18 people from another country would be interested to visit the country. Slogans or
taglines of the countries might become an identity of the countries or states themselves.
3. Presupposition Triggers
One of the objectives of this study is to find out how the presuppositional triggers hold to support the categorization of the presupposition into its type. In
this section, the researcher presents the theories on presupposition triggers and kinds of presupposition triggers.
a. Theories on Presupposition Triggers
To analyze the data obtained, presuppositional triggers are needed to help the researcher to indicate what the
countries’ and states’ slogans presuppose. Before the researcher categorizes the presuppositions discovered in countries
’ and states’ slogans into their types, the researcher would like to analyze the
presupposition triggers first. The analysis of presupposition triggers would ease the researcher to categorize the presupposition into its type.
Presuppositions seem to be tied to certain words or aspects of surface structure in general. We shall call such presupposition-generating linguistic items
presupposition triggers Levinson, 1983 p. 179. Glanzberg 2003 says that presupposition triggers are words or phrases whose use in a sentence often
indicates the presence of a presupposition. In this study, the researcher tried to find out the presupposition triggers and classify the presuppositions into its types.
Levinson 1983 says the idea of presupposition was to suggest that there are
19 pragmatics limitations on the use of such sentences that they can only be
appropriately used if it is assumed in the context that the propositions indicated by the presupposition triggers are true. To be able to know what a sentence
presupposes, it is needed to construct a list of presupposition triggers.
b. Kinds of Presupposition Triggers
Presuppositions which are triggered by the actual language used, in other words there are linguistics items which act as presupposition triggers Hickey,
1998, p. 115-116. There is a list of such triggers in language according to Hickey 1998. Presupposition triggers include such things as:
1 Verb of change of state asking somebody to stop or start doing something
presupposes that they were or were not doing it in the first place, just as telling somebody to ‘get a life’ presupposes that they lead a boring
existence. 2
Iterative asking somebody if they have done something again presupposes they have done it before.
3 Temporal clauses telling somebody ‘after you have done that, do ‘this’
presupposes they will do ‘that’. 4
Definite descriptions expressions which refer to entities or something supposed to exist in the real world.
Presupposition is somewhat special among pragmatics categories where they often have syntactic or lexical signals, also called presupposition triggers
Levinson, 1983, p. 181. These triggers are responsible for the occurrences of
20 certain presupposition. Besides Hickey 1998, who defines presupposition
triggers into four aspects, Karttunen 1973 has collected 13 kinds of presuppositional triggers. The examples provide positive and negative versions
separate by ‘’ to allow the readers to check the inferences, and the presupposition triggers themselves are italicized and the note below the examples is what they
presuppose.
1 Definite Descriptions
Definite description is such expressions which refer to entities supposed to exist in the real world. Sentence which contains definite description will indicates
something exists in this world. Here is the example of definite descriptions:
Mary saw did not see the man with two heads. The sentences “Mary saw the man with two heads” and “Mary did not see the man
with two heads ” indicate the same thing that there exists a man with two heads. It
is not about whether Mary sees the man with two heads or not, but the existence of a man who has two heads.
2 Factive Verbs
Here are some examples of factive verbs: a
Denise regrets does not regret drinking David’s home brew. The sentences “Denise regrets drinking David’s home brew” and “Denise does
not regret drinking David’s home brew” are not focusing about Denise’s regret. Those two sentences show the same fact that Denise drinks David’s home brew.
21 b
Dracula was was not aware that the Frankenstein was there. The sentences “Dracula was aware that the Frankenstein was there” and
“Dracula was not aware that the Frankenstein was there” specify the same fact that the Frankenstein was there and it has nothing to do with the Dracula whether
he is aware or not. c
Don realized did not realize that he was in debt. The sentences “Don realized that he was in debt” and “Don did not realize that he
was in debt ” are also indicate the same truth that the person name Don in the
sentence was in debt. d
It was odd it was not odd how happy she was. The two sentences “It was odd how happy she was” and “It was not odd how
happy she was ” do not focused on what way she is happy. These two sentences
indicate the same thing that she the person mentioned in the sentence above was happy. Some further factive predicates: know; be sorry that; be proud that; be
indifferent that; be glad that; be sad that.
3 Implicative Verbs
Here are some examples of implicative verbs: a
Ruth managed did not manage to open the door. The sentences “Ruth managed to open the door” and “Ruth did not manage to
open the door ” indicate the same thing that Ruth the person mentioned in the
sentence tried or intended to open the door. b
Ruth forgot did not forget to lock the door.
