SM language also bring negative effects to people’s life. People find that SM is not so powerful and pleasant， and it can be easily misunderstood. With the help of Grice’s “Cooperative Principle”， we can analyze the misunderstanding in SM conversation and find some solutions about it.

In daily conversation， successful conversation depends not only on what speakers say but on their whole approach to the interaction. “Our talk exchanges do not normally consist of a succession of disconnected remarks， and would not be rational if they did. They are characteristically， to some degree at least， cooperative efforts; and each participant recognizes in them， to some extent， a common purpose or set of purposes， or at least a mutually accepted direction” (Grice 1975: 45). People adopt a “Cooperative Principle” when they communicate with each other: they try to get along with each other by following certain conversational “maxims” that under the efficient use of language. Four basic maxims have been proposed. The maxim of quality states that speakers’ contributions to a conversation ought to be true. The maxim of relevance states that conversations should clearly relate to the purpose of the exchange， avoiding obstructing ambiguity. Take following short messages recorded as an example:

No.1. A: “Still busy?”---9:40 pm (Conversation started， but A’s purpose is confusing). No.2. B: “Not too busy， what’s up?”---9:41 pm (Actually B was very busy in his essay， but B inferred that A must have something important to tell.). No.3. A: “When you worked in the Computer Association， have you ever failed to negotiate with sponsors?”---9:46 pm (It takes A 5 minutes to respond. He attempts to make his words appropriate. B has to suspend his work and wait for a direct answer. But this answer seems irrelevant.). No.4. B: “No”---9:47 pm (B tries to concentrate on his work， so he responds briefly. A is quite frustrated by the failed negotiation.). No.5. A: “Sorry， I thought you did， then， good night.”---9:49 pm (Conversation ended up unpleasantly). No.6. B: “Good night.”---9:50 pm (B is still unaware of A’s intention.).

The two participants of this short conversation violate the four maxims violations of maxims. No.1 violates M of quantity. He says too little. He should state his purpose clearly. No.2 violates M of quality. He says something that is irrelevant. In No.3 A fails to answer B’s question， and thus violate the maxims of quantity and relevance. We might therefore expect A’s utterance to be interpreted as a non-co-operative response. We can assure that there could be some possible connection between No.2 and No.3. However， A and B could not see each other during the conversation. B is actually in a hurry and wants to go to the topic directly， but A wants a euphemistic way instead. Here SM is not powerful enough to connect the states of mind of the two persons.

why does the violation of co-operative principle in SM fail to enable people to work out the exact implicature?

Firstly， the purpose of SM language is not definite， i.e.， the functions of SM language are not clear. Linguists talk about the functions of language in an abstract sense， that is， not in terms of using language to chat， to think， to buy and sell， to read and write， to greet people， etc. Linguists summarize these practical functions of language like following: informative， interpersonal， performative， emotive， phatic， recreational and metalingual (Hu 2001: 10). Halliday proposes a theory of metafunctions of language that is language has ideational， interpersonal， and Textual functions. Ideational function constructs a model of experience and constructs logical relations， interpersonal function enacts social relationships and textual function creates relevance to context (Halliday 1985: VIII). Among them， the first two functions are often mixed up in SM language. For most people， the informative function is predominantly the major role of language.

Secondly， the recipients of SM make their own interpretations based on situational effects and schemata. The first and the second sort of misunderstandings can be somewhat overlapping， for the function of SM language is not clear and people began to interpret messages with their own experience.

Thirdly， how to end SM conversation and when is the right time to end it also bother SM users a lot. No matter how people enjoy SM， writing it is very time consuming. If one wants to end it and the other does not， at least one will be unpleasant.

People tend to use SM more in their daily life rather than face-to-face talk or telephoe. Here are the reasons.

Firstly， SM lacks body language and facial expressions. The communicative use of the visual and tactile modes is often referred to as “nonverbal communication”， especially in academic discussion. In everyday terms， it is the area of “body language” (Crystal 1997: 403). Most people not be aware of the importance of it when they message each other， because they do it subconsciously. The field of non-verbal visual communication， kinesics， can be broken down into several components: facial expression， eye contact， gesture， and body posture. Each component performs a variety of functions. Movements of the face and body can give clues to a person’s personality and emotional state.

Besides， compared with traditional conversation， SM lacks proper stress and intonation. Stress refers to the degree of force used in producing a syllable. In transcription， a raised vertical like [ ′] is used just before the syllable it relates to. A basic distinction is made between stressed and unstressed syllables， the former being more prominent than the latter usually due to an increase in loudness， length or pitch. This means that stress is a relative notion. (Hu 2001:71) At the word level， it only applies to words with at least two syllables.

Intonation， and other important features of language， performs a variety of different functions. (Crystal 1992: 173) The most obvious function is to express a wide range of attitudinal meanings---excitement， boredom， surprise， friendliness， reserve， and many hundreds more. Intonation conveys a great deal about what is referred to as the “information structure” of the utterance. Intonation can help to organize language units that are more easily perceived and memorized.

In conclusion， Mobile-based SM is not bad itself. If we use it appropriately， it makes our life better.

References：

[1]Crystal， David. The Cambridge Encylopaedia of language. Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress， 1992

[2]Grice， H. P. Logic and conversation. In P.ColeJ.L.Morgan(eds) Speech acts. New York: Academic Press， 1975

[3]Halliday. M.A.K. An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Edward Arnold， 1985

[4]Hu， Zhuanglin. Linguistics.A couse book. Beijing: Beijing University Press， 2001