The present study is a pragmatic analysis of Jordanian jokes within the framework of Grice’s conversational implicature. The study aims at identifying the violation of Grice’s Maxims that occur in Jordanian jokes, knowing the implied meaning of the violated Gricean Maxims in these jokes, and recognising the factors that influence the interpretation of these jokes. The sample of the study consists of 6 jokes elicited from WhatsApp and Facebook. The researcher categorised the data based on their type of violation by applying Grice’s theory. Then, he analysed the implied meaning by using the theory of conversational implicature which was proposed by Grice. The findings of the study revealed that Jordanians violate the maxims to create laughter and to communicate social and economic meanings. Jordanians use humour created by the violation of the maxims to soften criticism or satire. In addition, the study showed that cultural and background knowledge plays a significant role in interpreting these jokes.
Keywords: Grice’s Maxims, Implicature, Pragmatics, humour, jokes
