前提 Presupposition 讲义.doc

Chapter Ten Presupposition.The development of presupposition：philosophy semantics pragmatics1.1 Philosophical origin:1. Frege thinks that“人们在通过一句句子做出声音时，必然存在显而易见的前提。即在声言中的专有名词必有所指。”EG: (1) Marilyn Monroe died in misery. (2) Marilyn Monroe existed. (presupposition) (3) Marilyn Monroe didnt die in misery.2. In Freges opinion there are three points in presupposition：（1）指称短语和（例如）时间分句均有所指，因而具有前提。（2）一个句子和它的否定形式具有同样的前提。（3）句子或声音，无论真实或谬误，其前提必然成立。1.2 Semantic presupposition: 1. Linguists regard presupposition as a semantic relationship between two propositions. (两个语义命题之间的一种关系)【扩展】：Entailment（蕴含）is a kind of semantic relationship. When a is true, b is necessarily true; When a is false, b maybe true or false. 即如果在任何使A真实的情况下，B也都真实，那么A语义上蕴含B.EG：(1). That person is a bachelor. (2). That person is a man.2. The definition of presupposition is made by compared with entailment. According to the difference, linguists often use negation test（否定测试法）.That is when a is true, b is necessarily true; when a is false, b is still true. EG: (1): John is married.(2): John exists. (presupposition)(3): John is not married.3. A sentence may has three kinds of meanings：asserted meaning (声言意义), entailed meaning (蕴含意义), presupposed meaning (前提).(1) John has a sister.(2) John has a female sibling. (assertion)(3) Johns parents had more than one child. (entailment) (4) John exists. (presupposition)4. Yule made a conclusion about the entailment and presupposition.Similarities：They are the information that can be delivered by the speaker, but the information dont expressed directly in the process of communication. They are given information(已知信息).Differences: The presuppositions exists in speakers concept; the entailment exists in the sentences concept Thus, the speakers possess presupposition, the sentences possess entailment.1.3 Pragmatic presupposition:1. At the beginning of 1970s: three kinds of definition(1)语用前提指的是说话人对言语的语境所作的设想。EG: a. Sam has stopped beating his wife. b. Sam has not stopped beating his wife. c. Sam was beating his wife.(2)语用前提是施行一个言语行为所需要满足的恰当条件或是使一句话具有必要的社会合适性所必须满足的条件。 EG: a. John accused Harry of writing the letter.b. There was something blameworthy about the letter. EG: You are disgusting.(3)语用前提是交际双方所共有的知识，或者说是背景知识。EG: a. Was it Zoe that Peter married? b. Peter married someone. In the 1990s:Grundy: Presupposition concludes pragmatic presupposition(语用前提) and conventional presupposition(规约性前提). He thinks that pragmatic presupposition as back-ground assumption（背景假设）, and the essential of the presupposition is non-linguistic.（非语言性的）。2. The differences between pragmatic presupposition and semantic presupposition： Pragmatic presupposition connects presupposition with speakers 前提是说话人的预设。Semantic presupposition connects presupposition with sentences or proposition 前提是句子本身具有的一层意义。1.4 Presupposition and context1. The share information between the speakers is a key element in context. Pragmatic presupposition is a part of context, which exists in the whole communicative context.2. The share information is not constant, which enlarges and accumulate during the process of communication. The original information which doesnt know by the speakers can become the share information due to the interaction.3. In Leechs opinion：(1) If we regard presupposition is a kind of semantic relation, the main point is to know what are the similarities and differences between entailment and presupposition. (2) From the pragmatic point, the important thing is to make a distinction between presupposition and assertion.Presupposition: the familiar and known information in a sentence. (predicate)Assertion: the new information, which is unfamiliar and unknown in a sentence. (subject) EG: Johns kids all play football. subject predicate presupposition assertion4. The assertion can be a presupposition of next utterance when it becomes the share information during the communication. EG: The kids saw a film last night. presupposition assertion The film (the kids saw) was very amusing. presupposition assertion . Presupposition-triggers (前提语) 符号表示“以为前提”Presuppositions are tied to particular words or surface structures in general, we shall call such presupposition-generating linguistic items presupposition-triggers. Semantic level (语义层面)（1）Definite descriptions（确定性的描述）：the、this、that、nounsEG：John got married last week. There existed a person called John.（2）Factive verbs (实情动词): regret、realize、knowEG：He is pleased that his son is making progress in his music lesson. His son is making progress in his music lesson.（3）Iimplicative verbs(含蓄动词): manage、forgetEG：He managed to get the ticket. He tried to get the ticket.（4）Change of state verbs(表示状态改变的动词): stop、finish、begin、start、continueEG：The guests arrived at 6. The guests were not here before 6.（5）Iteratives(表示反复的词语): verbs、adverbs、adverbial phraseEG：He promised to rang again. He had rung before.（6）Verbs of judging (判断性动词)EG：He promised to rang again. He had rung before.Syntactic level (句法层面)（7）Adverbial clauses of time (时间状语从句)EG：They left while the rest of the party were still enjoying themselves. The rest of the party enjoyed themselves.（8）Cleft sentences(断裂句)EG：What I am looking for is my book.I am looking for something.（9）Structures and expressions indicating comparison(表示比较的结构和词语) EG：Lucy is a better pianist than Lily.Lily is a pianist.（10）Non-restrictive attributive clause(非限定性定语从句)EG：The islands of Japan, which are located to the east of China, have frequently been struck by earthquakes of varying forces. The islands of Japan are located to the east of China.（11）Counterfactual conditionals(与事实相反的结构句)EG：If Columbus had not discovered America, someone else would.Columbus discovered America（12）Questions（问题）EG：Does he speak English or French?He speak either English or French.（13）Phonological level (音系层次)EG：His sister flew to Beijing last Friday.His sister flew to a certain place last Friday.EG：His sister flew to Beijing last Friday.Someone from his family flew to Beijing last Friday. Defeasibility （可撤销性）1. Presupposition is a kind of pragmatic inference(语用推理) which has defeasibility. A sentence may have presupposition-triggers, but the presupposition can disappear due to some contextual factors(语境因素).2. There are two kinds of contextual factors which can cancel the presupposition, one is语境中的语言因素, the other is语境中的非语言因素。（1）语境中的语言因素：EG：John didnt manage to pass the exam.John tried to pass the exam.EG: John didnt manage to pass the exam. In fact he didnt even try.（2）语境中的非语言因素：EG：She cried before she finished writing the novel.She finished writing the novel.EG: She died before she finished writing the novel. The Projection Problem（前提的映射问题）1. Traditionally, philosopher thinks that S = S1 + S2, then the meaning of S equal to the meaning of S1 plus the meaning of S2. The same as S, 一个句子的前提是它各个组成从句的前提总和。前提的这个总和问题被称为前提的映射问题（project