Presuppositions and Entailments PDF
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Uploaded by SpeedyMoldavite4880
Qassim University
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Summary
This document explains presuppositions and entailments in linguistics. It defines presupposition as something assumed by the speaker, while entailment is what logically follows from an utterance. The document also provides examples to illustrate the key differences between presupposition and entailment. It's suitable for undergraduate study.
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# Presuppositions and Entailments ## Two aspects of what is communicated but not said - Pragmatics is the study of deixis, implicature, presupposition, speech acts, and aspects of discourse structure. (Levinson, 1983) ## Presupposition - A presupposition is something the speaker assumes to be th...
# Presuppositions and Entailments ## Two aspects of what is communicated but not said - Pragmatics is the study of deixis, implicature, presupposition, speech acts, and aspects of discourse structure. (Levinson, 1983) ## Presupposition - A presupposition is something the speaker assumes to be the case prior to make an utterance. - Speakers, not sentences, have presuppositions, symbolized as >>. ## Presupposition triggers - In any language, there are some expressions or constructions which can act as the sources of presuppositions. This kind of expressions or constructions is called presupposition triggers. ## Entailment is not a pragmatic concept. - It is defined as what logically follows from what is asserted in the utterance, symbolized by II-. - Sentences, not speakers, have entailments. ## 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: 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. ## 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. - 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 - Someone was assassinated. - The emperor died.
