A Critical Analysis of the Language of Beggars in Islamabad with reference to Gricean Maxims: A Case Study

Abstract

The focus of this study is to analyze the extent to which the maxim of quality, quantity, manner and relation are violated by the selected beggars in the capital city of Pakistan, Islamabad. In addition, it seeks to find that which Grice’s maxim is more frequently violated by these selected beggars in their conversations. The reason for selecting beggars’ discourse is that, as we all know that beggars are very much known for their use of language to persuade and manipulate people through their language, and there is a great chance that they repeatedly violate the conversational maxims. Therefore, it is noteworthy to take a close look at conversational exchanges in beggars’ discourse. The findings of this study indicate that in five occasions the selected beggars violated the maxim of quantity. Based on the findings of the study, it can be concluded that although cooperative principle describes the best in communication in order to facilitate the process of conversation to be smarter for both the listener and speaker. People frequently disobey these maxims in order to achieve certain purposes. The frequent violation of maxim of quantity by the selected beggars shows that beggars mostly exaggerate the information and sometimes provide less information in order to portray their poor condition. They often hide the actual information in their utterances to let their language speak for their poor condition.