---
title: "Local Contexts — paper by Schlenker (2009)"
description: "According to dynamic semantics, every presupposition needs to be met within the local context where… 62 references, cited by 23 papers here."
authors: ["Philippe Schlenker"]
year: 2009
venue: "Semantics and Pragmatics"
source: "https://semprag.org/index.php/sp/article/view/sp.2.3"
doi: "10.3765/sp.2.3"
licence: "CC BY (Semantics and Pragmatics, journal policy)"
licence_url: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/"
summary_licence: "Elamur Cosmic License"
canonical: "https://research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/schlenker-2009-local-contexts/"
---
[Elamur Research](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/schlenker-2009-local-contexts/)

[home](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [papers](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/) / [2009](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/2009/) / Local Contexts

# Local Contexts

**Authors:** [Philippe Schlenker](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/philippe-schlenker/) · **Year:** 2009 · **Venue:** [Semantics and Pragmatics](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/semantics-and-pragmatics/) ([Semantics and Pragmatics 2009](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/semantics-and-pragmatics/2009/)) · **Publisher:** [Linguistic Society of America](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/publishers/linguistic-society-of-america/) · **Licence:** [CC BY (Semantics and Pragmatics, journal policy)](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)

**Links:** [Publisher's page](https://doi.org/10.3765/sp.2.3) · [PDF](https://semprag.org/index.php/sp/article/download/sp.2.3/71) · [DOI 10.3765/sp.2.3](https://doi.org/10.3765/sp.2.3) · [OpenAlex](https://openalex.org/W4251951494)

**Citations:** 157 citations (OpenAlex, 2026-10-14) · [23](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/schlenker-2009-local-contexts/cited-by/) in our library, of the 149,439 papers whose bibliographies we read

## Summary
According to dynamic semantics, every presupposition needs to be met within the local context where it appears. However, theories such as Heim 1983 have to stipulate a Context Change Potential for every connective and operator, so they cannot predict how a new operator will pass presuppositions along. Schlenker removes this stipulation. He keeps a classical, bivalent semantics and redefines the local context of an expression E inside a sentence S. It becomes the strongest restriction one can impose on E, the smallest domain one needs to look at, without altering what S means. Under the default incremental version, this is computed using only material to the left of E, and it must hold for any possible continuation. With the rule that presuppositions must be entailed by their local context, the account yields projection facts for connectives, quantifiers and attitude verbs straight from syntax and truth conditions. It nearly coincides with Heim's results but is fully predictive. A symmetric variant, which looks at the whole sentence at some processing cost, predicts gradient judgments.

## Key points
- Published in Semantics and Pragmatics, vol. 2, article 3 (2009), 78 pages. Appendices B–D give a formal implementation, and Appendix A compares the account with Schlenker's Transparency theory.
- The paper argues against Stalnaker's assertion-based updating in three ways:
  - Disjunctions and negative quantifiers (as in "None of my students…") contain conjuncts that are never asserted.
  - The account cannot explain why "#It is raining but I don't believe it" is odd while the version with "you" is fine.
- Against Heim 1983, it uses Soames's deviant connective and*, which updates with the second conjunct first. This connective has the same truth conditions as "and" but the wrong projection, which shows that Context Change Potentials are underdetermined by meaning.
- With conservative quantifiers ("every", "no"), the theory predicts universal presuppositions.
- With non-conservative "only" ("only bad students have stopped complaining"), the local context is the property of being a student. This predicts an inference that every student used to complain.

## Interesting ideas
- Define the context for evaluating a subexpression as the tightest restriction that leaves the whole sentence's truth conditions unchanged, so context falls out of meaning rather than being hand-written per operator.
- Compute that context incrementally, using only what has been read so far and quantifying over every possible continuation, which models on-line processing.
- Use a truth-preserving but processing-deviant twin of an operator (and* with reversed update order) as a diagnostic that a theory is not actually predicting anything.
- Keep speaker commitment separate from shared common ground, so that asserting a proposition adds "the speaker believes it" rather than the bare fact for everyone.
- Run separate checks for conservative and non-conservative determiners, since "only" restricts its scope differently from "every" or "no".

