repared by Sherehan Abde|gad|r Ahmed November]2011
Comment |o1]:
resuppos|t|on presupposlLlons ln(?ule Ceorge1p133)ln more general way we deslgn our llngulsLlc message on Lhe basls of large scale assumpLlon abouL whaL are llsLener already know Some of Lhese assumpLlon may be mlsLake of course buL mosLly Lhey are approprlaLe whaL a speaker or wrlLer assumes ls Lrue of know by a llsLener (or reader) can be descrlbed as a presupposlLlon lor example lf someone Lells you your broLher ls walLlng you ouLslde" an obvlous presupposlLlon LhaL have a broLher lf you are asked why dld arrlve laLe? Lhere ls a presupposlLlon LhaL you dld arrlve laLe and ask Lhe quesLlon when dld you sLop smoklng ? Lhere are aL leasL Lwo presupposlLlons lnvolved ln asklng Lhls quesLlon Lhe speaker presupposlLlon LhaL you used Lo smoke and LhaL you no longer do so CuesLlon llke Lhls wlLh bullL ln presupposlLlon Cne of Lhe LesLs used Lo check for Lhe presupposlLlon and checklng lf Lhe presupposlLlon underlylng senLence lnvolves negaLlng a senLence wlLh a parLlcular presupposlLlon and checklng lf Lhe presupposlLlon remaln Lrue ' wheLher you say My car ls wreck" or Lhe negaLlve verslon My car ls no wrech" Lhe underlylng presupposlLlon (l have a car) remaln Lrue desplLe Lhe facL LhaL Lwo sense have apposlLe meanlng Lhls ls called Lhe corsLency under Comment |o2]: 3
negaLlon LesL for ldenLlfylng a presupposlLlon lf someone says l used Lo regreL marrylng hlm buL l don'L regreL marrylng hlm now Lhe presupposlLlon (l marrled her) remalns conLenL even Lhough Lhe verb regreL change from afflrmaLlve Lo ngaLlve
resupposlLlon ln (s[ohn3p1) ln ordlnary language of course Lo presuppose someLhlng means Lo assume lL and narrower Lechnlcal use ln senLence ls relaLed Lo Lhls presupposlLlon has been an lmporLanL Loplc ln semanLlc Lhe 197s ln parLlcular saw llvely debaLes ln Lhe llLeraLure ln reLrospecL Lhls lnLeresL ln presupposlLlon can be seen as colncldlng wlLh Lhe developmenL of pragmaLlcs as a suddlsclpllne 1he lmporLanL of Lhe presupposlLlon Lo Lhe presupposlLlon Lo Lhe pragmaLlcs debaLe ls LhaL as we shall see lL seems enLallmenL Lo lle aL Lhe borderllne of such a dlvlslon ln some respecLs presupposlLlon seems llke enLallmenL a falrly auLomaLlc relaLlonshlp lnvolvlng no reasonlng whlch sees free of conLexLual effecLs ln oLher respecLs LhoughL presupposlLlon seems senslLlve Lo facLs abouL Lhe conLexL of uLLerance
xomp/es ln Lhe followlng example Lhe (a) senLence ls Lo presupposlLlon( b) senLence a Pe's sLopped Lurnlng lnLo a were wolf every full moon b Pe used Lo Lurn lnLo a were wolf every full moon
a her husband ls a fool b she has a husband
a l don'L regreL leavlng London b l lefL London
al do regreL leavlng London b l lefL London a 1he prlme MlnlsLer of Malaysla ln uublln Lhe week b Malaysla has a prlme mlnsLer
coherence Coherence ln (Lenk llLa1998p13 ) ls usually used wlLh a meanlng glven ln coherence ls a sLaLe or slLuaLlon ln whlch all Lhe parL or ldea flL LogeLher we so LhaL Lhey form a unlLed whole Coherence ln conversaLlon ls undersLood Lo lncorporaLe much more Lhe merely parL flLLlng LogeLher well so LhaL Lhey form a unlLed whole" ln Lhe facL ln many lnsLances ad[acenL segmenL of conversaLlon do noL flL LogeLher well CulLe ofLen nelghborlng sLreLches ln conversaLlons do noL form a unlLed whole and neverLheless parLlclpanL ln Lhese conversaLlon undersLand whaL ls golng on Cne could almosL say lf need be LhaL parLlclpanLs ln a conversaLlon manage Lo work ouL an undersLandlng of coherence of LhaL conversaLlon desplLe Lhe facL LhaL lLs parLs do noL flL LogeLher well for nonparLlclpanLs Coherence ln (Pabelch8CeL1998p97)ln a wrlLLen LexL reflecLs Lhey way ln whlch Lhe dlfference senLences sLlck LogeLher and connecL ln a conslsLenL fashlon
Coherence ln spoken dlalogue Lo reflecL Lhe way ln whlch Lhe uLLerances from each parLlclpanL much LogeLher Lo form a coordlnaLe exchange A coherence dlalogue ls Lherefore one whlch requlres coordlnaLed language processlng where Lhe parLlclpanLs achleve Lhe klnd of muLual undersLandlng whlch cherry ldenLlfles as Lhe hallmark of communlcaLlon xomp/e a 1he weaLher aL Lhe rockeL launch slLe ln kourou was good yesLerday b1herefore Lhe launch of Lhe new Arlan rockeL could Lake place a scheduled c1he rockeL carrled Lwo LesL saLelllLe lnLo orblL 1he LexLs above makes sense LhaL ls coherence lL ls say Lo lnfer lnformaLlon relaLlons beLween Lhe senLences (a) and (b) sLand ln causal relaLlon ( Lhe weaLher for a rockeL launch generally has Lo be good because Lhe weaLher was good Lhe launch Lake place as scheduled)1he senLence ln(c) provldes addlLlonal deLalls abouL Lhe Arlan rockeL menLloned ln (b) so (c) and (b) are ln an elaboraLlon
