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“Speakers usually design “Speakers usually design their linguistic messages on the basis of assumptions of what their hearers already know” PRESUPPOSITION AND AND ENTAILMENT By: Dr. ShadiaY. Banjar http://www.kau.edu.sa/SBANJER http://wwwdrshadiabanjar.blogspot.com Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 1

Presupposition and Entailment by Dr. Shadia

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Page 1: Presupposition and Entailment by Dr. Shadia

“Speakers usually design“Speakers usually design

their linguistic messages on

the basis of assumptions of

what their hearers already

know”

PRESUPPOSITION

AND AND

ENTAILMENT

By:

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar

http://www.kau.edu.sa/SBANJER

http://wwwdrshadiabanjar.blogspot.com

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 1

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• Pragmatics is the study

of deixis, implicature,

presupposition, speech

acts, and aspects of

discourse structure. discourse structure.

(Levinson, 1983)

Stephen C. Levinson

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 2

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Presuppositions

and

entailments entailments

Two aspects of what is

communicated but not said

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 3

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Presupposition

A is something the speaker assumes to be the assumes to be the case prior to make an utterance.

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 4

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•Speakers, not sentences,

have presuppositions, have presuppositions,

symbolized as >> .

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 5

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Presupposition

• if someone tells you:

EXAMPLE:

• if someone tells you:

1. “ your brother is waiting outside for you”,

• there is an obvious supposition that you

have a brother.

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The notion of presupposition is generally traced

back to German mathematician, logician and

philosopher, Gottlob Frege (1848-1925), who

2) a. Kepler died in misery

b. Kepler did not die in misery.

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar

philosopher, Gottlob Frege (1848-1925), who

noted in Frege (1952) that both (2a) and (2b)

presuppose that

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English philosopher, Bertrand Russell (1872 – 1970)

argued against this view in Russell (1905). He was

concerned with the fact that (3) is meaningful, whether

or not there actually is a King of France.

3) The King of France is wise.

He proposed that this involves three assertions.

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar

He proposed that this involves three assertions.

There exists an x such that

a) x is a King of France

b) there is no other entity that is a King of France

c) x is wise

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presupposition triggers

• In any language, there are some

expressions or constructions

which can act as the sources of which can act as the sources of

presuppositions. This kind of

expressions or constructions is

called .

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Examples with presupposition triggers

(1) Definitive descriptions• John saw the man with two heads >> There exists a man with two heads.

(2) Factive verbs• John realized that he was in debt >> John was in debt.

(3) Change of state verbs• Joan began to beat her husband >> Joan hadn’t been beating her husband.

(4) Iterative• The flying saucer came again >> The flying saucer came before.• The flying saucer came again >> The flying saucer came before.

(5) Temporal clauses• while Chomsky was revolutionizing linguistics, the rest of social science asleep

>> Chomsky was revolutionizing linguistics.

(6) Cleft sentences• It was Henry who killed Rose >> Someone killed Rose.

(7) Comparisons and contrasts• Carol is a better linguist than Barbara >> Barbara is a linguist.

• The negative form of the above sentences has the same presupposition.

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Mary’s cat is cute. (p)

Mary has a cat. (q)

The relationship between two propositions:

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar

p >>q = p presupposes q

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Mary’s cat isn’t cute. (NOT p)

If the speaker denies the

proposition p (NOT p), the

presupposition q doesn’t

change.

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar

Mary’s cat isn’t cute. (NOT p)

Mary has a cat. (q)

Not p >>q = Not p presupposes q

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Presuppositions are associated with the use

of a large number of

Types of Presupposition

These linguistic forms are considered as

indicators of potential presupposition,

which can only become actual

presupposition in contexts with speakers.

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1- Existential presupposition:

Entities named by the speaker

and assumed to be present

- noun phrase.

- possessive constructions.

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noun phrase :

"The Cold War has ended"

presupposes that the

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 15

presupposes that the

existence of the entities

it refers to, in this case

the "Cold War".

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we can presuppose

possessive constructions :

“Tony’s car is new”

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 16

we can presuppose

that Tony exists and

that he has a car.

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identified by the presence of some verbs such as "know“, "realize“,

“be glad”, “be sorry”, etc.

2- Factive presupposition:

(>> He was ill)She didn’t realize he was ill.

