7.Presupposition

Presupposition(前提/先设/预设=一种推理)Thephilosophicaltradition(前提的哲学渊源)Likemanyotherimportantnotionsinpragmatics,asindeedinalmostanybranchoflearning,presuppositionhasitsrootsinphilosophy.Anydiscussionofitcannotbutmentionitsphilosophicaltradition.GottlobFrege,thefirstphilosopherwhobroughtpresuppositiontothenoticeofthescholarlyworld,publishedanarticle“OnSenseandReference”in1892.Hewentontoexaminethesenseandreferenceofsentences.Hewhodiscoveredtheellipticalshapeoftheplanetaryobits,diedinmisery.whodiscoveredtheellipticalshapeoftheplanetaryobitshasareference:JohannKepler(1)Keplerdiedinmisery.(2)TherewasamancalledKepler.Wecaninfer(2)from(1).(3)Keplerdidn’tdieinmisery.(1)&(3)presupposes(2).Thiskindofinferenceisnotpartofthelogicalmeaningofthesentence.Sentence(1)doesnottellusdirectlythat(2)isthecase.But(2)isthepreconditionfortheuseof(1).WithouttheexistenceofKepler,onecannottalkabouthisdyinginmisery,oranythingatall.Ifanythingisassertedthereisalwaysanobviouspresuppositionthatthesimpleorcompoundpropernamesusedhaveareference.E.g.AftertheseparationofSchleswig-HolsteinfromDenmark,PrussiaandAustriaquarrelled.Itpresupposesthat---Schleswig-HolsteinwasonceseparatedfromDenmark.Asemanticanalysis(1)presuppositionandentailment(前提与蕴涵)Differencebetweenpresuppositionandentailment(前提与蕴涵)Presupposition---issomethingthespeakerassumestobecasepriortomakinganutterance.---Speaker,notsentence,havepresupposition.---Speakerassumesitisknownbylisteners.Entailment---------issththatlogicallyfollowsfromwhatisassertedintheutterance.---------Sentences,notspeakers,haveentailments.Howtodistinguishthem?aentailsbontwoconditions:Ifaistrue,bistrue.Ifaisfalse,bistrue,orbisfalse.apresupposesbontwoconditions:Ifaistrue,bistrue.Ifaisfalse,bisstilltrue.Inmanydiscussionoftheconcept,presuppositionistreatedasrelationshipbetweentwopropositions.Ifwesaythatthesentencein(1)containsthepropositionpandthesentencein(2)containsthepropositionq,then,usingthesymboltomean‘presuppose’,wecanrepresenttherelationshipasin(3).(1)Mary’sdogiscute.(=p)(2)Maryhasadog.(=q)(3)pqWhenweproducetheoppositeofthesentencein(1)bynegatingit(=NOTp),asin(3),wefindthattherelationshipofpresuppositiondoesn’tchange.Thatis,thesamepropositionq,repeatedas(4),continuestobepresupposedbyNOTp,asshownin(5).(3)Mary’sdogisn’tcute.(=NOTp)(4)Maryhasadog.(=q)(5)NOTpqconstantundernegation1.a.Johnismarried.abb.Johnexists.---presuppositionc.Johnisnotmarried.cb2.a.Johnmanagedtostopthecar.ab&cb.Johnstoppedthecar.c.Johntriedtostopthecar.d.Johndidnotmanagetostopthecar.dcbistheentailmentofa.cisthepresuppositionofa.----acMary’sbrotherboughtthreehorses.Thespeakerhasthefollowingpresuppositions:ApersoncalledMaryexists.Shehasabrother.Maryhasonlyonebrother.Allarethespeaker’sandHehasalotofmoney.Allcanbewrong.Thesentencehasentailment:Mary’sbrotherboughtsomething.Heboughtthreeanimals.Heboughttwohorses.Heboughtonehorse.manyotherlogicalconsequences.Theseentailmentsfollowfromthesentence,regardlessofwhetherthespeaker’sbeliefsarerightorwrong.Theyarecommunicatedwithoutbeingsaid.(2)Presuppositionandfocus(1)IsitJOHNwhowritespoetry?(2)No,itisBILLwhowritespoetry.UnderthenormalintonationthewordJOHNin(1)receivesthemainstress,andapossibleresponsemightbe(2).ChomskyproposedtocalltheinformationcarriedbywordslikeJOHN,BILLfocus,andtheembeddedclause“Someonewritespoetry”presupposition.(1)&(2)differinfocusbutnotinpresupposition.(3)Presupposition-triggers(前提语)Intheanalysisofhowspeaker’sassumptionsaretypicallyexpressed,presuppositionhasbeenassociatedwiththeuseofalargenumberofwords,phrases,andstructures,knownaspresupposition-triggers.InhisPragmatics(pp.181-4),LevinsononthebasisofKarttunen(31types)lists13typesofthem,whichheregardsasthesetofcorephenomena,reproducedherewithsimplificationandsomeothermodifications.1.Definitedescriptions(确定性的描述)the,this/that+NP,the3rdpersonpronoun,possessive+n①*Johngotmarriedlastweek.ThereexistedapersoncalledJohn.②Theteamofexplorersgotlostinthejungles.Therewasateamofexplorers.③Thishousewasonceownedbyarichmerchant.Thereonceexistedahouse.④John’swifeisaschoolteacher.Johnhasawife.⑤Johnsaw/didn’tseeamanwithtwoheads.Thereexistedamanwithtwoheads.2.Factiveverbs(实情动词)---sthhashappened.regret,realize,know,beawarethat,besorrythat,begladthat,beproudthat,bepleasedthat,beodd,bestrange,bedisappointedthat①Johnrealizedthathehadmadeamistake.Johnmadeamistake.②Heregrettedhavingstartedtheproject.Hestartedtheproject.③I’msorrythatyourdogdied.Yourdogdied.④Heispleasedthathissonismakingprogressinhismusiclessons.Hissonismakingprogressinhismusiclessons.⑤Martharegrets/doesn’tregretdrinkingJohn’shomebrew.MarthadrankJohn’shomebrew.3.Implicativeverbs(含蓄动词)---containingtwomeaningsmanage,forget,happen①Hemanagedtogettheticket.Hetriedtogettheticket.②Iforgettobringthebook.Ioughttohavebroughtthebook.③Wehappenedtomeetourneighborinthecinema.Wedidnotexpecttomeetourneighborinthecinema.④Johnmanaged/didn’tmanagetoopenthedoor.Johntriedtoopenthedoor.4.Changeofstateverbs(表示状态改变的动词)finish,stop,begin,start,carryon,continue,cease,le