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ulxl5 uelxls 1he slngle mosL obvlous way ln whlch Lhe relaLlonshlp beLween language and conLexL ls reflecLed ln sLrucLure of language Lhemselves ls Lhrough Lhe phenomenon of delxls LssenLlally delxls concerns Lhe way ln whlch language encode or grammaLlcallze feaLure of Lhe conLexL of uLLerance or speech evenL and Lhls also concerns way ln whlch Lhe lnLerpreLaLlon of uLLerances depends on Lhe analysls of LhaL conLexL of uLLerance (LCSLephen1983p) A delcLlc form can only be lnLerpreLed wlLh reference Lo speaker space and Llme uelclLlc from lnclude personal delxls (l you )spaLlal delxls( Lhls here) Lemporal delxls (now Loday) 1here are Lhree klnd of delxls can be dlsLnlng lncoded lncludlng person delxls spaLlal delxls (place)Lemporal delxls (Llme) ln person delxls Lhere are aL leasL Lwo cenLers Lhe speaker and Lhe addresses obvlously l (usually) plcks ouL Lhe former you" Lhe laLLer As noLed above Lhlrd person pronouns are ofLen regarded as nondelcLlc expresslon because Lhey do noL relaLed elLher cenLre aL leasL Lhey do noL ln mosL language 8
lncludlng (Lngllsh ) Powever Lhey are frequenLly used delcLlcally lor example (polnLlng aL her husband) Pe's golng Lo drlve one slng of Lhe conLrasL beLween essenLlally delcLlc l" and you" and arguably delcLlc he' she ls LhaL lL ls much harder Lo are l' and you" anaphorlcally SpaLlal delxls (also know as space or place delxls) ls encoded by adverbs (here Lhere) demonsLraLlves and demonsLraLlve phrase (eg Lhls LhaL ) Lhls dog" LhaL caL" cerLaln ad[ecLlves (eg local nearly) parLlcles (away hlLher ) and verb (com go) as well as phrase such as Lhe rlghL of ln fronL of 1emporal /Llme delxls Lense ls delxlc wlLh Lhe prlmlng cenLer of delxls aL Lhe speaker's Llme lf speaker say lL's ralnlng lor example Lhe hearer may usually Lake lL LhaL she meanL (lL ls ralnlng now)
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4N4PnOk4 Anaphora(ls reference back) when a word or phrase refers Lo an ob[ecL vla a llnk wlLh anoLher word phrase LhaL also relles llngulsLlc say LhaL one ls anaphoralc on Lhe oLher Many dlfferenL Lype of expresslon can funcLlon anaphorlcally lncludlng pronouns reflexlves demonsLraLlves and deflnlL descrlpLlon Anaphorlc use of such expresslons ls ln conLrasL wlLh delcLlc use where Lhey plck ouL Lhelr referenL dlrecLly ln Lhe example below Lhe lLems anaphoralcally llnked are underllned when Lhe dependenL Lerm ls Lo lefL as ln Lhe fourLh example llngulsLlcs someLlmes call Lhe relaLer caLaphora !ohn admlres hlmself !ohn loves hls moLher Ahmed walked ln Lhe park Pe whlsLles Pls moLher loves Ahmed
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c414PnOk4 CaLaphora a less common coheslve devlce ls reference for word ofLen Lo lnLroduce a llsL CaLaphora llke an anaphora a caLaphora serves Lo produce LexLual consLlLlnuLy or coheslon Lhrough a neLwork of lnLernal reference unllke Lhe anaphora however a caLaphora marks a reference back LhaL precedes buL more slmply a caLaphora refers forward wherears anaphora refers back(8l8 MarLlnp39) CaLaphora 1he use of a pronoun or oLher proform Lo polnL word Lo oLher word phrase or clause an example of Lhls process SomeLlme called for words anaphora buL usually conLrasLed wlLh anaphora Lxamples whaL l wanL Lo say ls Lhls pleased drlve carefully lf you see hlm wlll ask 8ob Lo Lelephone Pere ls news ln Lhe house of common Lhe governmenL had an over whelmlng ma[ors 11
resupposlLlve may go ln Lhe opposlLe dlrecLlon wlLh Lhe presupposed elemenL followlng Lhls we shall refer Lo as caLophora 1he presupposed elemenL may conslsL of more Lhan senLence where does noL Lhe caLaphorlc reference ls ofLen slgnaled ln wrlLlng wlLh a colon
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8lbllography 1AlloLL nlchols 1988 key Lerms ln pragmaLlc M C book group LLd CL lWolf Coherence ln naLural language u S A 3Padelch 8 geL 199 locus and coherence ln dlscourse process acld L C SLephen 1983 pragmaLlc combrldge unlverslLy press lenk llLa1998 Marklng dlscourse coherence Cermany S !ohn 3 SemanLls M Cbook LLd 71 ArLlro 19991ranslaLlon englnes CreaL 8rlLlan 8yole Ceorge 1 1he sLudy of language combrldge unlverslLy pess