PRESUPPOSITION

Whatthesyllabussaysabouttheexam:Finalexam/Researchpaper.Atake-homefinalexam(postedonthecoursewebsite),consBtuBng80%ofthefinalgrade.AllstudentshavetheopBonofsubsBtuBnga3000-to4500-worddouble-spacedresearchpaper(onanyrelevanttopic,approvedinadvance)forthefinalexam.Finalexams/papersaredueWednesday,August2ndat3:00p.m.andaretobeuploadedtothecoursewebsite.

We’llmaketheexamavailableonCanvasimmediatelyaOerFriday’sclass.

FIRST: A BIT OF BUSINESS

•  AbboP(2016)disBnguishestwotypesofuniqueness:•  seman&cuniqueness(wherethere’s“atmostonething…intherelevantcontextorsituaBonwhichmatchesthatdescripBvecontent”)

•  referen&aluniqueness(where“thespeakerintendstouseittorefertosomeparBcularenBty,and(crucially)expectstheaddresseetobeabletoidenBfythatveryintendedreferent”)

FINISHING UP DEFINITENESS

•  WhereasRussellianuniquenessisinherentlysemanBc,AbboP’stypesofuniquenessaren’tsostraighWorward:

•  seman&cuniqueness(wherethere’s“atmostonething…intherelevantcontextorsituaBonwhichmatchesthatdescripBvecontent”)Ø ThisbuildsabitofpragmaBcsintoanotherwiseRussellianaccount.

•  referen&aluniqueness(where“thespeakerintendstouseittorefertosomeparBcularenBty”andexpectsthehearertoidenBfyit)Ø ThisispurelypragmaBc.

FINISHING UP DEFINITENESS

•  ShearguesthatreferenBaluniquenessisthestrongestcontender•  …butacknowledgesthatthereareproblemswithanysinglecriterion.

DEFINITENESS

•  ProblemswithreferenBaluniqueness:•  ItstruggleswiththesameexamplesasRussellianuniquenessØ thesalt,thewindow,theelevator[whichfamiliaritycanhandle]Ø thehospital,thetrain,themountains[whichitcan’t]

•  Andwe’rebacktothethornyissueof‘idenBty’

DEFINITENESS

•  Sothecontroversyrageson.•  Solvedefiniteness,andyouwinatlife.YouwillbetheGrandMasterofAllThingsLinguisBc.FuturegeneraBonsofnon-naBveEnglishLanguageLearnerswillbowdownatyourfeetandpayhomage.

DEFINITENESS

•  TheanalysisofdefinitenessiscrucialtotheanalysisofpresupposiBon.

•  Sincewehaven’tsolveddefiniteness,wealreadyknowwewon’tsolvepresupposiBon.

•  Butfirst,whatispresupposiBon?

DEFINITENESS AND PRESUPPOSITION

PRESUPPOSITION

•  Obviousfact:SpeakersconstantlymakeassumpBonsaboutwhatinformaBontheyandtheirhearersshare.

•  ThisisthebasisforallofpragmaBcs–deixis,anaphora,implicature,etc.•  WhenanassumpBonaboutsharedinformaBonisencodedintheuPerance,it’scalledapresupposi&on.

EXAMPLES

•  Ihavetogohomeandwalkthedog.àIhaveadog.

•  Haveyoustoppedsmoking?àYouusedtosmoke.

•  IregretthatIbrokethevase.àIbrokethevase.

A FEW PRESUPPOSITION TRIGGERS •  DefiniteNPs:

Didyouseethebrokenheadlight?•  FacBveverbs:

Iregret[know,realize,etc.]thatIbrokethevase.•  Change-of-stateverbs:

Theicemelted.•  CleOconstrucBons:

WhatkilledSmithwasapoisonedporkchop.

TEST FOR PRESUPPOSITION: CONSTANCY UNDER NEGATION

•  Idon’thavetogohomeandwalkthedog.àIhaveadog.

•  Haven’tyoustoppedsmoking?àYouusedtosmoke.

•  Idon’tregretthatIbrokethevase.àIbrokethevase.

TEST FOR PRESUPPOSITION VS. TEST FOR ENTAILMENT

•  Forentailment:Negatethedisputedpieceofmeaning;thewholethingbecomesfalse.IvotedforSmithàIvoted.IdidnotvoteàIdidnotvoteforSmith.

•  ForpresupposiBon:Negatethewholething;thedisputedpieceofmeaningremainstrue.IregretthatIvotedforSmith.àIvotedforSmith.IdonotregretthatIvotedforSmith.àIvotedforSmith.

TEST FOR PRESUPPOSITION VS. TEST FOR ENTAILMENT

•  TheseteststreatpresupposiBonasasemanBcphenomenon,sincetheyarebasedontruth-condiBons.

TEST FOR PRESUPPOSITION VS. TEST FOR ENTAILMENT

•  SowhathappensifyoutrytheentailmenttestonapresupposiBon?a.TheKingofFranceisbaldpresupposesb.ThereisaKingofFrance

•  Whathappenstothetruthof(a)if(b)isfalse?•  Thisturnsouttobecontroversial.

RUSSELL’S VIEW

•  We’vealreadyseenthatforRussell,TheKingofFranceisbaldmeans,semanBcally,‘thereisoneandonlyoneKingofFranceandheisbald’: ∃x((K(x)˄∀y(K(y)→y=x))˄B(x))

•  SoforRussell:1. PresupposiBonissemanBc.2. PresupposiBonsareentailed.3. IfthepresupposiBonisfalse,theenBresentenceisfalse.

