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1、Pragmatic Presupposition,Does he lie?,Boss:If you want to work here,young man,you must know we require cleanliness.Did you remember to wipe your feet on the mat?Man:Oh yes,sir!Boss:And another thing;we require truthfulness.There is no mat!,1 Definetion 1.1 The philosophical tradition 1.2 The pragmat
2、ic definition 1.1.1 abroad studies 1.1.2 domestic studies2 Properties of Pragmatic Presupposition 2.1Mutual Knowledge 2.2 Appropriateness 2.3 Defeasibility 2.4 Additivity3 Presupposition triggers,contents,4 Types of presuposition 4.1 Potential presupposition vs.existential presupposition 4.2 Factive
3、 presupposition vs.non-factive presupposition 4.3 Lexical presupposition vs.structural presupposition 5 Function of Pragmatic Presupposition6 The projection probem7 Conclusion8 Bibliography,1.1 The philosophical tradition,Gottlob Frege,the first philosopher who brought presupposition to the notice o
4、f the scholarly world,published an article On Sense and Reference in 1892.He went on to examine the sense and reference of sentences.If anything is asserted there is always an obvious presupposition that the simple or compound proper names used have a reference.For example:John works very hard.It pr
5、esupposes that there must be someone called John.,1 Definetion,Frege thus sketches a theory of presupposition with the following presuppositions:(i)Referring phrases and temporal clauses carry presuppositions to the effeet that they do in fact refer;(ii)A sentence and its negative counterpart share
6、the same set of presuppositions;(iii)In order for an assertion or a sentence to be either true or false,its presuppositions must be true or satisfied.(Frege,1952:69),Stalnaker first proposed the concept of pragmatic presupposition.He believes that pragmatic presupposition is not only related to the
7、context,but also related to the propositional attitude of speaker.A proposition P is a pragmatic presupposition of a speaker in a given context just in case the speaker assumes or believes that P,assumes or believes that his addressee assumes or believes that P,and assumes or believes his addressee
8、recognizes that he is making these assumptions,or has these beliefs.”(Stalnaker,1974)Therefore,pragmatic presupposition is actually a judgment or assumption of the knowledge of the hearer from the speaker,which is the fact that the speaker thinks right or the hearer ought to accept.,1.2 The pragmati
9、c definition,1.1.1 Abroad studies,Pragmatic presupposition is like appropriate conditions that the effective implement of a speech act must satisfy or a sentence must satisfy for the purpose of the necessary social appropriateness.It is a certain condition that is triggered by a sentence,whose respo
10、nsibility is to effectively implement an illocutionary act.(Fillmore,1971)Pragmatic presupposition is the relationship between a speaker and the appropriateness of a sentence in context.In his opinion,pragmatic presupposition is not studied on the sentence level,but on the communicational level of t
11、he speaker and the hearer.(Keenan,1971),Presupposition of the utterance is used to indicate the common knowledge of the speaker and the hearer.When the speaker makes an utterance and the hearer understands it in a certain context,they must own some common knowledge.(Jackendoff,1972)e.g.John has a si
12、ster.The common knowledge of the communicators is that John exists.The speakers saying and the hearers understanding of the utterance are all based upon the common knowledge,which is viewed as pragmatic presupposition.,Presupposition concerning the baekground assumption made in the Proeess of commun
13、ieation is a highly technieal subject.(LeoHickey&Faweeff,1998:114)Presupposition is not only a potential complex object of study,but also one where explanatory theories have been supported and attacked by examPle and enounter-example,with the seeing most of the battle.(Faweeff1998:114),Pragmatic pre
14、supposition are assumptions made by the speaker on what the hearer may accept undoubtedly.(Givon,1979)Levinson(1983)defines pragmatic presupposition as common knowledge,which is held by the two sides in the communication and is a necessary condition for successful communication.,Presupposition refer
15、s to the things that are accepted by communicative parties in communication.(Chen Zongming,1984)There are three different understandings of presupposition:speakers assumption for the context,the necessary condition of a speech act and the common knowledge or background knowledge.(He Zhaoxiong,1989)A
16、s the factual basis of the whole situation or fact that a sentence expresses,presupposition is the objective situation and condition that are reflected or implied in the semantics.(Xu Shenghuan,1993),Presupposition is the proposition that speaker assumes and builds in his mind when speaking.(Lan Chu
17、n,1999)Presupposition is a kind of pragmatic inference,which infers the prerequisite of the utterance from logical concept,semantics and context based on the actual meaning of linguistic structures.Presupposition is not expressed clearly by literal meaning of language.Its implicit.Even though presup
