Tiền giả định presupposition

Lesson 4
Presupposition and Entailment


I.what is presupposition?
- Something the speaker assumes to be the case
before to make an utterance
- Speakers, not sentences, have presupposition
Examples:

• Jane no longer writes fiction.
 Presupposition: Jane once wrote fiction.
• Her bag was stolen .
 Presupposition: she had a bag.
• Have you talked to Hoa?
 Presupposition : Hoa exists.


II. Types of presupposition
• Existential presupposition
• Factive presupposition
• Lexical presupposition
• Structural presupposition
• Non – factive presupposition
• Counter – factual presupposition


1. Existential presuposition:

Assumption of the existence of the entities
named by the speaker.

Ex: Hoa’s boyfriend is standing next to the door
 Pr: A girl named Hoa exists & she has a
boyfriend.


2. Factive presupposition:
- The presupposed information following a verb

like ‘ know’, ‘regret’, ‘release’, etc can be treated
as a fact.
Ex: - She didn’t know he was tired
Pr: He was tired
- I regret not going to her party
Pr: I didn’t go to her party


3. Lexical presupposition:
In using one word, the speaker can act as if
another meaning will be understood.
• Ex: - You make mistake a gain
Pr: you made mistake before.
- Marry stopped running
Pr: Mary used to run


4. Structural presupposition:
- It is an assumption associated with the use of
certain structures.
- wh-question constructions.
For instance:

• Why did you buy the car?
 Pr: you bought the car
• When did she travel to NewYork?
 Pr: She travelled


5. Non-factive presupposition:
- It is an assumption refered to something that is not

true.
- Some verbs used in those cases: dream, imagine,
pretend..

• Ex: He dreamed that he was rich
 Pr: He was not rich.
• We imagined that we were in London
 Pr: we was not in London.


6. Counter factual presupposition:
- It is the assumption that what is presupposed
is not only untrue, but also contrary to the facts.
- The use of second conditionals are examples of
Counter factual presupposition
• Ex: If Trung had a sister , she could help him
to do housework.
• Pr: Trung does not have sister.


III. what is entailment?

 Entailment  is defined as what logically follows from what
is asserted in the utterance.
 Sentences, not speakers, have entailments.
 Ex:
- Mary's brother bought three horses.
Entailments: Mary's brother bought something, three
animals, two horses, one horse,etc.
- Mary broke the window.
Entailments : The window broke 
- Everyone passed the examination.
Entailments: No-one failed the examination


Differences between presupposition and
entailment
Presupposition

Entailment

- Something the speaker
- Something that logically
assumes to be the case before
follows from what is asserted
to make an utterance
in the utterance
- Speakers, not sentences, have - Sentences, not speakers, have
presuppositions.
entailments
- The entailments are
communicated without

being said and are not
dependent on the speaker’s
intention.


For example:

John’ sister bought two houses.
 Presupposition: John exists and he has a sister.
 The entailment: John’s sister bought something;
now she has 2 houses, a house, and other similar
logical consequences. 


Thanks for your
attention!!!