A Socio-Pragmatics Study: Flouting of Conversational Maxims Found in Bence Traditional Market

The study focuses on the flouting of conversational maxims in one of the traditional markets in Kediri. This study focuses on the types of flouted maxims, and the situations where the flouted maxims cause misunderstanding between the sellers and the buyers in the trade of interaction. This research is conducted by using a descriptive qualitative approach. The data are utterances between sellers and buyers. The theory which the writer used is based on the theory of Cooperative Principles, proposed by Grice (1975), which establishes four maxims, those are the maxim of quality, the maxim of quantity, the maxim of relation and maxim of manner. The data is collected by recording the conversation in the trade transaction. The data is also collected by noting the conversation and transcript it. The finding shows that there are many flouted maxims found in interaction practices between the seller and buyer. The writer‟s analysis show that all kinds of maxims are flouted mostly buy the seller. Those are maxim of quantity, maxima of quality, maxims of relevance and maxim of manner. Thus, it may happen because between the seller and the buyer do not fulfil the rules of cooperative principles. The writer concludes there are some condition which make the participants in the trade interaction have to flout the maxims. Due to the fact that the conversation still run well without any misunderstanding.


Introduction
stated that utterance types matter of preferred interpretations. Getting the message delivered by the speaker is one goal of a conversation. But people do not only need to get the message or understand what others talk about (p.1). The conversation needs the effectiveness and efficiency of delivering the contribution of information. Grundy (2000) said that the conversational maxim is a way to explain the link between the utterances and what understood by the listener (p.71). The message of conversation itself will be successfully delivered if the speaker and the listener can build a cooperation with one to another.
According to (Grice, 1975as cited in Yule, 1996, in order to have success conversation will focus on the cooperative principle. It needs a set of rules. If the speaker says, then the conversation will run smoothly. Further, the rule is defined as the maxim (p.37).
Flouting maxim happens in such a habit to some people when they are involved in the conversation. This case also can be seen in conversations in trade of traditional market. Both sellers and buyers do violate maxims during their conversation which means that they break the cooperative principle. Thomas (1995) stated that violation of the maxim may occur when the speakers disobey the maxim at the level of what is said, with the intention of generating implicature (p.65).
This study chooses Bence traditional market as the object of the analysis. Bence traditional market is located on Kapten Tendean Street, Ngronggo Kota Kediri. It is one of place where so many conversations may happen in the same time. It is because there are many sellers that offer their daily needs every day and also many buyers who come and even do bargain what they need to buy. The conversation that usually happens in the market is mostly by using Indonesia and Java language.
Flouting maxim is being such a habit to some people when they are involved in conversation. This case also can be seen from conversations in Bence traditional market Kediri. Both speakers and buyers do flout maxims during their conversation which means that they do break the cooperative principle.
In this case, the writer tries to analyze what types of flouting maxims and what situations because misunderstanding occur in trade transactions at one of the traditional markets in Kediri named Bence market. The writer chooses this traditional market because it has a very strategic place, where is surrounded by many educational institutions. The trade interaction may come from people which are coming from various cities and region with many different backgrounds of knowledge, culture and education. Thus, many backgrounds factors which may influence the communication practices.

Literature Review
Sociolinguistics Holmes (1992) explains that Sociolinguistics studies the relationship between language and society (p.1). Sociolinguistics is interested in explaining why people speak differently in different social contexts, and it concerns identifying the social functions of language and the ways they are used to convey social meaning. Examining the way people use language in different social contexts provides a wealth of information about the way language works, as well as about the social relationship in a community. Renkema (1993) states that the field of discourse study, which investigates the relationship between form and function in verbal communication, is a branch of pragmatics, the study of using signs. Fraser (1983) explains that the pragmatics should be seen the theory of linguistic communication providing an account of sentence meaning. It concerns with the way in which people use language in context. Leech (1983) states that pragmatics concerns the principles of language use, and meaning in pragmatics is defined relative to a speaker or user of the language. It means that language is only meaningful in its situational context. Levinson (1983) states that pragmatic theory concerns with the inference of presupposition, implicature, and participant"s entire knowledge of the world and a general principle of language usage.

Context of Situation
An utterance does not only relate to the physical context but it also relates to context of situation. Some of utterances will interweave to context of situation that more complex to interpret. There are several factors that involved in speaking according to context of situation.
Hymes (as cited in Wardhaugh, 2006) states that setting and scene, participants, ends, act sequence, key, instrumentalities, norms, and genre as the parts of the context of situation and relevant factors in order to understand the purpose of particular communication. These factors called as SPEAKING model.
Setting refers to the time and place. Meanwhile, scene is psychological setting, such as range of formality (Hymes, 1974). Setting and scene are recognized by the where utterance takes place and the abstract physiological setting that surrounds the conversation or utterance. many occasions when people fail to observe the maxims. Grice (1975) stated that a speaker may flout a maxim when s/he blatantly fail to fulfill it, not with any intention of deceiving or misleading, but because the speaker wishes to prompt the addressee to look for a meaning which is different from, or in addition to, the expressed meaning (p.49). He called this additional meaning as "conversational implicature." Thomas (1995) stated that a flout occurs when a speaker blatantly fails to observe a maxim at the level of what is said, with the deliberate intention of generating an implicature (p.64).

