PRESUPPOSITION & IMPLICATURE

1

P&E• Pre-eminent place in semantics/pragmatics• Among the most trusted and widely explored sources of insight into:

language/context, social cognition, linguistic meaning• Collective opposition to regular semantic content

• Therefore called “at-issue content” or “proffered content”• Hs will expect this to constitute the S’s central message

Presupposition• Pragmatic P: mutual preconditions, conversational norms, plans, goals, context• Semantic P: lexically encoded meanings/constructions that trigger P

• Dependencies between at-issue and presupposed content• Ongoing debate about the boundary

P triggers• Sortal restrictions:

#The color of copper is forgetful.The color of copper is pretty.

• Verum focus: A special kind of H*L accentthat, instead of focusing the accent-bearingexpression, is used to emphasize the truthof the propositional content of a sentence.A: I can’t imagine that Peter kicked the dog.B: Peter DID kick the dog.

strong dependency: at-issue content depends on truth of the P

weak dependency: falsity of P doesn’trender the sentence meaningless

P projection (review) (1)• How triggered P’s interact with sem operators that take scope over them• Hole: a sem op allows P to slip through it, even if the op targets at-issue content

• Negation, modals, conditional antecedents, interrogative ops:

• Plug: a sem op blocks projection of P• Non-factive attitude predicates, verbs of saying• Plugs leak: Google said that it will stop making robots.

AI: Sam doesn’t smoke now.

P: Sam smoked in the past.

P projection (review) (2)• P filters: systematic mix of plug/hole behavior

• Conditional consequents, conjunction, disjunction

3a): consequent is a hole position3b): antecedent entails the P of the consequent (plug)

4a): projection (hole)4b): other disjunct entails the negation of P (plug)

P in discourse• Backgrounding: explicitly express P even if it’s in the common ground

• Redundant, yet not (usually) objectionable• Hearer objections: HWAM

• Often P’s are accepted but at-issue is targeted• Accommodation

• Adding P to the common ground that haven’t already been formally established• More successful when speaker is knowledgeable/trustworthy, information is straightforward• Why? speed up the exchange, signal discreetness/politeness• Interesting question: how to delineate what we are willing to accommodate (vs. not)

Theoretical approaches• Function/argument structure: need appropriate arity

• P failure: breakdown in semantic composition; only accommodation can salvage• Trivalent logic: truth values are {t, f, ?}

• ? used for P failure• Anaphoric

• Established (discourse old) vs. novel (discourse new) status• All P’s are anaphoric in some sense

• A few others

Conversational implicature (review)• Gricean maxims: quality, quantity, relevance, manner

• Three ways of contravening: opting out, clash, or flout• Other pressures: be stylish (beautiful, distinctive, entertaining, interesting)• Lots of subsequent related research

• Usual definition:

• Inferences should be cancellable, reinforceable, and non-conventional• Inference that the hearer is compelled to make in order to stay co-operative

Scalar implicature

• Heavy dependence on contextual assumptions• Could be construed as impolite/immodest (if $10).

Relevance implicature

• Heavy dependence on contextual assumptions• Assumptions: Bill is organized, not an up-seller when paste is costlier, etc.

Manner implicature• Normal events are reported with normal language; unusual events are

reported with unusual language.

• Several types of theory: semantics, connotation, communicative acts, cooperation

• Lexical blocking

Conversational Implicature: properties• Calculability: transparently derivable via rational conversational activity• Non-conventional: derivable from pragmatics (not just lex/syn content)• Non-detachable: form doesn’t matter (except for manner); it’s all about content• Indeterminacy: pragmatic context introduces doubt, so implicatures are uncertain• Reinforceability: add implicature with no risk of redundancy (see previous bullet)• Cancellability (most important property):

• Direct cancellation: Some, indeed all, students study.• Suspension: Some, maybe all, students study.• Lack of contextual support: and implicates temporal ordering, except for statives

Theories• Griceanism: sem interpreted LF’s; need to do semantics before pragmatics• Neo-Griceanism: Gricean maxims reformulated w/rt more tension between

H/S goals; greater role for the grammar• Grammaticism: enrich local subconstituents w/ conversational implicature,

else sentence won’t be consistent• Defaultism: engage in inferences by default, unless S gives reason not to

Conventional implicature (CI)• What’s entailed by lexical and constructional meanings, but distinct from a

sentence’s AI content.• He is an Englishman, therefore he is brave.

• AI content: E(x) & B(x)• CI content: E(x) => B(x)

• So far: research is more anecdotal than theoretical• Covers all non-at-issue content

CI items• Semantic: lex/syn encoded,

idiosyncratic; NOT pragmatic• Independent from AI content; a few

(not all) can escape plugs, filters• AI is primary content; CI is

secondary• S assumes are uncontroversial (aka

assertorically inert)• Old info? New info? research…

Typology