A Comparative Analysis of Presupposition Triggers in Pakistani English Newspapers Headlines

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19574340

Abstract

The present study is designed to explore the purpose and nature of presupposition triggers used in Pakistani English Newspapers headlines. Presupposition is both the semantic and pragmatic phenomenon because at both levels the major concern is the study of meaning. Semantics attempts to relate meaning to logic and construction of reality and deals with meaning as a matter primarily of sense relations within language whereas pragmatics attempts to relate meaning to the context of the utterances. Meaning is understood as a part of the communication not as something abstract. Inferences and presuppositions help in meaning making and comprehension process. There are some grammatical and lexical items which create presuppositions about what is being communicated. The headlines as a data (approximately 300-350 headlines for duration of 3-5 months) are sampled from three different national newspapers (The Dawn, The News, and The Nation) representing a wide range of social, political and ideological contexts.. For theoretical framework, blended approach of schematic theory and Karttunen's proposed model for the analysis of presupposition triggers (as cited in Levinson: 1983) worked as tools. The analysis showed that lexical units are not merely the indicators of grammatical categorization rather the falsity or truth of the statements hidden in the headlines is conditioned and molded with the help of these triggers.