RUSSELL’S VIEW – TINY WRINKLE

•  Unfortunately,(a)and(b)bothpresuppose(c)…a.TheKingofFranceisbald. b.TheKingofFranceisnotbald. c.ThereisaKingofFrance.

•  …soforRussell,thefalsityof(c)entailsthatboth(a)and(b)arefalse…

•  …whichinturn(vianegaBon’smeaning)meansboth(d)and(e)aretrue:

d.TheKingofFranceisnotbald. e.TheKingofFranceisbald.

STRAWSON’S VIEW

•  Strawsongetsaroundtheproblembysayingthatifthere’snoKingofFrance,TheKingofFranceisbaldlacksatruth-value.

•  SoforStrawson:1. PresupposiBonissemanBc.2. IfthepresupposiBonisfalse,theenBresentenceisneithertruenorfalse.

3. “ThequesBonofwhetheritistrueorfalsesimplydoesn’tarise.”

STRAWSON’S VIEW – TINY WRINKLE

•  ThisrequiresthatweabandonabivalentsemanBcs–thatis,onethathasonlytwotruth-values(trueandfalse).

•  Instead,weneedtoallowforathirdopBonthatallowsasentencetobeneithertruenorfalse.

•  Thisgreatlycomplicatesatruth-condiBonalsemanBcs(i.e.,oneinwhichsemanBcmeaningisthatwhichaffectsthetruthofasentence).

AN ALTERNATIVE: PERHAPS PRESUPPOSITION IS PRAGMATIC

•  Inthisview,afalsepresupposiBonrendersthelargersentencecontextuallyinappropriate.

•  Advantages:1. WecankeepabivalentsemanBcs.2. WeavoidthedirectcontradicBonRussellrunsinto.3. MakesintuiBvesense:Ifthere’snoKingofFrance,whyoneartharewediscussingwhetherheisbald?

EVIDENCE FOR PRAGMATIC PRESUPPOSITION

•  VariaBoninthestrengthofpresupposiBons:TheKingofFranceisbald.[true?false?noneoftheabove?]ClarahadlunchwiththeKingofFranceyesterday.[clearlyfalse]

•  PresupposiBonsare(someBmes)defeasible/suspendable:Johnsighedbeforefinishinghissoup./Johndiedbeforefinishinghissoup.TheKingofFranceisn’tbald;thereisnoKingofFrance!TheKingofFrancelivesinParis,ifFrancehasaking.

•  They’recontext-dependent(atonepoint,Francedidhaveaking)

PRAGMATIC PRESUPPOSITION

•  Inthisview,thepresupposiBoniswhat’stakentobecommonground,non-asserted,uncontroversial,mutuallyknown,‘given’,etc.(dependingontheresearcher).

•  ThesenoBonsallinvolvespeakerintentandthusarequintessenBallypragmaBc.

PRAGMATIC PRESUPPOSITION – TINY WRINKLE

•  OOenwhat’spresupposedisn’tcommonground,mutuallyknown,etc…Ihavetogocallmydaughter.[daughterneedn’tbeknown]Itwasin1776thatIgnacyKrasickipublishedthefirstmodernPolishnovel…Weregretthattonight’sperformancewillbegin15minuteslate.

ACCOMMODATION

•  EnterLewis1979andhisnoBonofaccommoda&on.•  LewisarguesthatthecurrentpresupposiBonsinadiscoursedependonearlierpresupposiBonspluswhateverhappensintheconversaBontoupdatethem.

•  Thisismuchlikethescoreinbaseball,whichdependsonthepreviousscorepluswhateverhashappenedinthegamesincethen.

ACCOMMODATION

•  BysayingIhaveadaughter,IcanupdatetheconversaBonal‘score’.•  ButIcanalsoupdateitbysimplypresupposingthatIhaveadaughter:

Ihavetogocallmydaughter.•  ByacBngasthoughmydaughterweremutualknowledge,Icuethehearertoaddmydaughtertothediscoursemodelasmutualknowledge.

•  “ConversaBonalscore[tends]toevolveinsuchawayas…tomakewhateveroccurscountascorrectplay.”

ACCOMMODATION – TINY WRINKLE

•  Whatcan’tbeaccommodated?•  Ifwhatispresupposed=what’sinthecommonground,butwecanpresupposestuffthat’snotinthecommongroundbyaccommodaBngit,andtherearenoconstraintsonwhatwecanaccommodate,thewholenoBonofpresupposiBonbecomesvacuous.

SO WE’RE STUCK

•  ButnoBcethesimilaritybetweenourpresupposiBonproblemandourdefinitenessproblem:

•  Inbothcases,it’shardtocomeupwithasingleworkabledefiniBon•  Inbothcases,semanBcandpragmaBcopBonshavebeenproposed•  Bothcasesinvolvetheissueof(assumed)mutualknowledge•  DefinitenessactsasatriggerforpresupposiBon•  Definitesaresimilarly‘rescued’byaccommodaBon(hugeoverlaphere)

SO WE’RE STUCK

•  Andagain,withdefiniteswerunupagainsttheburningquesBon: Whatcan–andwhatcannot–beaccommodated?

•  Becauseifanythingcanbeaccommodated,anythingcanbedefinite,andthat’sclearlynotthecase: Hi,class.SorryI’mlate;Ihadtofeedthecat. Hi,class.SorryI’mlate;#Ihadtoeatthesandwich.

RESOLVING PRESUPPOSITION

•  Arewegoingtoresolveanyofthis?•  Nope.•  Oh,well.