## For Mova

How these ideas could serve Mova, our small open language model — its files, stages and tests:

- **I1** (frames): prag could compute presupposition checks for triggers like "know", "stop" or "again" from the truth-conditional skeleton of the frame tree, instead of keeping a hand-made table of how each connective projects.
- **I2** (world): when the text world is built sentence by sentence, a trigger in a later conjunct or clause can be checked against the states already added by earlier material, with an explainable trace of why it was satisfied.
- **I3** (learn): add negative controls in which conjunct order is swapped, for example "he knows he is incompetent and he is". A sound presupposition module should flag only the swapped version as a failure.
- **I4** (frames): speech-act handling in prag could record beliefs per participant, which would explain Moore-style oddness for "I" but not for "you" and would help irony and implicature detection.
- **I5** (answer): QA readers handling "only X did Y" questions over tales could draw the universal background inference about the whole domain, while avoiding the analysis used for "every".

*Our summary of the paper, in our own words — not its text. The work belongs to its authors; read it at the links above.*

## Institutions

- [New York University](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/universities/new-york-university/) — University, New York, United States · 201 works · 100,180 citations
- [Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/labs/centre-national-de-la-recherche-scientifique/) — Research institute, Paris, France · 168 works · 62,369 citations
- [Institut Jean Nicod](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/labs/institut-jean-nicod/) — Research institute, Paris, France · 11 works · 1,659 citations

📚 Shelves (5): [🖥️ Computer Science](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/computer-science/) · 16,667 works · [🤖 Artificial Intelligence](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/computer-science/artificial-intelligence/) · 16,194 works · [🎭 Arts and Humanities](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/arts-and-humanities/) · 16,039 works · [🗣️ Language and Linguistics](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/arts-and-humanities/language-and-linguistics/) · 15,891 works · [🤔 Philosophy](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/arts-and-humanities/philosophy/) · 284 works

🧭 Topics (1): [😉 Implicature](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/topics/implicature/) · 138 works

## Cite

Cite as: Philippe Schlenker. 2009. Local Contexts. Semantics and Pragmatics.

The paper itself, not this page. BibTeX from the library's record of the work.

```bibtex
@article{schlenker2009local,
  title = {{Local Contexts}},
  author = {Philippe Schlenker},
  journal = {Semantics and Pragmatics},
  year = {2009},
  doi = {10.3765/sp.2.3},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3765/sp.2.3}
}
```

- [← previous A Unified Model of Phrasal and Sentential Evidence for Information Extraction](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/patwardhan-2009-unified-model-phrasal-sentential-evidence/)
- [next → Using a Dependency Parser to Improve SMT for Subject-Object-Verb Languages](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/xu-2009-dependency-parser-improve-smt-subject/)
- [↑ back to papers of 2009](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/2009/)

## References

62 references, 0 of them with a card of ours. ↗ leads to the work, «find» searches for one we have no id for yet.