18、position does not directly appear in the topic,it is known by two participants in the conversation.(He Ziran,1988),Hu Zehong(1996)explains pragmatic presupposition from three aspects:Pragmatic presupposition is a propositional attitude;Pragmatic presupposition is common knowledge shared by the two s
19、ides in specific communicative environment;Pragmatic presupposition is the condition that enables a statement to be appropriate in the process of communication.,1.1.2 Domestic studies,All in all,linguists have different view on the definition of presupposition,but till today,they have not reached a
20、consensus.Here is a definition from Longman Dictionary ofLanguage Teaching and Applied Linguistics(2009:536):Presupposition is what a speaker or writer assumes that the receiver of the message already knows.For example:Speaker A:What about inviting John tonight?Speaker B:What a good idea;then he can
21、 give Mary a lift.,2 Properties of Pragmatic Presupposition,Since pragmatic presupposition rooted itself in linguistics,many linguists have been working to explain it thoroughly.As to the features of it,professor He Ziran(1988)made his efforts to tell that there arefour major properties to pragmatic
22、 presupposition:2.1Mutual Knowledge 2.2 Appropriateness 2.3 Defeasibility 2.4 Additivity,2.1 Mutual Knowledge,Mutual knowledge is a property of pragmatic presupposition,which holds that presupposition refers to the information that both parties of communication know.There are three cases of mutual k
23、nowledge.First,presupposition is the information mutually known by communicative parties or average people,which is closely connected with the context.Second,mutual knowledge is implied in the speakers utterances and then can be understood by the hearer.Third,sometimes mutual knowledge only refers t
24、o the things mutually known by communicative parties,so the third party may not really understand the content of discourse if he or she doesnt know the presupposition and just relies on the context.(He Ziran,1988:138),The following is an example which communicative parties lack the mutual knowledge
25、of presupposition:E.G.Priya:I want to catch up with all of you,but first I really must visit the loo.Leonard:Im going,too.Ill show you where it is.Rajesh:All right,this goes without saying,but Im just going to say it anyway.Hands off my sister.Sheldon:Why would I touch her?Shes covered with air plan
26、e germs.(Laughter)(Episode 6,Season 4,The Big Bang Theory),In this conversation,Rajesh warns his friends not to touch his sister for fear that they will fall in love with his sister.However,Sheldon has a different presupposition of“hands off”with Rajesh.He does not presuppose“Hands off my sister”as“
27、not to fall in love with Rajeshs sister”.According to the plot,it is well-known that Sheldon is a total clean freak and hasnt any interest in getting a girlfriend.For this reason,Sheldon cant reach an agreement with Rajesh on the exact meaning of“hands off my sister”.They lack the mutual knowledge o
28、f presupposition.,E.G.(Scene:When Penny knew that Sheldon got fired,she wants to comfort him.)Penny:Well,maybe its all for the best.You know,I always say when one doorcloses,another one opens.Sheldon:No,it doesnt.Not unless the two doors are connected by relays or there are motion sensors involved.P
29、enny:No,no,I meant.Sheldon:Or if the first door closing creates a change of air pressure that acts upon the second door.(Laughter)Penny:Never mind.(Episode 4,Season 1,The Big Bang Theory),Here Sheldon cancels the appropriateness of presupposition accidentally again.On his own side,Sheldon falsely pr
30、esupposes“when one door closes,anther one opens”as a physical phenomenon.According to the context and background knowledge,the audience can easily understand that what Penny utters is not a physical phenomenon but a proverb.Sheldon does not take the contextual factors and background knowledge into a
31、ccount,and does not perceive that Penny is comforting him for his unemployment.Sheldon is a physicist whose mind is full of physical theories.It is very natural for him to neglect the contextual factors and background knowledge and presuppose“when one door closes,anther one opens”as a physical pheno
32、menon.,2.2 Appropriateness,The appropriateness of presupposition means only when presupposition is appropriate can verbal communication go smoothly.Presupposition can be objective facts or the things that the speaker views as facts in his mind or assumptions.(He Ziran,1988:100)In other words,presupp
33、ositions are communicative parties attitudes and their understandings of a proposition or an utterance.Therefore,presupposition itself does not have to be true or correct since it is subjective.(HeZiran,1988:126)Appropriateness also means that presupposition must be closely associated with context a
