What is Presupposition? Theories on Presupposition

such as work, family, friends, and community. Using context, people quickly decipher what information is relevant in a given situation. As people, we can recognize the contexts we are in, know what information is applicable to each context, and derive information from each context. For an instance, if a customer in a computer store says burner, the store clerk will take the customer to the CD and DVD recorder section. Stove burners, Bunsen burners, and wood burners are all out of the dialogue for the interaction is in the context of a computer store. In the term of presupposition, context cannot be neglected. Presupposition is the requirements that the context must satisfy so the utterance can be interpreted at all. It has the different territory with assertion. Assertion is the claims that are made, based on the context. Some linguists term presupposition as the “implicit assumptions about the real world, and the sense of the utterance may depend on those assumptions” Fromkin et al., 2003: 216. It means that presupposition is a background belief that the speaker shares to the listener. It is something that sits, unsaid, and helps provide meaning about what a person says. When a person says something – makes an utterance– the meaning of that sentence has to do with the words, but the meaning only exists within the context of what else is in the persons head that provides meaning. When two people are trying to communicate, and their presuppositions are not known to each other, thats when misunderstanding takes place. Consider the sentence below: Would you have another coke? This sentence presupposes or implies that you have already had at least one glass bottle can of coke. Part of the PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI meaning of the word another includes this presupposition Brown, 1983: 229. Both the speaker and the listener presuppose the same. They share the same knowledge for they engage in a communication act. The question makes no sense, however, without that supposition, since why would a person ask you to have another if you have had nothing yet? Let’s have another example: Did you stop beating your wife? The above sentence presupposes that you have a wife. It also presupposes that you WERE beating your wife. The communication, however, will not be intelligent if the background belief that the speaker share is different from the listener’s. What will happen is a nasty argument.

b. Types of Presupposition

The categorization of presupposition varies, depending on the linguist that explores it. In this thesis, the writer uses the theory from Yule 1996 in classifying presuppositions. His theory is also used by Christoph Haase, a lecturer and researcher in English linguistics Chemnitz University of Technology: 2009, in his site about presupposition on the internet. According to Yule 1996: 25-34, there are six types of presupposition, which are elaborated as follows: 1 Existential presupposition This type of presupposition is a basic kind of presupposition. It typically presupposes the existence of something or some ideas. It is usually triggered by definite descriptions which are formed by using proper names, definite article, demonstrative pronoun and possessives. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI Example: Mary’s car is red. The sentence presupposes that Mary has a car. 2 Factive presupposition Such presupposition is information following verbs like know, realize, regret, surprised, stramge, and a fairly large number of other verbs, predicate adjectives, and predicate nouns which take a clause as subject or object. The information is considered as fact. In other words, this kind of presupposition presupposes truth of what is stated. Examples: • She didn’t realize John was ill. It presupposes that John was ill. • I regretted telling him. It presupposes that the speaker told another person. • I’m glad it’s over. It presupposes that the situation it is over. 3 Lexical presupposition A lexical presupposition is a presupposition, that another, non-asserted meaning is understood. Unlike factive presupposition, lexical presupposition presupposes an unstated concept. Examples: • Sarah managed to win in the contest. The sentence presupposes that Sarah succeeded in the contest. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI