24.910 | Spring 2009 | Undergraduate

Topics in Linguistic Theory: Propositional Attitudes

Drawing of a bald king of France with the sentence 'The king of France is bald' written underneath

Description:

“The king of France is bald.” This sentence presupposes, “France has a king (and only one),” and asserts, “He’s bald.” The common ground includes “France has exactly one king,” and “The speaker believes that the one king of France is bald.” Learn more from lecture note 9 in the lecture notes. (Image by MIT OpenCourseWare.)

file
68 kB
Drawing of a bald king of France with the sentence 'The king of France is bald' written underneath
Alt text:
Drawing of a bald king of France with the sentence 'The king of France is bald' written underneath. This is a simple sentence that can illustrate presupposition, assertion, and common ground.
Caption:
“The king of France is bald.” This sentence presupposes, “France has a king (and only one),” and asserts, “He’s bald.” The common ground includes “France has exactly one king,” and “The speaker believes that the one king of France is bald.” Learn more from lecture note 9 in the lecture notes. (Image by MIT OpenCourseWare.)
Drawing of a bald king of France with the sentence 'The king of France is bald' written underneath. This is a simple sentence that can illustrate presupposition, assertion, and common ground.

Course Info

As Taught In
Spring 2009
Learning Resource Types
Lecture Notes
Written Assignments