(ASSIGNMENT #01 PRESUPPOSITION, ITS TYPES AND

ENTAILMENT)

SUBMITTED TO : MAM FAIZA

SUBMITTED BY : SAMIA BASHIR (23017102-007)

RABIA ZULFIQAR (23017102-006)

WARDAH HUSSNAIN (23017102-004)

TAHREEM SAFDAR (23017102-001)

SHANZA IFTIKHAR (23017102-030)

HALIMA ANSAR (23017102-031)

RUBAB BANO (23017102-033)

COURSE TILE : PRAGMATICS (ENG-324)

SECTION: BS 6TH SEMESTER (SECTION-E)

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
CONTENT:

 Pragmatics

 presupposition

 Significance of Presupposition in Pragmatics

 Types of Presupposition

 Existential Presupposition
 Structural Presupposition
 Lexical Presupposition
 Factive Presupposition
 Non-factive Presupposition

 Entailment

 Characteristics of Entailment

 Background and Foreground Entailment

Pragmatics :

Pragmatics is the branch of linguistics concerned with the study of language in use
and the way context influence the interpretation of language. It deals with how
speaker use language in social context, considering not just the literal meaning of
words and sentences, but also the intentions of the speaker, the assumption shared
between speaker, and the effect of context on communication.

Presupposition:

Presupposition is an implicit assumption or background that is taken for granted in an

utterance. It is something that the speaker assumes the listener already knows or
believes to be true.

Example:

“The dog no longer barks at the mailman”.

Although it is unstated , the speaker assumes something to be true here. The speaker
presume the dog once barked at the mailman. After all, if the dog did not once bark,
there would be little cause to sat it no longer barks. And if the dog never barked at the
mailman, the utterance would probably be:

Example:

“ The dog has never barked at the mailman”.

In this situation speaker assumes following things:
 The speaker presuppose there’s a dog in this situation.
 The speaker presupposes dog can bark.
 The speaker presupposes a bark can be directed at something.
 The speaker presupposes dogs and mailman exist.
Significance of Presupposition in Pragmatics:

Presupposition play a crucial role in pragmatics by providing context and shaping in

the meaning of utterances. Here are a few key points regarding their significance:

1. Contextual understanding:

Presupposition help listeners understand the intended meaning of a statement by

providing background information or assumptions that are taken for granted within a
given context. For example, the sentence “ John regretted selling his car”
presupposes that John had a car in the first place.

2. Pragmatic inferences:

They guide pragmatic inferences, where listeners make assumptions based on what is
implied but not explicitly stated. This helps I filling gaps in information and
understanding speakers intentions more fully.

Semantic vs. Pragmatic:

Presuppositions help distinguish between semantic meaning ans pragmatic meaning,

understanding presupposition is essential for grasping the full pragmatic significance
an utterance.

3. Conflict Resolution:

Identifying presupposition can help resolve conflicts or misunderstandings in

communication. When presupposition are not shared or violated, it can lead to
confusion or communication breakdowns.

Presupposition Negation test:

When you take a positive utterance, turn it negative, and see whatever the
presupposition of the positive utterance remains true in the negative. If it remains true,
then the presupposition is indeed, a presupposition.
A presupposition of a positive utterance is not invalidated when you turn that
utterance negative.

Example:

Utterance: “The girl drinks milk.”

Presupposition:” Girl can drink milk”
Utterance in the negative: “The girl does not drink milk”.
The presupposition “ girl can drink milk” is not invalidated or subject to any
necessary change. Thus the presupposition passes the test and is a presupposition.

Types of Presupposition:

1) Existential Presupposition:

Existential presupposition involves assuming the existence of certain entities or states

of affairs that are implied but not explicitly stated in a sentence. It is often triggered
by specific linguistic constructions or lexical items that inherently carry this
presupposition.

Example:

“John regretted eating the cake”. this sentence presupposes the existences of an
event where John ate the cake. The presupposed is that John indeed ate the cake.

2) Factive Presupposition:

Factive presupposition occurs when a statement presupposes the truth or reality of the
content within an embedded clause, regardless of whatever the entire sentence is true
or false. It is triggered by certain verbs or linguistic constructions that inherently carry
this presupposition.
Example :

“John regrets that he ate the cake” . this sentence presuppose that John indeed ate
the cake, regardless of whether he regrets it or not.

3) Structural Presupposition:

Structural presupposition involves the assumptions or implications of certain

structural or grammatical elements in a sentence that are necessary for its
interpretation. These presuppositions are often triggered by specific linguistic
construction or syntactic forms.

Example:

“The king of France is bald”. this sentence presupposes the existence of a king of
France, even though this may not be true in reality. The presupposition is about the
structural element “ King of France”.

4) Lexical Presupposition:

Lexical presuppositions involves the presuppositions or background assumptions that

are part of the meaning of specific words or lexical items. These presuppositions are
not explicitly stated but are inferred based on the lexical choices made by the speaker.

Example:

“John’s ex-wife came to the party”. this sentence presuppose that John was
married before, even though the sentence does not explicitly mention it.

5) Non factive Presupposition:

Non factive presuppositions is one that assumed not be true. Verbs like dream,
imagine and pretend are used with the presupposition that what follow is not true.
For example, “ I dreamed that I was rich”.
Entailment :

A relationship that implies between two sentences or propositions, where the truth of
one implies the truth of the other because of the meaning of the words involved.

Example:

A. “Everyone passed the examination.”

B. “No-one failed the examination”.
In this example whenever A is true, B is true. The information that B contains is
contained in the information that A conveys. So, when a situation described by A then
B also describes a situation.

Characteristics of Entailment:

 Entailment depends on sentence meaning, not the context in which the sentence is
used.
 Entailment also happens when one set of object is included in another, it may be
seen as a kind of hyponymic relation.
 Entailment can also involves the use of determiners. This is simply the relation of
inclusion.

Background vs. Foreground Entailment:

 In one occasion, one sentence can has a number of background entailment but
one foreground entailment.
 Foreground entailment's which is defined by stress, is more important for
interpreting intended meaning.
Example:

 Rover cased three squirrels.

=> Rover chased a certain number of squirrels.
 Rover chased three squirrels.
=> Someone chased three squirrels.

References:

1) hthttps://www.slideshare.net/Esurient/presupposition-16188664
2) tps://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/english/pragmatics/presupposition/
3) https://www.jstor.org/stable/413205
4) The study of language book by George Yule.
5) https://www.ultius.com/glossary/linguistics/entailment.html
6) https://www.slideshare.net/fherafhey/semantics-and-pragmatics-presuppositions-
and-entailments