Relevance Theory
Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30
CORE DEFINITION
The core principle of human communication is optimal relevance: the hearer always assumes that the speaker's utterance is most relevant to the current context, and accordingly uses minimal cognitive effort to infer the greatest contextual effect.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
The inference machine for implicatures. If the boss suddenly says "The weather is nice today," according to relevance theory, he is definitely not reporting the weather, but hinting at his mood, easing the atmosphere, or changing the subject. Communication is a puzzle game of finding "relevance."
Anchor fast decisions
The hearer follows the principle of "optimal relevance": defaulting to the assumption that the speaker's utterance is most relevant to the current context, and accordingly obtains the greatest contextual effect with minimal cognitive effort. Understanding is the process of finding the optimal relevance between utterance and context, and deriving the implicature.
MINIMUM ACTION
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relevance_theoryverified
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