Table 9 Definition of propositions, presuppositions and (linguistic) anticipations.

From: The principle of anticipation in language use

Concept/Term

Definition

Proposition(s)

Complex information units that correspond to events and their participants that sentences can describe, and on which agents can form beliefs or other mental states (e.g. Beaver et al., 2024; Jackendoff, 1972; Kadmon, 2001; Roberts, 2012; Shi, 1986).

Presupposition(s)

Propositions that agents take for granted (“presuppose”) in the “common ground” (cognitive context) shared amongst agents in discourse (Beaver et al., 2024; Kadmon, 2001; Roberts, 2012).

Anticipation(s)

Relation(s) between information units (i.e. presuppositions and propositions) in discourse, plus agents’ expectations about these information units (e.g. Lu, 2017).

  1. We propose definitions that highlight the fact that propositions are explicitly asserted, and can be defined as the (structured) meanings of sentences. Presuppositions, instead, are implicit in discourse, even if they may be introduced via opportune “presupposition trigger” (e.g. the lexical but opaque content of words). Anticipations at a linguistic level become relations among these information units and the sentences expressing them.
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