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Entailment & Presupposition

The document discusses entailment and presupposition. [1] Entailment is when one sentence necessarily includes the meaning of another, more specific sentence. [2] Two-way entailment, or paraphrase, means two sentences have the same meaning but are worded differently. [3] Presupposition is information that is assumed to be true even when negated, such as "John stopped stealing office supplies" presupposes that John used to steal office supplies.

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Waad Majid
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80 views

Entailment & Presupposition

The document discusses entailment and presupposition. [1] Entailment is when one sentence necessarily includes the meaning of another, more specific sentence. [2] Two-way entailment, or paraphrase, means two sentences have the same meaning but are worded differently. [3] Presupposition is information that is assumed to be true even when negated, such as "John stopped stealing office supplies" presupposes that John used to steal office supplies.

Uploaded by

Waad Majid
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ENTAILMENT & PRESUPPOSITION

ENTAILMENT

In the following sentences, does the first sentence entail the second? If it does, does it arise from
meaning inclusion?
(a) That animal is a colie. (specific) That animal is a dog. (General)

(b) Egbert killed Ethelbert. (specific) Ethelbert is not alive. (General)

(c) A tall woman came in. (specific) A tall person came in. (General)

(d) I am wearing brown shoes (specific) I am wearing brown footwear. (General)

(f) I ran to the beach. (specific) I went to the beach. (General)

(h) Jim lives in Manchester. (specific) Jim lives in England. (General)

(i) It’s a sandal. (specific) It’s an item of footwear. (General)

(j) I saw you sprint to the library. (specific) I saw you run to the library yesterday. (General)

These all are One-way entailment (Include the specific in the general)

TWO-WAY ENTAILMENT

(Exactly like paraphrasing, it means the same thing but reversed)

 They ambled round the square entails They strolled round the square.
 They strolled round the square entails They ambled round the square.

 I painted my car wheels vermilion entails I painted my wheels scarlet.


 I painted my car wheels scarlet entails I painted my wheels vermilion.

A technical term for two-way entailment between sentences is paraphrase. (Paraphrase is a


relationship of sameness of meaning between sentences; synonymy is the corresponding
relationship between words.)

1
PRESUPPOSITION:

Presupposition survives negation.


Look at the following example: What presuppositions does this sentence give rise to?

‘John stopped stealing office supplies’.


1. There is a person called John.
2. John works in an office.
3. John used to steal office supplies.

Exercise: What are the presuppositions of the following sentences?

1. Judy's boyfriend is a policeman.


There is a person called Judy, who has a boyfriend who is a policeman.

2. I accused Peter of mumbling.


There is someone called Peter and he used to mumble.

3. I criticized Peter for mumbling.


There is a person called Peter who mumbles.

4. I'm sorry Dave is not here.


There is a person called Dave.

5. I'm not sorry Dave is not here.


There is a person called Dave.

6. Your car needs mending.


You have a car and it’s broken down.

7. The Mayor of Preston is away.


Preston has a mayor, and he is away.

8. How fast was the motorbike going when it jumped the red light?
There is a motorbike which was running fast.

9. She has stopped smoking.


She used to smoke but she stopped

10. My sister got married last week.


I have a sister and she’s no longer single.

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