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Presupposition vs Entailment - Coggle Diagram
Presupposition vs Entailment
1. Definition :question:
Entailment is something that logically follows from what is asserted in the utterance
Sentences (not speakers) have entailments
Any logical consequence of an utterance
Eg: Amy won five dollars
=> Entailment : Army won five dollars of sth
2. Distinguish between presupposition and entailment :fire:
A presupposition
**-It is something the speaker assumes to be the case prior to making an utterance.
-Speakers, not sentences, have presuppositions.**
Ex: Sara’s brother Tom ate three chocolate bars
=> presupposition: a person called Sara exists
An entailment
**-It is something that logically follows from what is asserted in the utterance.
-Sentences, not speakers, have entailments.
-Speakers have presuppositions while sentences have entailments.**
Presupposition vs Entailment
Presupposition
-Speaker assumes to be the case prior to making an utterance
-Speakers, not sentences, have presuppositions
-More speaker-dependent notion
Example
John’s sister bought a new car.
Presuppositions are
→ John exists
→ John has sisters
→ John has only one sister
→ She has a lot of money
Entailment
→ John’s sister bought something
→ She bought a car
→ She had a old car/motorbike
Entailment
-Something that logically follows from what is asserted in the utterance
-Sentences, not speakers, have entailments
-Naturally logic and less discussed
Different types of entailment
Background entailment
Logical concept of entailment
A very large number of them exits for an utterance
Yule (1998: 33) gives an example as follow.
(1) Rover chased three squirrels(=p)
(a) Something chased three squirrels. (=q)
(b) Rover did something to three squirrels. (=r)
(c) Rover chased three of something. (=s)
(d) Something happened. (=t)
When a speaker uttered Rover chased three squirrels , he is committed to the truth of those background entailments or the logical concept (=q, =r, =s, =t).
Foreground entailment
Main logical consequence of an utterance (more important for interpreting intended meaning than any others)
Main assumption: Army won a certain number of dollars
cleft
Similar function like a foreground entailment
Example
It was Rover who chased three squirrels.
It was me who chased three squirrels.
stress
Example
Rover chased three squirrels.
Rover chased three squirrels.