A Research On Several Presupposition Triggers In Mandarin

The research object of this paper is the presupposition triggers in Mandarin.Firstly, we’ll introduce the academic studies on presupposition and presupposition triggers, and then, we’ll propose our own understanding on presupposition and presupposition triggers. Finally, we’ll study four cases in detail. The whole thesis consists of seven chapters, each chapter is as follows.The first chapter is introduction. The history of presupposition research can be divided into three stages, which are semantic presupposition stage, pragmatic presupposition stage, and stage of multiple development. We have reviewed the research within the three stages among academic circles, and we have also discussed the current deficiencies in the studies. In addition, we discuss the writing value of this paper, the content of this paper, and the source of corpus.The second chapter is some theoretical problem about presupposition and presupposition triggers. The negative test question has been discussed for a long time among academic circles. We’ll negate the view putting the negation test as the definition of presupposition. This chapter mainly discusses the definition of presupposition.Presupposition is the "background" of the sentence, and a semantic concept. This chapter also discusses the definition and characteristics of presupposition trigger. We discuss some of the language expressions in Mandarin according to those characteristics. We believe that the adverbial clause of time, comparative structure and questions are not the presupposition triggers. Mandarin presupposition triggersinclude some verbs, some adverbs, some stress,"le"(了) and some conjunctions of complex sentences. Finally we discuss definite expressions. We think that we should distinguish the presupposition triggers and words embodying the presupposition. We think not all definite expressions are presupposition triggers, while "this/that" in "this/that+N" is the presupposition trigger.The third chapter is the presupposition trigger "this/that". This chapter discusses the semantic conditions of triggering presuppositions of the demonstrative pronoun "this/that". We think that the "this" for "instructions""substitution" can trigger presupposition, and the "this" for "discourse associating", and "filling" cannot trigger presupposition. We think that the "that" for "instructions""substitution" can trigger presupposition, and the "that" for "referring to the class", and "filling" cannot trigger presupposition. We also think, as for the "that" in double reference phrase, some can trigger presuppositions, the others cannot. This chapter also discusses the syntactic condition of triggering presuppositions of the demonstrative pronoun "this/that".The fourth chapter is the verbal presupposition trigger. Academic circles classified the verbal presupposition trigger from the perspective of meaning, Classifyingverbal presupposition triggers from the function perspective cannot exhauste the classification of the verbal presupposition trigger, and it also cannot avoid the crossing phenomenon between the small classes. Having abandoned the definition of the verbal presupposition triggers from the semantic perspective, we define verbal presupposition triggers from the function perspective. The verbal presupposition triggers includes "factive verb","meaning verb" and "change of state verb". Verbs triggering presupposition has its specific semantic and syntactic condition.The fifth chapter is the verified adverbial presupposition trigger. This chapter proposes that the adverbialpresupposition triggers includeverifiedadverbsbesidesrepetitive adverbs, factive adverbs. This kind of adverb triggers thepresuppositionthat "someone has had a viewpoint". Some verified adverbs are affirmative, such as "queshi"(确实),"guoran"(果然),"zhende"(真的), while some verified adverbs are negative, such as "bing"(并) Finally, we analysed the triggering presupposition function of "duoshao"(多少), and discussed the meaning of the adverb "duoshao"(多少). We think the adverb "duoshao"(多少) can trigger presupposition, and it belongs to the verified adverbial presupposition trigger..The sixth chapter is the presupposition trigger "you"(又).We think that the adverb "you"(又) cannot trigger presupposition under any circumstances. When "you"(又) means "repeat" or "supplement", it can trigger presuppositions. When "you"(又) means "turning","strengthen the negative tone","strengthenrhetorical mood" or "add", it cannot trigger presuppositions. Those are semanticconditions triggering presupposition of "you"(又).In addition,"you"(又) cannot trigger presuppositions under some syntactic circumstances.The seventh chapter is the conclusion. This chapter gives a summary by pointing out the main conclusions and innovations of the text. This chapter also points out the shortcomings of this thesis, as well as the need for further research.To sum up, we have made some theoretical discussion on presupposition triggers. We also discuss some examples of presupposition triggers in Mandarin. We hope that this paper can provide some help for further study of presupposition trigger.