Abstract
This paper experimentally investigates presupposition projection from the scope ofthe quantifiers every and at least one, as triggered by the factive verb be aware and the iterativeadverb again. The first issue we are concerned with is whether presuppositions projectuniversally or existentially from quantified sentences. Different theoretical accounts endorseopposing views here (e.g., Heim, 1983; Geurts, 1999; Beaver, 2001; Schlenker, 2008, 2009;Fox, 2012), while recent experimental work (Chemla, 2009; Tiemann, 2014) suggests thatthe force of the projected presupposition varies by quantifier. The second issue we look atis how the descriptively observed readings arise—in particular, as a direct result output fromthe projection mechanism, or via additional, independent mechanisms such as domain restriction(e.g., Geurts and van Tiel, 2016): if the domain of the quantifier is restricted, this canyield what looks like non-universal inferences in light of the overall, unrestricted domain, evenif the projection mechanism itself yields a universal presupposition. Finally, we test whetherthe presupposed content also forms part of the entailed content, at least for certain triggers(Sudo, 2012; Klinedinst, 2016; Zehr and Schwarz, 2016). Our results yield clearly differentpatterns for every and at least one, with every giving rise to universal presuppositions, which,to a very limited extent, can be weakened by domain restriction, and at least one overwhelminglygiving rise to non-universal presuppositions. Our results also indicate the availability ofpresupposition-less readings for both triggers in the task at hand, apparently more prevalentthan domain restriction. Thereby, we present novel evidence that helps to pinpoint which of thetheoretical options can be substantiated experimentally.Keywords: Presupposition projection, quantifiers, domain restriction, entailment.
Highlights
One of the core properties of presuppositions is that they generally project out of a variety of embedding environments which cancel entailed content
The results indicate a significant difference in the availability of universal presuppositions, depending on the quantifier used: he finds evidence for universal projection from the scope of the universal quantifier each, but not from the scope of existential quantifiers
This section discusses two important factors that can affect whether presupposed content under quantifiers give rise to universal or existential inferences: implicit Domain Restriction (Section 2.1) andentailment of the presupposition (Section 2.2)
Summary
One of the core properties of presuppositions is that they generally project out of a variety of embedding environments which cancel entailed content. (1a-c), with the factive verb be aware as a presupposition trigger, uniformly presuppose that the alien is blue, despite being embedded under negation or in a question, both of which cancel the entailed content of the embedded material (Karttunen, 1973). A. The alien is aware that he is blue (1) bc. This section discusses two important factors that can affect whether presupposed content under quantifiers give rise to universal or existential inferences: implicit Domain Restriction (Section 2.1) and (non-)entailment of the presupposition (Section 2.2). A universal presupposition gives rise to the notion that all aliens are blue.
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