What is a presupposition denial?

Definition
	A presupposition denial is a noncontradictory negation of a presupposition in a clause by an assertion in another clause.

Example (English)
	In the utterance John doesn’t regret doing a useless Ph.D., because, in fact, he never did do one, the presupposition "John did a useless Ph.D." is denied by the second clause.

Source
	Levinson 1983 194–195

Context for this page:

Concept module: presupposition denial
In overview module: Glossary (Linguistics): P
In modular book: Glossary of linguistic terms, by Eugene E. Loos (general editor), Susan Anderson (editor), Dwight H., Day, Jr. (editor), Paul C. Jordan (editor), and J. Douglas Wingate (editor)
In bookshelf: Linguistics

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 5 January 2004

© 2004 SIL International