1. Abrusan, Marta. 2008. Islands of contradiction: Presuppositional and negative islands. Proceedings of Semantics and Linguistic Theory 18. URL [http://semanticsarchive.net/Archive/TczNjE1Y/](http://semanticsarchive.net/Archive/TczNjE1Y/). To appear. [↗](http://semanticsarchive.net/Archive/TczNjE1Y/)
2. Beaver, David I. 1994. When variables don’t vary enough. Proceedings of Semantics and Linguistic Theory 4. 35–60. [↗](https://doi.org/10.3765/salt.v4i0.2467)
3. Beaver, David I. 2001. Presupposition and assertion in dynamic semantics. Stanford: CSLI. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Beaver%2C+David+I%2E+2001%2E+Presupposition+and+assertion+in+dynamic+semantics%2E+Stanford%3A+CSLI%2E)
4. Beaver, David I. 2008. As brief as possible (but no briefer). Theoretical Linguistics 34(3). 213–228. doi:10.1515/THLI.2008.014. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1515/thli.2008.014)
5. Beaver, David I. & Emiel Krahmer. 2001. A partial account of presupposition projection. Journal of Logic, Language and Information 10(2). 147–182. doi:10.1023/A:1008371413822. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1008371413822)
6. Beaver, David I. & Henk Zeevat. 2007. Accommodation. In Gillian Ramchand & Charles Reiss (eds.), Oxford handbook of linguistic interfaces. Oxford University Press. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Beaver%2C+David+I%2E+%26+Henk+Zeevat%2E+2007%2E+Accommodation%2E+In+Gillian+Ramchand+%26+Charles+Reiss+%28eds%2E%29%2C+Oxford+handbook+of+linguistic+interfaces%2E+Oxford+University+Press%2E)
7. Chemla, Emmanuel. 2007. Présuppositions et implicatures scalaires: études formelles et expérimentales. Ph.D. thesis, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Chemla%2C+Emmanuel%2E+2007%2E+Pr%C3%A9suppositions+et+implicatures+scalaires%3A+%C3%A9tudes+formelles+et+exp%C3%A9rimentales%2E+Ph%2ED%2E+thesis%2C+%C3%89cole+des+Hautes+%C3%89tudes+en+Sciences+Sociales%2C+Paris%2E)
8. Chemla, Emmanuel. 2008a. Empirical basis for a theory of presuppositions. Slides, UCL Colloquium, October 15, 2008. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Chemla%2C+Emmanuel%2E+2008a%2E+Empirical+basis+for+a+theory+of+presuppositions%2E+Slides%2C+UCL+Colloquium%2C+October+15%2C+2008%2E)
9. Chemla, Emmanuel. 2008b. Similarity: Towards a unified account of scalar implicatures, free choice permission and presupposition projection. Under revision for Semantics and Pragmatics. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Chemla%2C+Emmanuel%2E+2008b%2E+Similarity%3A+Towards+a+unified+account+of+scalar+implicatures%2C+free+choice+permission+and+presupposition+projection%2E+Under+revision+for+Semantics+and+Pragmatics%2E)
10. Chemla, Emmanuel. 2008c. Transparency Theory: Empirical issues and psycholinguistic routes. Theoretical Linguistics 34(3). 229–236. doi:10.1515/THLI.2008.015. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1515/thli.2008.015)
11. Local Contexts Chemla, Emmanuel. 2009. Presuppositions of quantified sentences: experimental data. Natural Language Semantics. doi:10.1007/s11050-009-9043-9. In press. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1007/s11050-009-9043-9)
12. Chemla, Emmanuel & Philippe Schlenker. 2009. Incremental vs. symmetric accounts of presupposition projection: An experimental approach. Manuscript, Institut Jean-Nicod and NYU. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Chemla%2C+Emmanuel+%26+Philippe+Schlenker%2E+2009%2E+Incremental+vs%2E+symmetric+accounts+of+presupposition+projection%3A+An+experimental+approach%2E+Manuscript%2C+Institut+Jean%2DNicod+and+NYU%2E)
13. Chierchia, Gennaro, Danny Fox & Benjamin Spector. 2008. The grammatical view of scalar implicatures and the relationship between semantics and pragmatics. In Claudia Maienborn, Klaus von Heusinger & Paul Portner (eds.), Handbook of semantics. Mouton de Gruyter. URL [http://semanticsarchive.net/Archive/WMzY2ZmY/CFS_EmbeddedSIs.pdf](http://semanticsarchive.net/Archive/WMzY2ZmY/CFS_EmbeddedSIs.pdf). To appear. [↗](http://semanticsarchive.net/Archive/WMzY2ZmY/CFS_EmbeddedSIs.pdf)
14. Cresswell, Maxwell. 1990. Entities and indices. Kluwer. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2139-9)