A. Flouting the Maxim of Quantity
When a speaker flouts the maxims under the category of Quantity, s/he blatantly gives either more or less information than the situation demands. For an example of how the maxims flouted, imagine this scenario. A married couple has just had a quarrel. The husband puts on his hat and coat and stomps to the door. The following exchange takes place: (1) Wife : Where are you going?
Husband: Out

B. Flouting the Maxim of Quality
Flouts which exploit the maxims under the category of quality occur when the speaker says something which is blatantly untrue or for which he or she lacks adequate evidence.
Often an individual will try to deflect unwelcome attention by giving an improbable or obviously untrue response. B was a long train journey and wanted to read her book. A was a fellow passenger who wanted to talk to her.
(2) A: What do you do?
B: I"m a teacher.
A: Where do you teach?
A: Sorry I asked.

C. Flouting the Maxim of Relation/Relevant
The maxim of relation (Be Relevant) is exploited by making a response or observation which is very obviously irrelevant to the topic in hand (e.g. by abruptly changing the subject, or by overtly failing to address the other person"s goal in asking a question). Examples of flouting the maxim of relation by changing the subject or by failing to address the topic directly are encountered very frequently, and the example which follows is typical.
(4) A: There is somebody at the door.
B: I'm in the bath.

D. Flouting Maxim of Manner
The maxim under the category of manner is exploited by giving ambiguity and obscure expressions, failure to be brief and orderly. It is often trying to exclude a third party, as in this sort of exchange between husband and wife.
(5) Husband : Where are you off to?
Wife : I was thinking of going out to get some of that funny white stuff for somebody.
Husband : OK, but don"t be longdinner is nearly ready

Method
The writer conducts the observation by using a descriptive qualitative approach.
Further, the theory used is based on the theory of cooperative principle, proposed by Paul Grice (1975), which establishes four maxims, those are the maxim of quality, the maxim of quantity, the maxim of relation/relevance, and the maxim of manner. In this case, the writer wants to observe kinds of flouted maxims which are occurred in trade interaction between the sellers and buyers and also what situations cause the flouted maxims. In order to have the evidence, the writer collects the data in this observation by listening to the conversations in trade transaction using recording/tape. Not only that, the data is also collected by noting the conversation in papers, the writer will transcript and type it in the computer. There are many data which had been collected, but then the writer will choose some data which represent and show how the sellers or the buyers flout maxims.

I. Discussion
After analyzing the data, the writer found the were many maxims which were flouted in the trade interaction between the sellers and the buyers in Bence traditional market in Kediri. Furthermore, the findings revealed the conversations which occurred between the sellers and the buyers were still be able to run smoothly even though there were some maxims which were flouted. In addition, the writer chooses some data which are obtained to be observed. Even though the conversation are choosen, but inside those conversations consist of the analysis and findings, the data are presented in the discussion below.
Context 1: The conversation take place in the trade. It occurred between Seller and Seller; in this case the Seller had some kidding with the Seller in order to make familiarity. Context 2: The conversation takes place in the trade. It occurred between Seller and Seller; in this case the Seller arranged the tomatoes and the seller came and bought ten kilos.
Context 3: The Conversation occurred between the seller and the buyer. In this case the seller had kidding with buyer in order to pursue the buyers to buy his products. (oranges) In this context, there was a situation where the seller and buyer do interactions in the trade. However, the conversation was not effective because there were three flouted maxims.
The first is maxim quality. It happened when the seller telling a lie. He told to the buyer that the oranges were sweets and healthy by saying" fifteen thousand for two kilos, please just taste it. These oranges are really nice, the oranges are well-ripped from the tree" but in the fact, not all the oranges were sweet. The buyer complained that there were the oranges that ripeness. The second is flouted maxim of relevance. It happened when the seller tried to change the topic in the middle of conversation and don"t answer the buyer"s question. It is started when the buyer asked the complained," this is ripeness boss," however the seller  In this context, there were another situation where the seller and the buyer had a conversation in the trade interaction. In this moment, the seller was intentionally flouted the maxim, in order to praise the buyer. The seller hoped that the buyer would come again to buy her product. The flouted maxim was occurred when the buyer said" thank you ma'am,". She said after she bought the product from the seller. The seller answered correctly at the beginning but then the seller added some information which is not really relevance. The seller said," yes miss, you are welcome, what a great selling, it has just been bought by beautiful girl." In this case, the seller flouted the maxim of quantity and relevance. The seller answered too much information. The seller did it because she wants to praise the buyer. It is common in trade interaction in the market. It is like the tradition in traditional market, especially in Java.
There is less information about it because no more responded by the seller, for maxim rational/relevant when buyer gives a question but then the seller also gives question too. For the next maxim is maxim of quantity it happened when seller was talking to the buyer by giving more information of the product but the respond was in the end of conversation was only indicate of agreement such as "yes," by the buyer, because he was choosing the others product. There were situations where the seller and buyer made interaction to bargain each other in the market. In the fifth context, at beginning there was maxim of manner it showed when seller said "Forty seven, come here I will package it sir, come here" then buyer answered "So, how much for 5kilos sir?" in here the statement given by buyer is not necessary yet because the buyer has not already decided whether he wants to buy the chili or not. In the sixth context, there is rational/relevant maxim in three statement at the same time in the beginning, it proven by statement "how much?" "all of this?" "how much?" the respond given by buyer and seller were in question forms and it is not irrelevant. Second maxim is also rational/relevant maxim it showed when buyer said "Yesterday, I have bought four thousand, all of it, right" the seller answered "That is five thousand" it implied that there is irrelevant respond given by seller because statement by buyer refers to the product that he bought yesterday but the seller refers to his product. However, both of them know the meaning of those statements. The next maxim is quantity maxim at the same time flouted by seller. When buyer asked "Do you bring papaya? How much?" then the buyer answered "For papaya is three a half, but it is the California one", that answer is not relevant with the question of the buyer, moreover seller gave additional information about the type of papaya which not necessarily needed by the buyer. It can be seen by the respond of the buyer "Niki mawon, Piro jumlah e?
Context 9: It was occurred between seller and seller; seller wants to buy chili he had some kidding even though he looks likes little bit angry. But seller felt ok for it. In the seventh context, there was maxim of manner. It showed by the statement of buyer who was little bit angry of the seller because she saw the seller decrease the chili in the scale. The buyer said "How do you do son, you always decrease the number, only for three kilos". It is indicated the sarcasm statement by the buyer. In another context, the seller also flouted the maxim of relevance. The buyer said," Is it not perforated right." and the seller answered by," No, it is dead end, it is ok for the rest, so that it runs out soon, the product is the special one." It means that the interaction is lack of quality. It is because of the buyer doesn"t make the topics clear and the seller also answer unclear information. The interaction is lack of evidence.