22 The two sentences “Ruth forgot to lock the door” and “Ruth did not forget to lock
the door ” specified the same truth that Ruth the person mentioned in the sentence
above ought to have locked, or intended to lock the door. Some further implicative predicates: X happened to V, X did not plan or intend to
V; X avoided Ving, X was expected to, or usually did, or ought to V, etc.
4 Change of State Verbs
Change of state verbs have characteristic that is asking somebody to stop doing something or start doing something presupposes that they were or were not
doing it in the first time. Here are some examples of change of state verbs:
a Charlie stopped did not stop beating his son.
The sentences “Charlie stopped beating his son” and “Charlie did not stop beating
his son ” presuppose the same thing that whether or not the person name Charlie in
those sentences stopped or did not stop beating his son, the truth is that he had been beating his son.
b Jenny began did not begin to beat her sister.
The sentences “Jenny began to beat her sister” and “Jenny did not began to beat her sister
” indicate the same thing that whether or not, Jenny, the person mentioned in the sentences above began or did not begin to beat her sister, the
truth is that she had not been beating her sister. c
Kissinger continued did not continue to rule the world. The two
sentences “Kissinger continued to rule the world” and “Kissinger did not continue to rule the world
” do not centered on whether or not Kissinger continue
23 to rule the world. Meanwhile, those two sentences have the same truth that
Kissinger the person mentioned above had been ruling the world. Some further change of state verbs: start; finish; carry on; cease; take as in X
took Y from Z, Y was at in with Z; leave, enter; come; go; arrive; etc.
5 Iteratives
Iteratives have characteristic that is asking somebody whether if they have done something again presupposes they have done it before.
Here are some examples of iteratives: a
The flying saucer came did not come again. The two sentences “The flying saucer came again” and “The flying saucer did not
come again ” presuppose the same thing that the flying saucer came before. The
phrase “again” indicates that the flying saucer had been coming before and now it comes again.
b You cannot get gobstoppers anymore.
The sentence “You cannot get gobstoppers anymore” presupposes that you the person mentioned by the speaker above once could get gobstoppers.
c Carter returned did not return to power.
The two sentences “Carter returned to power” and “Carter did not return to power
” presuppose the same thing that is, Carter, the person mentioned in the sentences held power before. The word return and did not return indicate that
Carter had the power before. Some further iteratives: another time; to come back; restore; repeat; for the nth
time.
24 6
Verbs of Judging Here are some examples of verbs of judging:
a Veronica accused did not accuse Don of plagiarism.
The sentences “Veronica accused Don of plagiarism” and “Veronica did not
accused Don of plagiarism ” indicate the same truth that, Veronica, the person
mentioned above thinks that the action of plagiarism is bad. b
Don criticized did not criticize Veronica for running away. The two sentences “Don criticized Veronica for running away” and “Don did not
criticize Veronica for running away ” presuppose the same thing that, Don, the
person mentioned in the sentence above thinks that Veronica the woman mentioned in the sentence ran away.
7 Temporal Clauses
Temporal clauses have characteristic that is telling somebody that ‘after
you have done that, do this ’ presupposes they will do ‘that’.
Here are some examples of temporal clauses: a
Before Strawson was even born, Frege noticed did not notice presuppositions.
The two sentences “Before Strawson was even born, Frege noticed presupposition
” and “Before Strawson was even born, Frege did not notice presupposition
” indicate the same thing that whether or not Frege noticed or did not notice presupposition, the truth is Strawson was born.
b While Chomsky was revolutionizing linguistics, the rest of social
science was was not asleep.
25 From t
he sentences “While Chomsky was revolutionizing linguistics, the rest of social science was asleep
” and “While Chomsky was revolutionizing linguistics, the rest of social science was not asleep
” can be seen that although those two sentences convey different meaning, but still those sentences indicate the truth
that Chomsky was revolutionizing linguistics. c
Since Churchill died, we have lacked we have not lacked a leader. From the two sentences above “Since Churchill died, we have lacked a leader”
and “Since Churchill died, we have not lacked a leader” can be seen that although we the people in the sentence have lacked a leader or have not lacked a leader,
both of the sentences above convey the same truth that Churchill died. Some further temporal clause constructors: after; during; whenever; as as in As
John was getting up, he slipped. 8
Cleft Sentences A cleft sentence is a complex sentence in which a simple sentence is
expressed using a main clause and a subordinate clause. In English, the prototypical cleft sentence has the following form:
It + be + X + subordinate clause Here are some examples of cleft sentences:
a It was was not Declan that kissed Martha.
The sentences “It was Declan that kissed Martha” and “It was not Declan that kissed Martha
” presuppose the same fact that whether it is Declan or not who kissed Martha, those two sentences indicate the same truth that there is someone
who kissed Martha.