15. Dekker, Paul. 2000. Coreference and representationalism. In Klaus von Heusinger & Urs Egli (eds.), Reference and anaphoric relations. Kluwer. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3947-2_15)
16. Evans, Gareth. 1980. Pronouns. Linguistic Inquiry 11(2). 337–362. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Evans%2C+Gareth%2E+1980%2E+Pronouns%2E+Linguistic+Inquiry+11%282%29%2E+337%E2%80%93362%2E)
17. Fox, Danny. 2008. Two short notes on Schlenker’s theory of presupposition projection. Theoretical Linguistics 34(3). 237–252. doi:10.1515/THLI.2008.016. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1515/thli.2008.016)
18. Gazdar, Gerald. 1979. Pragmatics: Implicature, presupposition and logical form. Academic Press. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Gazdar%2C+Gerald%2E+1979%2E+Pragmatics%3A+Implicature%2C+presupposition+and+logical+form%2E+Academic+Press%2E)
19. George, Benjamin. 2008a. Predicting presupposition projection: Some alternatives in the Strong Kleene tradition. URL [http://semanticsarchive.net/](http://semanticsarchive.net/) Archive/DY0YTgxN/. Manuscript, UCLA. [↗](http://semanticsarchive.net/)
20. George, Benjamin. 2008b. Presupposition repairs: A static, trivalent approach to predicting presupposition. URL [http://semanticsarchive.net/Archive/](http://semanticsarchive.net/Archive/) 2ZiYmEyN/. MA thesis, UCLA. [↗](http://semanticsarchive.net/Archive/)
21. Geurts, Bart. 1996. Local satisfaction guaranteed: A presupposition theory and its problems. Linguistics and Philosophy 19(3). 259–294. doi:10.1007/BF00628201. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00628201)
22. Geurts, Bart. 1999. Presupposition and pronouns. Elsevier. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Geurts%2C+Bart%2E+1999%2E+Presupposition+and+pronouns%2E+Elsevier%2E)
23. Gillies, Anthony S. 2001. A new solution to Moore’s paradox. Philosophical Studies 105(3). 237–250. doi:10.1023/A:1010361708803. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1010361708803)
24. Heim, Irene. 1983. On the projection problem for presuppositions. West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics 2. 114–125. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Heim%2C+Irene%2E+1983%2E+On+the+projection+problem+for+presuppositions%2E+West+Coast+Conference+on+Formal+Linguistics+2%2E+114%E2%80%93125%2E)
25. Heim, Irene. 1990a. E-type pronouns and donkey anaphora. Linguistics and Philosophy 13(2). 137–177. doi:10.1007/BF00630732. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00630732)
26. Heim, Irene. 1990b. Presupposition projection. URL [http://semanticsarchive](http://semanticsarchive). Philippe Schlenker net/Archive/GFiMGNjN/. Included in Rob van der Sandt (ed.) Presupposition, Lexical Meaning and Discourse Processes: Workshop Reader, University of Nijmegen, 1990. [↗](http://semanticsarchive)
27. Heim, Irene. 1991. Artikel und Definitheit. In Arnim von Stechow & Dieter Wunderlich (eds.), Semantics: An international handbook of contemporary research, 487–536. Berlin: de Gruyter. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110126969.7.487)
28. Heim, Irene. 1992. Presupposition projection and the semantics of attitude verbs. Journal of Semantics 9(3). 183–221. doi:10.1093/jos/9.3.183. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1093/jos/9.3.183)
29. Heim, Irene. 2006. A note on the proviso problem. Handout from Milan Meeting, Gargnano. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Heim%2C+Irene%2E+2006%2E+A+note+on+the+proviso+problem%2E+Handout+from+Milan+Meeting%2C+Gargnano%2E)
30. Hurford, James R. 1974. Exclusive or inclusive disjunction. Foundations of Language 11(3). 409–411. URL [http://www.jstor.org/stable/25000785](http://www.jstor.org/stable/25000785). [↗](http://www.jstor.org/stable/25000785)
31. Kaplan, David. 1989. Demonstratives. In Joseph Almog, John Perry & Howard Wettstein (eds.), Themes from Kaplan. Oxford University Press. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Kaplan%2C+David%2E+1989%2E+Demonstratives%2E+In+Joseph+Almog%2C+John+Perry+%26+Howard+Wettstein+%28eds%2E%29%2C+Themes+from+Kaplan%2E+Oxford+University+Press%2E)
32. Karttunen, Lauri. 1974. Presupposition and linguistic context. Theoretical Linguistics 1. 181–194. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1515/thli.1974.1.1-3.181)
