A Pragmatic Study Of Presupposition Projection And Its Implication For CET

'Presupposition'is an important topic of traditional Anglo-American pragmatics. The projection problem is one of the most challenging and problematic issues concerning presupposition. It involves the behavior of presupposition in complex sentences. Since the first time it came under investigation, many scholars and linguists have proposed various theories and hypotheses, but almost all of them are far from being satisfactory. The overall objective of the present work is first of all to illustrate and explain how pragmatic elements affect the process and result of projection, then analyze the relationship of projection characteristics with pragmatic elements and finally attempt to offer a more dynamic, more forceful and comparatively more comprehensive explanation for the projection problem which may prove closer to our linguistic intuition.Included in this thesis are four chapters as follows. Chapter one provides some fundamental information of presupposition before turning its attention onto the projection problem. In chapter two, some influential theories and approaches aiming at solving the projection problem are illustrated, explained and evaluated, namely the Cumulative Hypothesis, Hole-Plug-Filter theory and Cancellation Approach. Through verification, we see these theories succeed in certain aspects but fall into failure one way or another. The projection problem is partially but far from being satisfactorily solved. In chapter three, pragmatic elements are defined first. Then specific examples are provided to show the working of pragmatic elements in the process and result of projection. The sensitivity of the projection problem towards context is thus exposed. From a pragmatic perspective, the description and explanation of the projection problem proves to be objective, scientific and closer to our linguistic intuition. Detailed information includes definition of pragmatic elements, and the relation of pragmatic elements with the projection problem. Chapter four, following an in-depth theoretical study of the projection problem, explores the practical value of the study, that is, its implication for...