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Presupposition triggers, surface expressions of presupposition, are constructions or items through which we can make common-sense reasoning or backward reasoning to get the presupposition of the utterance.
Researches conducted in this field so far are mostly focused on English, and very few studies have been made in depth with respect to Chinese, especially comparative study on presupposition triggers in English and Chinese. The present thesis finds that while many presupposition carrying expressions are semantically and pragmatically the same in English and Chinese, some differences still exist resulting from different syntactic rules and cultural backgrounds. By distinguishing them, we can reason presupposition more precisely and adequately in both English and Chinese discourses, thus contributing to successful intra-cultural or inter-cultural communication and translation practice. It finds that lexical presupposition triggers, especially verbs, are used much more frequently than syntactic presupposition triggers. And the main differences between two languages lie in cultural and syntactic factors. Practically, this study can also facilitate language learning and improve understanding of implicit meaning.源/自:751:;论-文'网www.751com.cn
This thesis talks about the definition of presupposition and then proceeds to discuss separately the evolution of the research on English presupposition triggers and Chinese presupposition triggers. Based on the discussion, a comparative analysis of English and Chinese presupposition triggers was made by drawing on some previous researches on presupposition triggers.
2. Literature Review
The definition of presupposition is very complex and elusive. Till now, there is no consensus on it. Saeed thought that to presuppose something means to assume it (Saeed, 2000: 197). In Yule’s opinion, a presupposition is something the speaker assumes to be the case prior to making an utterance (Yule, 2000:234). Cummings held the view that presupposition is one significant category of pragmatic phenomenon. In general it constitutes assumptions or inferences that are implicit in particular linguistic expressions (Cummings, 2005:204). A simple and informal definition for presupposition can be seen in Huang, where it is defined as “an inference or proposition whose truth is taken for granted in the utterance of a sentence” (Huang Yan, 2009:65). Presupposition mainly acts as a precondition for the appropriate use of the sentence. The negation of the sentence can not change this background assumption. In some respects, presupposition seems free of contextual effects; in other respects, though, presupposition seems sensitive to facts about the context of utterance (Saeed, 2000:93). Therefore, some linguists have pided presupposition into two types: semantic presupposition and pragmatic presupposition. The former is a logic and static research from the perspective of semantics and truth value. The latter analyzes presupposition in pragmatic approach and presupposition, to pragmatics, is a precondition sensitive to context and related to the beliefs, attitudes, and intention of the interlocutors.