Presupposition and-entailment

Presupposition and EntailmentPresupposition and Entailment

Two aspects of what is communicated but not said

Sheet 4, Pragmatics, 2013-2014

11/11/2013 1Samira Bakeer

When a speaker uses referring expressions like this, he or Shakespeare in normal circumstance, she/he is working with an assumption that the hearer knows which referent is intended.

In a more general way, speakers continuously design their linguistic messages on the basis of assumptions about what the hearer already knows. These assumptions may be mistaken of course, but they underlie much of what we say in the every day use of language.

11/11/2013 Samira Bakeer 2

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’)!!


PresuppositionPresupposition

What speaker assumes as true or is known by the hearer, can described as presupposition

For example, if someone tell you “ your brother is waiting outside for you there is an obvious supposition that you have a brother.

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, 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.

entailments follow from the sentence regardless of whether the speaker's beliefs are right or wrong

[Because of its logical nature, entailment is not generally discussed as much in contemporary pragmatics as the

more speaker-dependent notion of presupposition]


Speakers have presuppositions while sentences have entailments.

Example:Susan’s sister bought two houses. This sentence presupposes that Susan exists

and that she has a sister. This sentence has the entailments that Susan’s

sister bought something; now she has 2 houses, a house, and other similar logical consequences. The entailments are communicated without being said and are not dependent on the speaker’s intention.


Presupposition is what the speaker assumes to be the case prior to making an utterance. Entailment, which is not a pragmatic concept, is what logically follows from what is asserted in the utterance.


Constancy under negation:

One of the tests used to check for the presuppositions underlying sentences involves negating a sentence with a particular presupposition and considering whether the presupposition remains true

The presupposition of a statement will remain true even when that statement is negated.


When I say that Debora’ s cat is cute, this sentence presupposes that Debora has a cat. In

Debora’ s cat is not cute. (NOT p) the same thing holds true, that is, it

presupposes that she has a cat. This property of presupposition is generally described as constancy under negation. Basically, it means that the presupposition of a statement will remain constant (i.e. still true) even when that statement is negated.


the constancy under negationthe constancy under negation

Take the sentence My car is a wreck. Now take the negative version of this sentence: My car is not a wreck. Notice that, although these two sentences have opposite meanings, the underlying presupposition, I have a car, remains true in both. This is called the constancy under negation test for presupposition. If someone says I want to do it again and I don't want to do it again both presuppose that the subject has done it already one or more times, the presupposition (do again) remains constant even though the verb want changes from being affirmative to being negative.


PresuppositionPresupposition::

Other examples of constancy under negation:p: Dave is angry because Jim crashed the car.q: Jim crashed the carp >> qNOT p: Dave isn’t angry because Jim crashed

the carq: Jim crashed the carNOT p >> q


p: Mr. Singleton has resumed his habit of drinking apple juice

q: Mr. Singleton had a habit of drinking stout.p >> q

NOT p: Mr. Singleton hasn’t resumed his habit of drinking apple juice

q: Mr. Singleton had a habit of drinking stout.NOT p >> q


Types of PresuppositionTypes of Presupposition

Linguistic forms (words, phrases, structures are indicators (or triggers) of potential

presuppositions which can only become actual presuppositions in contexts with speakers.

1. existential2.factive3. Non-factive4.lexical5. structural6. counterfactual


Existential presuppositionExistential presupposition

1-Existential presupposition: it is the assumption of the existence of the entities named by the speaker.

For example, when a speaker says

"Tom’s car is new", we can presuppose that Tom exists and that he has a car.


Factive presuppositionFactive presupposition

2-Factive presupposition: it is the assumption that something is true due to the presence of some verbs such as "know" and "realize" and of phrases involving “glad”, for example.

Thus, when a speaker says that she didn’t realize someone was ill, we can presuppose that “someone is ill”. Also, when she says "I’m glad it’s over”, we can presuppose that “ it’s over.”


certain verbs/construction indicate that something is a fact

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) It ISN'T ODD that he left early (>> He left early) I'M GLAD that it's over (>> It's over)


Lexical presuppositionLexical presupposition

3-Lexical presupposition: it is the assumption that, in using one word, the speaker can act as if another meaning (word) will be understood. For instance:

Andrew stopped running. (>>He used to run.)

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

In this case, the use of the expressions "stop" and "again" are taken to presuppose another (unstated) concept.


Lexical PresuppositionLexical Presupposition

The use of a form with its asserted meaning is conventionally interpreted with the presupposition that

another, non-asserted, meaning is understood He MANAGED to repair the clock (>> he tried to repair the clock) Asserted meaning: he suceeded He didn't MANAGE to repair the clock (>> he tried to repair the clock) Asserted meaning: he failed He STOPPED smoking (>> he used to smoke) They STARTED complained (>> they weren't complaining before) You're late AGAIN (>> You were late before


Structural presuppositionStructural presupposition

4-Structural presupposition:

it is the assumption associated with the use of certain words and phrases. For example, wh-question in English are conventionally interpreted with the presupposition that the information after the wh-form (e.g. when and where) is already known to be the case.

When did she travel to the USA? ( >> she traveled) Where did you buy the book? (>> you bought the book) When did he leave? (>> he left) Where did you buy the bike? (>> You bought the bike) The listener perceives that the information presented is necessarily true

rather than just the presupposition of the person asking the question.


Non- factive presuppositionNon- factive presupposition

5- Non- factive presupposition: it is an assumption that something is not true.

