2. Example: Mary’s brother bought three horses
A presupposition is something the speaker
assumes to be the case prior to making an
utterance.
-
Person called Marry exist and she has a brother
Mary has only one brother and that he has a lot of money
An entailment is something that logically follows
from what is asserted in the utterance.
-
Mary’s brother bought something
Bought three animals
Bought two horses
Bought one horse
And many
3. Presupposition
Presupposition is treated as a relation between two
presupposition.
a.
b.
c.
Mary's dog is cute (=p)
Mary has a dog
(=q)
p>>q
“ p make presupposition if Mary has a dog (q)”
When we produce the opposite of the sentence by negating,
we find that the relationship of presupposition doesn’t
change. It called constancy under negation.
a.
Mary's dog isn’t cute
(= not p)
Mary has a dog
(=q)
not p>>q
“although p is negating (=not p) but it still true and make presupposition
if Mary has a dog (q)”
b.
c.
5. The X >> X exists
Your car >> you have a car
The king of Sweden >> Sweden has a king
6. The presupposed information following a verb like
realize, regret, aware, knows, odd, glad.
She didn’t realize he was ill.
(>> he was ill)
We regret telling him.
(>>we told him)
I wasn’t aware that she was married (>>she was
married).
Everybody knows that John is gay. (>>john is gay)
7. The use of one form with its asserted meaning is
conventionally interpreted with the presupposition
that another meaning is understood.
The lexical items: stop, start, again.
He stopped smoking.
(>> he used to smoke)
They started complaining. (>> they weren’t
complaining before)
She’s cried again.
(>>she has cried before)
8. Sentence structure is already assumed to be
true. For example when, where, why, how.
When did he died?
(>>he died)
Where did you buy the bike? (>>you bought the bike)
Why did she cry last night? (>>she cried last night)
How fast the car going when it ran the red light?
(>>the car ran the red light)
9. One that is assumed not to be true. Verb like
dream, imagine, pretend.
He pretended to be happy. (>> he wasn’t happy)
I imagined I have an island. (>> I have not an island)
We dreamed that we were power ranger. (>> we
weren’t power ranger)
10. Meaning that what is presupposed is not only not
true, but is the opposite of what is true or contrary
to facts. Presuppose that the information in the if –
clause is not true at that time.
If you were my brother, you wouldn’t loneliness at
your home.
(>>you are not my brother)
If he wasn’t my best friend, I would hit you.
(>>he is my best friend)
11. When we combine two utterance (types presupposition), it
can’t survive to become the meaning of some complex
sentences. It is known as projection problem
Factive
Non-factive
: Nobody realized that Kelly was ill
: I imagined that Kelly was ill
a. Nobody realized that Kelly was ill
b. Kelly was ill
c. p>>q
d. I imagined that Kelly was ill
e. Kelly was not ill
f. r >> NOT q
(= p)
(= q)
(= r)
(= NOT q)
(which is the opposite of B)
I imagined that Kelly was ill and nobody realized that she was ill
(= r & p>>not q)
q can no longer be assumed to be true
12. Presupposition don’t ‘project’ is that they are destroyed by
entailments.
Entailment is something that necessarily follows from
what is asserted. The entailment is simply more powerful
than the presupposition.
I imagined that Kelly was ill and nobody realized that she
was ill
(You have a presupposition q and an entailment not q)
13. Background entailment : logical concept of entailment
Rover chased three squirrels
a. Something chased three squirrels
b. Rover did something to three squirrels
c. Rover chased three of something
d. Something happened
p II- q
(= p)
(= q)
(= r)
(= s)
(= t)
14. The Foreground Entailments : The speaker can
communicate - usually by means of stress – more important for
interpreting intended meaning than any others.
Rover chased THREE squirrels
Rover chased a certain number of squirrels
ROVER chased three squirrels
The focus shift to Rover and the main assumption is that something
chased three squirrels