We regret telling him. (>> We told him)

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I wasn’t aware that she was married. (>> She was married)

It isn’t odd that he left early.

I’m glad that it’s over.

(>> He left early)

(>> It’s over)

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In using one word, the speaker can act as if another

meaning will be understood. For instance:

Mary stopped running. (>>She used to run.)

3- Lexical presupposition:

Mary stopped running. (>>She used to run.)

You are late again. (>> You were late before.)

Are you still such a bad driver? (>> You were a bad driver)

"stop“, "again“ “still” are taken to presuppose another

( ) concept.

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it is the assumption associated with the use of certain

structures.

- wh-question constructions.

When did she travel to the USA? ( >> she travelled)

Where did you buy the book? (>> you bought the book)

4- Structural presupposition:

Where did you buy the book? (>> you bought the book)

The listener perceives that the information presented is

necessarily true, or intended as true by the speaker..

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it is an assumption referred to something

that is not true.

For example, verbs like "dream", "imagine"

and "pretend" are used with the

presupposition that what follows is not true.

5- Non- factive presupposition:

presupposition that what follows is not true.

I dreamed that I was rich.

(>> I was not rich)

We imagined that we were in London.

(>> We were not in London)

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it is the assumption that what is presupposed is not only

untrue, but is the opposite of what is true, or contrary to

facts.

6- Counterfactual presupposition:

If you were my daughter, I would not allow you to do this.

( >> you are not my daughter)

If I were rich I would buy a Ferrari.

(>> I’m not rich)

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Entailment is not a pragmatic

concept.

It is defined as what logically follows

from what is asserted in the

utterance, symbolized by II-.

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar

utterance, symbolized by II-.

Sentences, not speakers, have

entailments.

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Speakers have presuppositions while

sentences have entailments.

Susan’s sister bought two houses.

This sentence presupposes that Susan exists and that

EXAMPLE:

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar

This sentence presupposes that Susan exists and that

she has a sister.

This sentence has the entailments that Susan’s sister

bought something; a house, and other similar logical

consequences, now she has 2 houses. The entailments

are communicated without being said and are not

dependent on the speaker’s intention.23

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1) a. The King of France is bald.

b. There is a King of France.

c. The King of France is not bald.

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar

If X entails Y, the negative counterpart of X does not

entail Y. (2a) entails (2b), but (2c) does not.

2) a. The President of Polvenia is a bachelor.

b. The President of Polvenia is unmarried.

c. The President of Polvenia is not a bachelor.

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ENTAILMENTS

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1)Rover chased three squirrels.

a) Something chased three squirrels.

Ordered Entailments

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar

a) Something chased three squirrels.

b) Rover did something to three squirrels.

c) Rover chased of something.

d)Something happened.

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The speaker will necessarily produce a

very large number of background

entailments, but the speaker will indicate

how these entailments are to be ordered.

How?

by stress

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar

by using special structures

So

The hearer will understand which entailment is

assumed to be more important for interpreting

intended meaning.

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BOB ate three sandwiches.

Bob ATE three sandwiches.

Bob ate THREE sandwiches.

THE FOREGROUND ENTAILMENT

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar

Bob ate THREE sandwiches.

Bob ate three SANDWICHES.

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a) It was that did the work.

b) It wasn’t who took your jacket.

It-cleft construction/cleft sentences

�Cleft sentences are used to help us focus on a

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�Cleft sentences are used to help us focus on a

particular part of the sentence and to

emphasise what we want to say … Because

there are two parts … they are called cleft

(from the verb cleave) which means divided

into two.

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• Cleft sentences are particularly useful in

writing where we cannot use intonation

for purposes of focus or emphasis, but

they are also frequently used in speech.

• Cleft structures include the reason why,

the thing that, the person/people who,

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar

the thing that, the person/people who,

the place where, the day when and

what-clauses which are usually linked to

the clause that we want to focus on

with is or was. • From: BBC World service

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Presuppositions vs. entailments

Presuppositions are different from entailments:1) She hasn’t stopped smoking.

Still presupposes

She used to smoke.2) My dog didn’t eat my bag.

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar

2) My dog didn’t eat my bag.Still presupposes

I have a dog, and I (still, it seems) have a bag.while

The emperor wasn’t assassinated.Does not entail any more

XXXXXX 1)Someone was assassinated.XXXXXX2)The emperor died.

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