33. Karttunen, Lauri & Stanley Peters. 1979. Conventional implicature. In Choon-Kyu Oh & David Dinneen (eds.), Syntax and semantics 11: Presupposition, 1–56. New York: Academic Press. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Karttunen%2C+Lauri+%26+Stanley+Peters%2E+1979%2E+Conventional+implicature%2E+In+Choon%2DKyu+Oh+%26+David+Dinneen+%28eds%2E%29%2C+Syntax+and+semantics+11%3A+Presupposition%2C+1%E2%80%9356%2E+New+York%3A+Academic+Press%2E)
34. Krahmer, Emiel. 1998. Presupposition and anaphora. CSLI Publications. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Krahmer%2C+Emiel%2E+1998%2E+Presupposition+and+anaphora%2E+CSLI+Publications%2E)
35. Krahmer, Emiel. 2008. Why be articulate? Two ways to look at the Transparency Theory. Theoretical Linguistics 34(3). 253–259. doi:10.1515/THLI.2008.017. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1515/thli.2008.017)
36. Krifka, Manfred. 2001. For a structured meaning account of questions and answers. In Caroline Féry & Wolfgang Sternefeld (eds.), Audiatur vox sapientia. a festschrift for arnim von stechow, 287–319. Akademie Verlag. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1515/9783050080116.287)
37. LaCasse, Nicolas. 2008. Constraints on connectives and quantifiers: Solving the over-generation problem of dynamic semantics. Master’s thesis, UCLA. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=LaCasse%2C+Nicolas%2E+2008%2E+Constraints+on+connectives+and+quantifiers%3A+Solving+the+over%2Dgeneration+problem+of+dynamic+semantics%2E+Master%E2%80%99s+thesis%2C+UCLA%2E)
38. Lewis, David. 1973. Counterfactuals. Blackwell. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Lewis%2C+David%2E+1973%2E+Counterfactuals%2E+Blackwell%2E)
39. Lewis, David. 1979. Scorekeeping in a language game. Journal of Philosophical Logic 8(1). 339–359. doi:10.1007/BF00258436. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00258436)
40. Ludlow, Peter. 1994. Conditionals, events, and unbound pronouns. Lingua e Stile 29(2). 3–20. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Ludlow%2C+Peter%2E+1994%2E+Conditionals%2C+events%2C+and+unbound+pronouns%2E+Lingua+e+Stile+29%282%29%2E+3%E2%80%9320%2E)
41. Pérez Carballo, Alejandro. 2007. A first shot at the proviso problem. Unpublished manuscript, MIT. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=P%C3%A9rez+Carballo%2C+Alejandro%2E+2007%2E+A+first+shot+at+the+proviso+problem%2E+Unpublished+manuscript%2C+MIT%2E)
42. Peters, Stanley. 1979. A truth-conditional formulation of Karttunen’s account of presupposition. Synthese 40. 301–316. doi:10.1007/BF00485682. van Rooij, Robert. 2007. Strengthening conditional presuppositions. Journal Local Contexts of Semantics 24(3). 289–304. doi:10.1093/jos/ffm007. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00485682)
43. Rothschild, Daniel. 2008a. Presupposition projection and logical equivalence. Philosophical Perspectives 22(1). 473–497. doi:10.1111/j.1520-8583.2008.00154.x. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1520-8583.2008.00154.x)
44. Rothschild, Daniel. 2008b. Presupposition projection in dynamic semantics. Manuscript, Columbia University. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Rothschild%2C+Daniel%2E+2008b%2E+Presupposition+projection+in+dynamic+semantics%2E+Manuscript%2C+Columbia+University%2E)
45. Rothschild, Daniel. 2008c. Transparency Theory and its dynamic alternatives: Commentary on “Be Articulate”. Theoretical Linguistics 34(3). 261–268. doi:10.1515/THLI.2008.018. van der Sandt, Rob. 1993. Presupposition projection as anaphora resolution. Journal of Semantics 9(4). 333–377. doi:doi:10.1093/jos/9.4.333. van der Sandt, Rob. 2008. When satisfaction is not enough. Theoretical Linguistics 34(3). 275–285. doi:10.1515/THLI.2008.020. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1515/thli.2008.018)
46. Sauerland, Uli. 2008. Projection and pragmatics: Two comments. Theoretical Linguistics 34(3). 269–273. doi:10.1515/THLI.2008.019. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1515/thli.2008.019)
47. Schlenker, Philippe. 2004. Conditionals as definite descriptions (A referential analysis). Research on Language and Computation 2(3). 417–462. doi:10.1007/s11168-004-0908-2. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1007/s11168-004-0908-2)
