Presuppositions in Spoken Discourse

Chapter 2
(1999, p. 6). In the following, if ϕ is an utterance that presupposes χ,we can write
this as ϕ{χ}.
(8) a. not ϕ{χ}
b. it is possible that ϕ{χ}
c. a believes that ϕ{χ}
d. if ϕ{χ} then ψ
e. either ϕ{χ} or ψ
Geurts (1999) points out that some embeddings will make the presuppositional
inference seem stronger than others, but that generally presuppositions will project
out of negated and modal contexts, e.g. above in (8) a and (8)b. 1
The easiest way to get the hang of identifying presuppositions is to look at
several examples, varying the embeddings and assuring yourself that the
presupposition survives. Below examples sentences are given with each of the
triggers that are studied later in the corpus: factives, aspectual verbs, it-clefts, too
and definite NPs. First the a-sentences presented the trigger used without an
embedding, with the trigger underlined. The b-sentences give the same sentence
but in one of the embedded contexts given in (8). The c-sentences give the induced
presupposition.
(9) factive verb matter with a sentential subject complement
a. That it is already November matters.
b. That it is already November doesn’t matter.
c. It is already November.
(10) factive verb regret with a sentential object complement
a. Andy regrets choosing the fish.
b. Andy regrets choosing the fish.
c. Andy chose the fish.
(11) factive adjective glad with sentential object complement
a. Henk is glad that Reinhard came to visit.
b. Rob believes that Henk is glad that Reinhard came to visit.
c. Reinhard came to visit.
(12) aspectual verb, quit
a. Rob totally quit smoking.
b. If Rob totally quits smoking, he will probably be in a bad mood all the time.
1 Note also that it is well known that some triggers cannot be embedded under all contexts. For
example, positive polarity items like rather and too can’t be embedded in negative contexts (see van
der Sandt 1988, Geurts 1999). Because of this, the presupposed information of positive polarity
items cannot be identified by using the negation test. For example, you can’t embed too under
negation because in a negated sentence you have to use its negative polarity counterpart, either,
e.g. *I don’t like fruit too, vs. I don’t like fruit either. Too is the only trigger studied in the corpus work
that fails the negation test because of polarity.
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