On Pragmatic Presupposition And Principles Of Using Pragmatic Presuppositions In Communication

Presupposition is, as a language phenomenon, studied by linguists. Presupposition isdependent on certain linguistic structures, thus it is first studied as semantic phenomenon.With the pragmatics emergence, a series of pragmatic theories is also proposed by linguists toexplain the presupposition behaviors.However, yet within pragmatic theories of presupposition, there are still considerableproblems to be solved; subjectivity is one aspect of the problems. In this sense, pragmatictheories of presupposition are still inadequate at present. Based on the theory ofintersubjectivity and through studying the impacts of pragmatic presupposition inconversations, this thesis explains the insufficiency of pragmatic presupposition and putsforward a new conception of hear presupposition, aiming to further improve hearer’simportance in communication. On the basis of Grice’s Cooperative Principle and LiQiangyun’s Appropriateness Principle, and other theories, the thesis presents the principles ofusing pragmatic presupposition in communication, including cooperative principle,appropriateness principle, common ground principle and cancellation principle, aimed at helpspeakers and hearers arrive at better understanding and communicating ends in conversationthrough case studies.