Submitted to Complete Pragmatics Material
Lecturer Faizal Risdianto, S. S, M. Hum
PRESUPPOSITION
AND ENTAILMENT
Presupposition
and entailment describe two different aspects of information that need not be
stated as speakers assume it is already known by listeners [these concepts used
to be much more central to pragmatics than they are now, but they are still
important to understand the relationship between pragmatics and semantics]
Presupposition: something the
speaker assumes to be the case before making an utterance Speakers, not
sentences, have presuppositions!! Not the same meaning as in ordinary usage
(‘John wrote Harry a letter, presupposing he could read’)!!
Entailment: something that
logically follows from what is asserted in the utterance sentences, not
speakers, have entailments.
Example analysis: Mary's brother
bought three horses.
Presuppositions: Mary exists,
Mary has a brother, and Mary has only one brother, Mary's brother is rich.
Speaker’s subjective
presuppositions all can be wrong.
Entailments: Mary's brother
bought something, bought three animals, two horses, one horse etc.
·
TYPES OF PRESUPPOSITION
Linguistic forms (words, phrases, structures) are
indicators (or triggers) of potential presuppositions which can only become
actual presuppositions in contexts with speakers.
A. Existential Presupposition
Speaker is committed to the existence of the
entities named
o
The King of Sweden
o
The cat
o
The girl next door
o
The Counting Crows
o
Your car
B. Factive
Presupposition
Certain verbs/construction indicate that something
is a fact
o
Everybody KNOWS that John is gay (>> John is
gay)
o
She didn't REALIZE he was ill (>> He was ill)
o
We REGRET telling him (>> We told him)
o
I WASN'T AWARE that she was married (>> She
was married)
o
It ISN'T ODD that he left early (>> He left
early)
o
I'M GLAD that it's over (>> It's over)
o
TYPES OF PRESUPPOSITION II
C. Lexical
Presupposition
The use of a form with its asserted meaning is
conventionally interpreted with the presupposition that another, non-asserted,
meaning is understood
o
He MANAGED to repair the clock (>> he tried to
repair the clock)
Asserted
meaning: he succeeded
o
He didn't MANAGE to repair the clock (>> he
tried to repair the clock)
Asserted
meaning: he failed
o
He STOPPED smoking (>> he used to smoke)
They
STARTED complained (>> they weren't complaining before)
o
You're late AGAIN (>> You were late before)
D. Structural
Presupposition
Certain sentence structures conventionally and
regularly presuppose that part of the structure is already assumed to be true
o
Wh-questions: When did he leave? (>> he left)
o
Where did you buy the bike? (>> You bought the
bike)
This type of presupposition can lead listeners to
believe that the information presented is necessarily true, rather than just
the presupposition of the person asking the question.
o
How fast was the car going when it ran the red
light? (>> the car ran the red light)
If the question is answered with some estimate of
the speed the speaker would appear to be accepting the truth of the
presupposition (very popular with lawyers)
E Non-factive
Presupposition
Certain verbs/constructions indicate that something
is not a fact / not true
o
I DREAMED that I was rich (>> I was not rich)
o
We IMAGINED we were in Hawaii (>> We were not
in Hawaii)
o
He PRETENDS to be ill (>> He is not ill)
F. Counterfactual
Presupposition
Structures mean that what is presupposed is not only
true, but is the opposite of what is true, i.e. contrary to facts.
o
If you were my friend, you would have helped me
(>> You are not my friend)
o
If I weren't ill >> I am ill
ORDERED ENTAILMENTS
Generally speaking, entailment is not a pragmatic
(i.e. having to do with speaker meaning), but a purely logical concept.
Rover chased three squirrels (= p)
a. Something chased three squirrels (= q)
b. Rover did something to three squirrels (= r)
c. Rover chased three of something (= s)
d. Something happened (= t)
Relationship of entailment between p and q: p ||- q
a.-d. are examples of background entailments (there
are more) the speaker can communicate - usually by means of stress – the order
of importance of the entailments
Rover chased THREE squirrels
ROVER chased three squirrels
§
Foreground entailment
Cleft-constructions can fulfill the same purpose
It was ROVER that chased the
squirrels
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