48. Schlenker, Philippe. 2007. Anti-dynamics: Presupposition projection without dynamic semantics. Journal of Logic, Language and Information 16(3). 325–256. doi:doi:10.1007/s10849-006-9034-x. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1007/s10849-006-9034-x)
49. Schlenker, Philippe. 2008a. Be Articulate: A pragmatic theory of presupposition projection. Theoretical Linguistics 34(3). 157–212. doi:10.1515/THLI.2008.013. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1515/thli.2008.013)
50. Schlenker, Philippe. 2008b. Presupposition projection: Explanatory strategies. Theoretical Linguistics 34(3). 287–316. doi:10.1515/THLI.2008.021. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1515/thli.2008.021)
51. Schlenker, Philippe. 2008c. Presupposition projection: The new debate. Manuscript, Institut Jean-Nicod and NYU. [↗](https://doi.org/10.3765/salt.v18i0.2503)
52. Schlenker, Philippe. 2009. Presuppositions and local contexts. Manuscript, Institut Jean-Nicod and NYU. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1093/mind/fzq032)
53. Simons, Mandy. 2003. Presupposition and accommodation: Understanding the Stalnakerian picture. Philosophical Studies 112(3). 251–278. doi:10.1023/A:1023004203043. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1023004203043)
54. Singh, Raj. 2007a. Assertability constraints and absurd assertions. Manuscript, MIT. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Singh%2C+Raj%2E+2007a%2E+Assertability+constraints+and+absurd+assertions%2E+Manuscript%2C+MIT%2E)
55. Singh, Raj. 2007b. Formal alternatives as a solution to the proviso problem. Semantics and Linguistic Theory 17. doi:1813/11305. [↗](https://doi.org/10.3765/salt.v17i0.2960)
56. Singh, Raj. 2008. On the interpretation of disjunction: Asymmetric, incre-Philippe Schlenker mental, and eager for inconsistency. Linguistics and Philosophy 31(2). 245–260. doi:10.1007/s10988-008-9038-x. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1007/s10988-008-9038-x)
57. Soames, Scott. 1982. How presuppositions are inherited: A solution to the projection problem. Linguistic Inquiry 13(3). 483–545. URL [http://www.jstor.org/stable/4178288](http://www.jstor.org/stable/4178288). [↗](http://www.jstor.org/stable/4178288)
58. Soames, Scott. 1989. Presupposition. In Dov Gabbay & Franz Guenthner (eds.), Handbook of philosophical logic iv, 553–616. Kluwer. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Soames%2C+Scott%2E+1989%2E+Presupposition%2E+In+Dov+Gabbay+%26+Franz+Guenthner+%28eds%2E%29%2C+Handbook+of+philosophical+logic+iv%2C+553%E2%80%93616%2E+Kluwer%2E)
59. Stalnaker, Robert. 1974. Pragmatic presuppositions. In Milton Kunitz & Peter Unger (eds.), Semantics and philosophy, 197–213. New York University Press. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Stalnaker%2C+Robert%2E+1974%2E+Pragmatic+presuppositions%2E+In+Milton+Kunitz+%26+Peter+Unger+%28eds%2E%29%2C+Semantics+and+philosophy%2C+197%E2%80%93213%2E+New+York+University+Press%2E)
60. Stalnaker, Robert. 1978. Assertion. In Peter Cole (ed.), Syntax and semantics 9: Pragmatics, 315–322. Academic Press. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Stalnaker%2C+Robert%2E+1978%2E+Assertion%2E+In+Peter+Cole+%28ed%2E%29%2C+Syntax+and+semantics+9%3A+Pragmatics%2C+315%E2%80%93322%2E+Academic+Press%2E)
61. Thomason, Richmond H., Matthew Stone & David DeVault. 2006. Enlightened update: A computational architecture for presupposition and other pragmatic phenomena. URL [http://www.pragmatics.osu.edu/links/events/](http://www.pragmatics.osu.edu/links/events/) enlightened-update.pdf. Draft paper for Workshop on Presupposition Accommodation at The Ohio State University. [↗](http://www.pragmatics.osu.edu/links/events/)
62. Unger, Christina & Jan van Eijck. 2007. The epistemics of presupposition projection. In Maria Aloni, Paul Dekker & Floris Roelofsen (eds.), Proceedings of the 16th Amsterdam Colloquium, 235–240. Palteam / ILLC, University of Amsterdam. Philippe Schlenker Institut Jean-Nicod Pavillon Jardin Ecole Normale Supérieure 29, rue d’Ulm F-75005 Paris philippe.schlenker@gmail.com [↗](https://doi.org/10.53437/3cv1ee04)

*Updated 1 November 2026*