Context 10: The conversation took place in trade. It occurred between Seller and
Buyer; in this case, the buyer cleans up his stall because the cabbage just came. The buyer chooses the cabbage to get the good and fresh one. In the ninth context, there was a quantity and relevant maxims in a same time. The buyer only answered "16 right?" however the seller asked 2 questions "19 right? how many kilos do you need?". it showed that the buyer only gave less information without completing those 2 questions. Moreover, it also indicated relevant maxim because the buyer did not explain weather the "16" refers to the price or amount. it showed when seller asked "how many kilos do you need?" to the buyer, it indicated that seller agree to the bid of buyer without said it explicitly.

Buyer
Context 12: The conversation occurred between the seller and the buyer. The seller praised the buyer in order to make the buyer bought the products more. In this context, there was another situation where the seller and the buyer having communication in the trade interaction. From the conversation above, there were two maxims which were flouted in the same time. Those maxims are maxim of quantity and maxim of relevance. It was happened when the buyer asked," yea ma'am, are tomatoes still fresh, ma'am," then, the seller answered it too much and add some information which is actually not being asked by the buyer. She said," of course, the tomatoes are fresh as well as the buyer) (smiles). She was flouted the maxim of quantity due to some additional information. She was also flouted maxim of relevance by changing the topic in the middle of the interaction by saying," of course, the tomatoes are fresh as well as the buyer,". Of course, the goal is to make the buyer happy and they will come to buy products at the same places.

Conclusion
In this study, the writer has already done to analyze on how the interaction occurs between the seller and the buyer in interaction at traditional market namely Bence Traditional Market. The finding shows that there are many flouted maxims found in interaction practices between the seller and buyer. The writer"s analysis show that all kinds of maxims are flouted mostly buy the seller. Those are maxim of quantity, maxima of quality, maxims of relevance and maxim of manner. Thus, it may happen because between the seller and the buyer do not fulfil the rules of cooperative principles. As stated by Lavinson (1983) that in order to achieve efficient and effective use of language in conversation to further cooperative end, the speaker and the hearer are suggested to fulfil the cooperative principle in managing their conversation. Event many flouted maxims happened in the market but there were not misunderstanding. The seller also makes some jokes to the buyer, in order to make the situations more comfortable and friendly. The writer finds that Grice"s theory of conversational maxim is very helpful and applicable in this study. The writer concludes there are some condition which make the participants in the trade interaction have to flout the maxims. Due to the fact that the conversation still run well without any misunderstanding.

About the Writer
Mohammad Muhyidin obtained his master"s degree from Islamic University of Malang and is currently a lecturer at the State Institute for Islamic Studies (IAIN) Kediri. He has previously taught at other institutions such as Kadiri Islamic University (UNISKA), University of Kadiri (Unik), and MTsN 2 Kediri. He ha staught various areas of ELT including the language skills (listening, speaking, and writing), English Phonology, English Morphology, and IELTS.