For example, verbs like "dream", "imagine" and "pretend" are used with the presupposition that what follows is not true.

I dreamed that I was rich. (>> I am not rich) We imagined that we were in London. (>> We are not in

London) He PRETENDS to be ill (>> He is not ill)


Counterfactual presuppositionCounterfactual presupposition

6-Counterfactual presupposition: it is the assumption that what is presupposed is not only

untrue, but is the opposite of what is true, or contrary to facts. For instance, some conditional structures, generally called

counterfactual conditionals, presuppose that the information, in the if- clauses, is not true at the time of utterance.

If you were my daughter, I would not allow you to do this. ( > you are not my daughter)


SUMMARY Type Example Presupposition

existential the X >> X exists factive I regret leaving >> I left non-factive He pretended to be happy >> He wasn't happy lexical He managed to escape >> He tried to escape structural When did she die? >> She died Counterfactual If I weren't ill >> I am ill


Entailment

In pragmatics entailment is the relationship between two sentences where the truth of one (A) requires the truth of the other (B).

For example, the sentence (A) The president was assassinated. entails (B) The president is dead.


Ordered entailmentsOrdered entailments

Generally speaking, entailment is not a pragmatic concept (i.e. having to do with the speaker meaning), but it is considered a purely logical concept.

Observe the examples below:

1)Bob ate three sandwiches. a) Something ate three sandwiches.

b)Bob did something to three sandwiches. c) Bob ate three of something. d)Something happened.


When a speaker utters sentence 1, the speaker is necessarily committed to the truth of a very large number of background knowledge.

On any occasion, in uttering 1, however, the speaker will indicate how these entailments are to be ordered. That is, the speaker will communicate, typically by stress, which entailment is assumed to be the foreground, or more important for interpreting intended meaning, than any others.


For example, when the speaker utters the following sentences, she indicates that the foreground entailment, and hence her main assumption, is that Bob ate a certain number of sandwiches.

a) Bob ate THREE sandwiches. b) BOB ate three sandwiches.


In B, the focus shifts to BOB, and the main assumption is that someone ate three sandwiches. The stress in English functions to mark the main assumption of the speaker in producing an utterance. As such, it allows the speaker to mark for the listener what the focus of the message is, and what is being assumed.


A very similar function is exhibited by a structure called cleft construction in English, as we can observe in the example below:

a) It was VICTOR that did the work. b) It wasn’t ME who took your jacket.

In both examples above, the speaker can communicate what

she believes the listener may already be thinking (i.e. the foreground entailment). In b, that foreground entailment (someone took your jacket) is being made in order to deny personal responsibility. The utterance in b can be used to attribute the foreground entailment to the listener(s) without actually stating it (as a possible accusation).


Cleft construction

Entailment and negationEntailment and negation

Entailments are typically not preserved under negation.

EntailmentEntailment

Consider:

Vincent does not have a red car.

This does not entail:

Vincent has a car.

Entailment or presuppositionEntailment or presupposition

We call implications preserved under negation presuppositions

We call implications not preserved under negation entailments

Presupposition triggersPresupposition triggers

In English, presuppositions are usually triggered by lexical items

There are several tricks to find out whether a lexical item is a presupposition trigger or not

These tests are:◦The negation test◦The conditional test◦The question test

Presupposition trigger testPresupposition trigger test

Consider the sentence:

Alex is a bachelor.

This sentence implies that Alex is male.But are we dealing with a presupposition

or entailment?

Alex is a bachelor.Does this presuppose: Alex is male?

Negation: Alex is not a bachelor.Implies: Alex is male? YES

Conditional: If Alex is a bachelor, then ...Implies: Alex is male? YES

Question: Is Alex is a bachelor?Implies: Alex is male? YES

Conclusion: being a bachelor presupposes being male.




Alex is a man.

This sentence implies that Alex is male.But are we dealing with a presupposition

or entailment?

Alex is a man.Does this presuppose: Alex is male?

Negation: Alex is not a man.Implies: Alex is male? NO

Conditional: If Alex is a man, then ...Implies: Alex is male? NO

Question: Is Alex is a man?Implies: Alex is male? NO

Conclusion: being a man does not presuppose being male.




Butch knows that Zed is dead.

This sentence implies Zed is dead.But are we dealing with a presupposition

or entailment?

Butch knows that Zed is dead.Does this presuppose: Zed is dead?

Negation: Butch does not know that Zed is dead.Implies: Zed is dead? YES

Conditional: If Butch knows that Zed is dead, then ...Implies: Zed is dead? YES

Question: Does Butch know that Zed is dead?Implies: Zed is dead? YES

Conclusion: knowing P presupposes P.


TASKSTASKS

Analyse the following utterances in terms of presuppositions:

I regret the year of prosperity and peace has ended.

The UN managed to bring about peace.A time of prosperity and peace will return.What the UN did was to bring about peace

in Bosnia.1996, which was a year of prosperity and

peace, will be remembered forever.

Identify the respective presuppositions and classify them according to type

1 John didn’t realize that he was in debt

2 Before Strawson was even born, Frege noticed presuppositions

3 If Hannibal had only had twelve more elephants, the Romance languages wouldn’t exist now

4 John didn’t see the man with two heads

5 Carter returned to power

6 It wasn’t Henry that kissed Rosie

7 Fred hallucinated that he had won a billion Dollars

8 Agatha accused Ian of plagiarism


Presupposition and-entailment

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