Glossary of Linguistic Terms

Potential Presupposition

Definition: 

A potential presupposition is a presupposition that is triggered by some part of an utterance (such as a subordinate clause) taken in isolation, but that may or may not be a presupposition of the whole utterance.

 

Examples: 

English

The utterance John says that the king of France is bald has two potential presuppositions:

  1. There is someone identified as John.
  2. There is a king of France.
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