Presupposition Projection.

The study of how presuppositions project is the study of if/when/how the presuppositions of complex sentences are inherited from presuppositions of their parts.

[IP ………….[XP… presupposition trigger…]]

You have actually already seen two cases of presupposition projection, though we did not describe them as such at that point. What are they?

Presuppositions project out of questions:

14. Did Chris realize that gombats futter bravely?=>Gombats futter bravely

And out of embedding by negation:

15. Chris did not realize that gombats futter bravely

=>Gombats futter bravely

16. Is the King of France bald?17. The King of France is not bald.

18. It has been 5 years since his cat died=>His cat died

19. Has it been 5 years since his cat died=>His cat died

20. It has not been 5 years since his cat died.=>His cat died

Questions and Negation are what Karttunen 1973 calls “holes”: operators that permit presuppositions to “slip through”.If Op, is an operator, and φ a meaning that Op can operate on, then Op is a hole iff Op(φ) has all the presuppositions that φ has.(Holes provide a necessary, though not sufficient test for presuppositions)

Another famous hole is the antecedent of conditionals:

21. If Chris realizes that gombats futter bravely, then we will all be happy

=> gombats futter bravely

22. If the King of France is bald, he will not have much use for a hairbrush

=>There is a King of France

23. If it has been 5 years since his cat died, he will not be in mourning anymore

=>His cat died

Then there are “plugs”: operators that do not let presuppositions through:e.g. verbs of saying and non-factive attitude verbs.

24. John believes that the King of France is bald25. John reported that the King of France is bald26. According to John, the King of France is bald

27. John believes that it has been 5 years since Bill died28. John reported that it has been 5 years since Bill died29. According to John, it has been 5 years since Bill died

• And then there are “filters”, which show a mixed behavior of holes and plugs.

One famous case is the consequent of a conditional. (we already saw that the antecedent is a hole)

30. If he is smart, he will quit smoking when the baby is born

=> he smokes

31. If there are hairs all over the floor at Versailles, then the King of France is bald

=> There is a King of France

32. If he is not in mourning anymore, then it will be more 5 years since his cat died

=> his cat died

33. If the serniki are good, Damian’s wife is a good cook

=> Damian has a wife

So so far this behavior is that of .. …holes

But now look at these:

34. If he smokes, he will quit smoking when the baby is borndoes not presuppose he smokes

35. If France has a King, then the King of France is balddoes not presuppose there is a King of France

36. If he ever had a cat, it is more than 5 years since the cat died does not presuppose the cat died

37. If Damian has a wife, Damian’s wife is a good cookdoes not presuppose Damian has a wife

What have I done?

The consequent of a conditional is a hole, unless the antecedent entails the presupposition. Then the consequent behaves like a plug.

if φ, ψp presupposes p, unless…

… φ entails p

This is why Karttunen called the consequent of a conditional a “filter”.

Another famous filter is conjunction:

38. He will jog and he will quit smoking next week=> he smokes

39. The Queen of England is grey-haired and the King of France is bald

=> there is a King of France

40. His bike broke down and it has been 3 months since his car broke down

=> his car broke down

41. The serniki are good and Damian’s wife is a good cook.=> Damian has a wife

42. France has a King and the King of France is balddoes not presuppose: there is a King of France

43. His car broke down and it has been 3 weeks since then

does not presuppose: his car broke down

44. Damian has a wife and Damian’s wife is a good cookdoes not presuppose: Damian has a wife

This demonstrates plug behavior

So conjunction is a filter:

φ and ψp presupposes p, unless…

… φ entails p

Fun with Presuppositions:3 cases

Heim 1991: Maximize Presupposition!

1a. #A sun is shining b. The sun is shining

2a. #All of John’s eyes are open b. Both of John’s eyes are open

3a. #John thinks that Paris is in France b. John knows that Paris is in France

Case I

some version:

• S1 and S2 make the same assertion• The presuppositions of both S1 and S2 are

satisfied• S2 makes a stronger presupposition than S1• S2 is preferred

some non-obvious applications

Pronouns are presupposition triggers.“I” presupposes that its reference is the speaker“you” presupposes that its reference is the hearer“she” no presuppositions wrt participant in the discourse

Why can’t I say about myself:

4. She had a great time in St Petersburg

What is violated?

Maximize Presupposition! It requires that (5) be preferred if the intended denotation of the subject is the speaker

5. I had a great time in St Petersburg

And (4) can only be used if the intended denotation is not the speaker.

Case II

NPIs are licensed in Downward Entailing Environments:

6. Noone has eaten vegetables =>7. None has eaten broccoli

8. Everybody has eaten vegetables=/=>9. Everybody has eaten broccoli

10a. Nobody has eaten anything b. Nobody has ever been to Mars

11a. *Everybody has eaten anything b. *Everybody has ever been to Mars

12a. Only John has eaten anything b. Only John has ever been to Mars

So: the VP in a sentence with only should be DE.

Is it?

13. Only John has eaten vegetables=/=>14. Only John has eaten broccoli

von Fintel: Strawson DE

• “.. define a notion of entailment that will only check whether an inference is truth-preserving under the assumption that all the conventional implicatures and presuppositions of premises and conclusions are satisfied” (von Fintel 1999:6).

15. Only John has eaten broccoli

Presupposes:16. John has eaten broccoli

Asserts:17. Nobody other than John has eaten broccoli

18. Only John has eaten vegetables+19. John has eaten broccoli=> 20. Only John has eaten broccoli

21. It’s been 5 years since I met anybody that I liked

Is it DE?

22. It’s been 5 years since I ate dessert=/=>23. It’s been 5 years since I ate baklava

not DE!

But it is Strawson DE!

24. It’s been five years since I had dessert.+25. Five years ago I had baklava.

=>26. It’s been five years since I had baklava.