Download Presupposition

 Presentation about
pragmatic concepts
Implicatures
Presuppositions
Co-operative principles
Prepared by: Atiya Qarani
What is an implicature?
 The word implicature is derived from the verb ‘to imply’
and originally to imply derived from the Latin verb plicare
Which means ‘to fold something into something else’.
Bilmes has expressed pragmatic as ‘ in everyday talk, we
often convey presupposing that are not explicit in our
utterances but are implied by them.
Implication
 Implication is a logical relationship between two
prepositions. For example
 You cut my hedge
 I’ll take you out to dinner
 If you cut my hedge, I’ll take you out to dinner.(there is a
logical relationship between if and I’ll)
Types of implicature
1-Conversational implicature: Is something which is
implied in conversation.
 Is the way we understand an utterance in conversation
in accordance with what we expect to hear.
For example: what time is it?
The bus just went by.(in a particular context of
conversation and it should include only your fact.
 For realizing what others mean, we have to interpret
what they say, but sometimes interpretation leds to
misunderstandings and sometimes seem to be the rule
rather than the exception.
 E.g. When’s Sam’s birthday?
 It’s sometime in April.
 `conversational and logical implication could be
separated
 E.g. Alexandra ate some of the raisins (means she ate
some not all of the raisins, but if we were to say to
Alexandra why did you have to eat all those raisins?
she may point out that logically and conversationally
(some and all) are not the same, because some
conversationally implies that she doesn’t mean all.
 Conversational implicatures, inferred via the co-
operative principle or maxims. For example
 Iam out of petrol
 There is a garage around the corner.
2-Conventional implicatures
Are associated with specific words and result in additional
conveyed meanings when those words are used.like
conjunction ‘but, even, yet’
e.g. Daneil isn’t here yet.
The speaker produces an implicature that he/she expects the
statement ‘Daneil is here’. The conventional implicature
of (yet) is that the present situation is expected to be
different or prehaps the opposite, at a later time.
 Conventional implicature do not occure in
conversation, and they don’t depend on special
contexts for their interpretation.
 Not based on cooperative principle or maxims.
 Presupposition
 The concept of presupposition is often treated as the relationship between two
propositions. In the case below, we have a sentence that contains a proposition (p) and
another proposition (q), which is easily presupposed by any listener. However, the
speaker can produce a sentence by denying the proposition (p), obtaining as a result the
same presupposition (q).
 Debora’s cat is cute. (p)
 Debora has a cat. (q)
 When I say that Debora’s cat is cute, this sentence presupposes that Debora has a cat. In
 Debora’s cat is not cute. (NOT p)
 The same thing holds true, that is, it presupposes that she has a cat. This property of
presupposition is generally described as constancy under negation. It means that the
presupposition of a statement will remain constant (i.e. still true) even when that
statement is negated.
Types of Presupposition
 1-Existential presupposition: it is the assumption of the
existence of the entities named by the speaker.
 For example, when a speaker says "Tom’s car is new", we
can presuppose that Tom exists and that he has a car.
 2-Factive presupposition: it is the assumption that
something is true due to the presence of some verbs such as
"know" and "realize" and of phrases involving glad, for
example. Thus, when a speaker says that she didn’t realize
someone was ill, we can presuppose that someone is ill.
Also, when she says "I’m glad it’s over”, we can presuppose
that it’s over.
 3-Lexical presupposition: it is the assumption that, in using
one word, the speaker can act as if another meaning (word)
will be understood. For instance:
 Andrew stopped running. (>>He used to run.)
 You are late again. (>> You were late before.)
 In this case, the use of the expressions "stop" and "again"
are taken to presuppose another (unstated) concept.
 4-Structural presupposition: it is the assumption associated
with the use of certain words and phrases. For example,
wh-question in English are conventionally interpreted with
the presupposition that the information after the wh-form
(e.g. when and where) is already known to be the case.
 When did she travel to the USA? ( >> she travelled)
Where did you buy the book? (>> you bought the book)
 The listener perceives that the information presented is
necessarily true rather than just the presupposition of the
person asking the question.
 5- Non- factive presupposition: it is an assumption that
something is not true. For example, verbs like "dream”
"imagine" and "pretend" are used with the
presupposition that what follows is not true.
 I dreamed that I was rich. (>> I am not rich)
We imagined that we were in London. (>> We are not
in London)
 6-Counterfactual presupposition: it is the assumption
that what is presupposed is not only untrue, but is the
opposite of what is true, or contrary to facts. For
instance, If you were my friend, you would have helped
me. (>> you are not my friend)
Co-operative principle
 This was suggested by the philosopher Grice as the
basic for an explanation of how conversational
implicatures arise. Grice portrayed a conversation as a
co-operative activity in which participants tacitly agree
to abide by certain norms. His formulation of the
general principle runs as follows? “Make your
conversational contribution such as is required, at the
stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or
direction of the talk exchange in which you are
engaged.” Grice spelled out the norms in greater detail
in the form of a set of maxims of conversation.
(1) The maxim of quality (“Tell the truth”)
 Do not say what you believe to be false.
 Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.
 (2) The maxim of quantity (“Say just as much as is necessary”)
 Make your contribution as informative as is required for the current
purposes of the exchange.
 Do not make the contribution more informative than is required.
 (3) The maxim of relation / relevance (“Stick to
the point”)
 Make your contributions relevant.
 (4) The maxim of manner (“Be clear”)
 Avoid obscurity.
 Avoid ambiguity.
 Be brief.
 Be orderly.