Literary Quranic Researches

Literary Quranic Researches

Communicative Implicature in Surah Hūd Based on Paul Grice’s Theory

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Ali Asvadi 1
Afsaneh Kosari Jafarabad 2
Ahmad Jafary 3
1 Associate Professor, Department of Arabic Language and Literature, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
2 PhD student in Arabic Language and Literature - Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
3 PhD Candidate in Persian Language and Literature, Kharazmi University, Tehran
10.22034/paq.2025.2067984.4043
Abstract
Applied linguistics, as an interdisciplinary field, investigates linguistic elements and textual structures in order to deepen understanding of meaning construction and to uncover implicit and context-dependent meanings. Within the Qur’anic worldview, humanity is inherently dialogic, as Almighty God consistently employs dialogue to communicate truths and human interests. Through prophetic interactions, dialogue is established as the most effective means of idea transmission, conflict resolution, and consensus building. Herbert Paul Grice, the analytic philosopher of language, reflects this dialogic orientation in his formulation of the Cooperative Principle governing conversation, speech acts, and implicature. For Grice, conversation is a purposeful, rational, and cooperative activity governed by four maxims: Quantity, Quality, Relation, and Manner. Contextually motivated and intentional flouting of these maxims gives rise to conversational implicatures. The present study adopts a descriptive-analytical approach to examine selected dialogues in Surah Hūd (ayahs 30–116) through the framework of Grice’s Cooperative Principle. The findings indicate frequent floutings of all four maxims across the analyzed ayahs. In Prophet Noah’s (AS) dialogues with his people, violations of the maxims of Manner, Relation, and Quantity occur at equal rates, whereas violations of the maxim of Quality are least frequent. These pragmatic deviations function not as communicative failures but as strategic rhetorical devices that activate the audience’s rational expectations, generate rich implicatures, reinforce monotheistic urgency, expose obstinacy, and emphasize divine justice. The study thus demonstrates that the Qur’anic discourse skillfully employs maxim flouting in alignment with universal pragmatic principles, affirming dialogue as the optimal medium for conveying transcendent truth.
Keywords
applied linguistics
Grice's cooperative principle
communicative implicature
Surah Hūd

Subjects

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