INFERENTIAL MODEL OF COMMUNICATION

Grice laid the foundations for an inferential model of communication, an alternative to the classical code model. According to the code model, a communicator encodes her intended message into a signal, which is decoded by the audience. According to the inferential model, a communicator provides evidence of her intention to convey a certain meaning, which is inferred by the audience on the basis of the evidence provided.

In Inferential model, Communication can be achieved without a code by individuals who can infer each other’s intentions. In inferential communication the communicator seeks to fulfill the intention by making it manifest to the hearer, the hearer recognize the one, which influences him.

Example:• Mary is angry with Peter and she doesn’t want to �

talk to him. When he tries to engage her in conversation, she might:

• 1. stare ostentatiously at the ceiling.• 2. open a newspaper and start to read it.• 3. look angrily at Peter and clamp her mouth shut.• 4. look angrily at Peter, put a finger to her lips and

whisper `Shh`.• 5. say `I won’t talk to you`.• * What do Mary’s actions communicate to Peter?

• Some of human communication can be achieved without any code.

• Language is a code, which vastly increases the possibilities of human communication.

• But in inferential model of communication, the communicator’s actions provide clues to the meaning, which the hearer must infer. The communicator’s behavior is treated as a piece of evidence about the intentions.