34、nd it is the precondition of speech acts.,2.3 Defeasibility,The defeasibility of presupposition refers to the fact that presupposition will disappear with the change of the utterance or the context.He Zhaoxiong(1989)holds that defeasibility is the common feature of pragmatic inference since context
35、is a significant factor in pragmatic studies.Certain language structures can generate presupposition,but the repulsion between background information,the specific context and speech contents will give rise to the disappearance of presupposition.,E.G.Leonard:Well,Ive dated plenty of women.There was J
36、oyce Kim Leslie WinkleSheldon:Notify the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary.The word“plenty”has been redefined to mean“two”.(Laughter)(Episode 2,Season 2,The Big Bang Theory),In this scene,Leonard considers that he has dated plenty of women and he is charming for women.But actually he has date
37、d only two women.His utterance presupposes that“plenty”means“two”.The reason why Leonard said so is that he persistently thinks that he is popular with women.Leonards intentional cancellation of the appropriateness of presuppositions is a way for him to cheat himself and achieve self-esteem.On the o
38、ther hand,Sheldon knows what Leonard means,but in order to refute the aggressive Leonard,he pretends not to perceive the contradiction in Leonards utterance and accepts the literal meaning of Leonards utterance.Sheldon cancels the appropriateness of presupposition intentionally out of certain purpos
39、e,i.e.satirizing Leonards self-esteem.,2.4 Additivity,The additivity of presupposition means that presupposition can be added by the speaker through providing supplementary information in his or her following utterance.As mentioned above,presupposition is common knowledge held by communicative parti
40、es and is also a necessary precondition that should be met so as to make the communication go smoothly.When communicative parties lack of common knowledge,it is liable that the communication will break off.At this time,communicatiuhve parties can add presupposition to make up the front information g
41、ap through providing more supplementary information and tell the truth.,Penny:Okay,its done.Look,guys,for the future.I dont mind killing the big spiders.But you have to at least try with the little ones.Sheldon:Penny,please.Were facing a far more serious problem than stray arachnids.Leonard:Sheldon,
42、its not that bad.Sheldon:Not bad?Its horrible.I mean,you hear stories about this sort of thing.But you never think itll happen to you.Leonard:So they steamed your dumplings.Get over it.(Laughter)(Episode 19,Season 2,The Big Bang Theory),In this scene,Penny helps Sheldon and Leonard kill the big spid
43、ers.Penny tells these guys that she doesnt mind killing the big spiders but they should try to kill the little ones.Sheldon utters that they are facing a more serious problem than the big spiders.The presupposition of Sheldons utterance is that there is a more serious problem than the big spiders.Sh
44、eldons friend Leonard does not refute Sheldons utterance immediately but gives him some hints that the problem is not that bad.However,Sheldon goes on exaggerating the seriousness of the problem.Therefore,Leonard adds some information to reveal the truth:the problem Sheldon refers to is that his fri
45、ends steamed his dumplings.Through using the additivity of the presupposition,Leonard achieves his aim,i.e.ridiculing and bantering Sheldon.,3 Presupposition triggers,In the analysis of how speakers assumptions are typically expressed,presupposition has been associated with the use of a large number
46、 of words,phrases,and structures,known as presupposition-triggers.In his Pragmatics,Stephen C.Levinson on the basis of Karttunen(31 types)lists 13 types of them,which he regards as the set of core phenomena,reproduced here with simplification and some other modifications.,Stephen C.Levinson is an in
47、fluential social scientist,known for his studies of the relations between culture,language and cognition.Levinson was one of the driving forces behind a re-evaluation of the notion of linguistic relativity in the early nineties.,Mr.He classified presupposition into three group in his Pragmatics and
48、English Study(1997),(the symbol“”means“presuppose”,the italicized words means presupposition triggers).A:verbs(implicative verbs,factive verbs);B:commentary adjectives and adverbs,change-of-state verbs,verbs of judging,definitive verbs;C:phrases or clauses(conditional clauses,infinite clauses,questi
49、ons).,A:1.Factive verbs(实情动词)-sth.has happened.regret,realize,know,be odd,be strange,be proud/pleased/disappointed/aware/sorry/glad that etc.e.g.Im sorry that your dog died.Your dog died.2.Implicative verbs(含蓄动词)-containing two meaningsmanage,forget,happen e.g.I forget to bring the book.I ought to h
50、ave brought the book.(He Ziran,1997),B:3.Definite descriptionsthe,this/that+NP,the 3rd person pronoun,possessive+n etc.e.g.Johns wife is a school teacher.John has a wife.4.Change of state verbs(表示状态改变的动词)finish,stop,begin,start,carry on,continue,cease,leave,arrive,enter,come,go,turn etc.e.g.The gues
