Language Game and the Role of Suggestion(Vyańgya) Therein

Study of non-literal meaning in language usage has been done in various streams of knowledge – both contemporary and traditional. Traditionally, Indian śāstra-s such as Vyākaraṇa (grammar), Alaṅkāraśāstra (poetics), Nyāya (logic) and Mīmāṁsā have focussed on language in its various aspects. Dhvani theory, the path-breaking work of Ānandavardhana (10th cent.CE) in Alaṅkāraśāstra argues for the excellence of poetry hinging upon the meaning suggested (via dhvani/vyañjanā) rather than the meaning explicit. While Ānandavardhana’s work expounds the notion of the poetic vyañjanā (=dhvani), this theory of dhvani and all the auxiliary notions discussed in this field itself have been applied only to the realm of kāvya. On the other hand, contemporary areas such as cognitive linguistics and pragmatics have focussed on the study of everyday language usage for understanding how non-literal meaning, termed variously as conversational implicature, implied/suggested meaning/sense. However, the self-imposed pre-conditions (such as the principle of cooperation) on various analyses constrains exploration to but a fraction of the spectrum of non-literal usages. The present study focuses on the intersection of the two approaches: by studying a non-specialised form of traditionally defined dhvani viz. vyañjanā that is in action in three sets of data viz. proverbs, maxims and humour using contemporary tools and methods, in currency in cognitive linguistics. The study also proposes a model for vyañjanā and suggests how it can be used as a less-rigid framework for understanding the wider spectrum of usages that can come under the overarching head of “non-literal meaning”