26 b
What Declan lost did not lose was his wallet. The two sentences “What Declan lost was his wallet” and “What Declan did not
lost was his wallet ” convey the same meaning that whether or not Declan lost his
wallet, the truth is that Declan lost something.
9 Implicit Clefts with Stressed Constituents
Here are some examples of implicit clefts with stressed constituents: The particular presuppositions that seem to arise from the two cleft constructions
seem also to be triggered simply by heavy stress on a constituent, as illustrated by the following examples where upper-case characters indicate contrastive stress:
a Linguistics was was not invented by CHOMSKY
The sentences “Linguistics was invented by CHOMSKY” and “Linguistics was not
invented by CHOMSKY ” indicate the same thing that whether or not Chomsky
invented the Linguistics, the truth is someone invented linguistics. cf. It was was not Chomsky that invented linguistics.
b Tom did did not compete in the OLYMPICS.
The two sentences “Tom did compete in the OLYMPICS” and “Tom did not
compete in the OLYMPICS ” indicate that whether it is the Olympics or not, the
truth is that Tom did compete somewhere. cf. It was was not in the Olympics that Tom competed.
10 Comparisons and Contrasts
Comparisons and contrast may be marked by stress or by other prosodic means, by particles like too, back, in return, or by comparative constructions:
27 a
Bella is is not a better linguist than Darla. The sentences above “Bella is a better linguist than Darla” and “Bella is not a
better linguist than Darla ” convey the same meaning whether Bella is a better
linguist than Darla or not, the truth of both sentences is that Darla is a linguist. The word
“better” in both of the sentences indicates the comparisons and contrasts.
b Tom is is not as unpredictably gauche as John.
Both of the sentences above “Tom is as unpredictably gauche as John” and “Tom is not as unpredictably gauche as John
” indicate one certain thing that John is unpredictably gauche. The words
“as unpredictably gauche as” here indicate the comparisons and contrasts.
11 Non-restrictive Relative Clauses
In non-restrictive relative clause, note that there are two major kinds of relative clause in English
– those that restrict or delimit the noun phrase they modify restrictive as in Only the boys who are tall can reach the cupboard and
those that provide additional parenthetical information non-restrictive as in Hillary, who climbed Everest in 1953, was the greatest explorer of our day. The
later kind is not affected by the negation of the main verb outside the relative clause and thus gives rise to presupposition:
The Proto-Harrappans, who flourished 2800 – 2650 B.C., were were not
great temple builders. The two sentences
“The Proto-Harrappans, who flourished 2800 – 2650 B.C., were great temple builders
” and “The Proto-Harrappans, who flourished 2800 –
28 2650 B.C., were not great temple builders
” show the truth that the Proto- Harrappans flourished 2800
– 2650 B.C. The comma , symbol indicates the non- restrictive relative clause.
12 Counterfactual Conditionals
Here are some examples of counterfactual conditionals: a
If Hannibal had only had twelve more elephants, the Romance language would would not this day exist.
The two sentences above “If Hannibal had only had twelve more elephants, the Romance language would this day exist
” and “If Hannibla had only had twelve more elephants, the Romance would not this day exist
” presuppose the same thing that Hannibal did not have twelve more elephants.
The word “if” in both of the sentences indicates the counterfactual conditionals.
b If the notice had only said ‘mine-field’ in English as well as Welsh, we
would would never have lost poor Llewellyn. Both of the sentences “If the notice had only said ‘mine-field’ in English as well as
Welsh, we would have lost poor Llewellyn ” and “If the notice had only said ‘mine-
field’ in English as well as Welsh, we would never have lost poor Llewellyn” presuppose one thing that the notice did not say mine-field in English. Same as
the previous example, the word “if” indicates the counterfactual conditionals.
13 Questions
A question will generally share the presupposition of their assertive counterparts. However, interrogative forms themselves introduce further
29 presuppositions, of a rather different kind. It is necessary to distinguish different
types of questions: yes no questions will generally have vacuous presuppositions, being the disjunction of their possible answers. There are the
only kinds of presuppositions of questions that are invariant under negation. WH- questions introduce the presuppositions obtained by replacing the WH-word by
the appropriate existentially quantified variable, e.g. who by someone, where by somewhere, how by somehow, etc. These presuppositions are not invariant to
negation. a
Is there a professor of linguistics at MIT? The interrogative sentence above presupposes that either there is a professor of
linguistics at MIT or there is not. The form of be is points out the curiosity whether or not there is a professor of linguistics at MIT.
b Who is the professor of linguistics at MIT?
The interrogative sentence above presupposes that someone is the professor of linguistics at MIT. The pronoun who shows the curiosity about who the
professor of linguistics at MIT is.
4. Pragmatics Presuppositions