Presupposition Trigger

Overview

A presupposition trigger is a linguistic element, typically a word or phrase, that signals the presence of a presupposition. Presuppositions are background beliefs or assumptions that are taken for granted in the utterance of a sentence. These triggers are crucial for understanding implied meanings.

Key Concepts

Types of Triggers

Common triggers include:

• Factive verbs: verbs like ‘know’, ‘realize’, ‘regret’ presuppose the truth of their complement clause. Example: ‘John knows that Mary is here’ presupposes ‘Mary is here’.
• Definite descriptions: phrases like ‘the X’ presuppose the existence of X. Example: ‘The king of France is bald’ presupposes ‘There is a king of France’.
• Iteratives: words like ‘again’, ‘too’, ‘also’ presuppose a previous or similar event. Example: ‘Mary came again‘ presupposes ‘Mary came before’.
• Change of state verbs: verbs like ‘stop’, ‘start’, ‘continue’ presuppose a prior state. Example: ‘John stopped smoking’ presupposes ‘John used to smoke’.

Deep Dive

Presupposition triggers operate semantically, embedding assumptions within the grammatical structure. They allow speakers to convey information implicitly, relying on the listener’s ability to infer the presupposed content. The trigger ensures that the presupposition remains true even when the sentence is negated or questioned.

For instance, with ‘stop’, the trigger ‘stopped’ presupposes the prior state of ‘smoking’. Negating it (‘John did not stop smoking’) still presupposes he was smoking. This constancy under negation is a hallmark of presuppositions.

Applications

Understanding triggers is vital in areas like:

• Pragmatics: Analyzing how context and assumptions shape meaning.
• Natural Language Processing (NLP): Developing systems that can infer implicit information.
• Discourse Analysis: Examining how speakers build shared understanding.
• Philosophy of Language: Studying truth conditions and meaning.

Challenges & Misconceptions

A common misconception is that triggers always guarantee a presupposition. Context can sometimes override or cancel a trigger’s presupposition. Also, distinguishing triggers from other implicature devices can be challenging.

FAQs

What is the most common presupposition trigger?

Factive verbs and definite descriptions are among the most frequently encountered triggers in everyday language.

Can a sentence have multiple triggers?

Yes, a single sentence can contain multiple presupposition triggers, each contributing its own assumed information.