In
linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
, givenness is a phenomenon in which a speaker assumes that contextual information of a topic of discourse is already known to the listener. The speaker thus considers it unnecessary to supply further contextual information through an expression's linguistic properties, its syntactic form or position, or its patterns of stress and intonation.
Givenness involves contextual information in a
discourse
Discourse is a generalization of the notion of a conversation to any form of communication. Discourse is a major topic in social theory, with work spanning fields such as sociology, anthropology, continental philosophy, and discourse analysis. ...
that is ''given,'' or assumed to be known'','' by the addressee in the moment of utterance. Therefore, a given expression must be known from prior discourse.
[Kratzer, Angelica & Selkirk, Elizabeth (2018). Deconstructing Information Structure. Manuscript, University of Massachusetts, at Amherst and University College London (UCL). https://ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/004201]
Givenness is marked by the absence of emphasis or detailed explanations. For example, when informing a close friend of having taken a long-considered action, an English speaker might simply say, "I did it!" The givenness of the action which "it" refers to results from previously discussing the action. In that utterance, the stress would not fall on "it," but on "did." This example may be contrasted when the nature of the action is new information, such as "I did a cartwheel!" In this case, the
object
Object may refer to:
General meanings
* Object (philosophy), a thing, being, or concept
** Object (abstract), an object which does not exist at any particular time or place
** Physical object, an identifiable collection of matter
* Goal, an ai ...
of ''did''— the noun ''cartwheel''— will receive the emphasis.
Definitions
In literature, Prince (1981)
distinguishes between three different kinds of Givenness:
#
Givenness: ''The speaker assumes the hearer can predict or could have predicted a particular linguistic item will or would occur in a particular position within a sentence.''
#
Givenness: ''The speaker assumes the hearer has or could appropriately have some particular thing/entity/... in his/her CONSCIOUSNESS at the time of hearing the utterance.''
#
Givenness: ''The speaker assumes the hearer "knows," assumes, or can infer in a particular thing (but is not necessarily thinking about it).''
Definition by Krifka (2008):
A feature X of an expression α is a Givenness feature if X indicates whether the denotation of α is present in the CG Common Ground)(see below) or not, and/or indicates the degree to which it is present in the immediate CG Common Ground)
Definition by Kratzer and Selkirk (2018):
''An expression α is Given in a context C if there is a discourse referent (individual, property, proposition) in C that entails α O, C.''
Entailment
''Entailment'' describes the relation between expression ''α'' and expression ''β'' when one of the following conditions applies:
Co-reference is one of the two semantic relations that express Givenness.
Formally, references α and β both refer to the same entity (the referent): α,β ∈ D
e, α = β.
A
pronoun
In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun (abbreviated ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase.
Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the parts of speech, but some modern theorists would not co ...
''(α)'' usually identifies a
noun phrase
In linguistics, a noun phrase, or nominal (phrase), is a phrase that has a noun or pronoun as its head or performs the same grammatical function as a noun. Noun phrases are very common cross-linguistically, and they may be the most frequently oc ...
that has been mentioned ''(β)'' in a prior context and (''α''). Examples of:
#On my way home, ''a dog'' barked at me. I was really frightened by
the fierce German shepherd">u>the fierce German shepherd/u>
Given.
#Did you see ''Dr. Cramer'' to get your root canal? - Don't remind me. I'd like to strangle
">he butchersub>Given.
#''My neighbor'' is a funny character. Still, I really like
John">u>Johnsub>Given.
Alternatively, for non-referential α and β (e.g.
predicates
Predicate or predication may refer to:
* Predicate (grammar), in linguistics
* Predication (philosophy)
* several closely related uses in mathematics and formal logic:
**Predicate (mathematical logic)
**Propositional function
**Finitary relation, ...
,
quantifiers), α is given if the meaning of α and β are extensionally identical or ''α'' is a
hypernym
In linguistics, semantics, general semantics, and ontologies, hyponymy () is a semantic relation between a hyponym denoting a subtype and a hypernym or hyperonym (sometimes called umbrella term or blanket term) denoting a supertype. In other wor ...
of ''β.'' Formally, α,β ∈ D
t, and α=0 or β=1.
Extensional Identity occurs when an expression α is identical with a prior mentioned expression β, which makes α given.
#They brought some ''beer (β),'' but they didn't drink
'the'' ''beer'
Given ''(α)'' because it was warm.
A
hypernym
In linguistics, semantics, general semantics, and ontologies, hyponymy () is a semantic relation between a hyponym denoting a subtype and a hypernym or hyperonym (sometimes called umbrella term or blanket term) denoting a supertype. In other wor ...
α of another item β is when the meaning of α includes β as a subcategory, making item α given:
X: I brought ''carrots (β)'' to the picnic.
Y: But I don't like
'vegetables''sub>Given ''(α).''
However, if instead β includes α, there is
hyponymy
In linguistics, semantics, general semantics, and ontologies, hyponymy () is a semantic relation between a hyponym denoting a subtype and a hypernym or hyperonym (sometimes called umbrella term or blanket term) denoting a supertype. In other wor ...
, and the hyponym ''(α)'' is considered to be not given:
X: I put some ''vegetables (β)'' in the soup.
Y: Oh I hate ''carrots (α).'' I hope you didn't put any inside.
Propositional Identity occurs when the proposition ''(α)'' is given because it is identical with the proposition ''(β)'' and proposition ''(β)'' is true.
a. Did you hear that ''Otto went to Russia (β)''?
b. I can't believe that
'he went to Russia'
Given ''(α).''
Asymmetric Entailment occurs when the proposition ''(α)'' is given because the proposition ''(α)'' is always true when the proposition ''(β)'' is true.
a. Did you hear that ''Otto went to Russia''?
b. I can't believe ''
hat he left'
Given''(α).''
Expressing givenness
Givenness can be expressed by anaphoric expressions,
deletion
Deletion or delete may refer to:
Computing
* File deletion, a way of removing a file from a computer's file system
* Code cleanup, a way of removing unnecessary variables, data structures, cookies, and temporary files in a programming language
* ...
, or
word order
In linguistics, word order (also known as linear order) is the order of the syntactic constituents of a language. Word order typology studies it from a cross-linguistic perspective, and examines how different languages employ different orders. C ...
.
Anaphoric expressions
''Anaphoric'' expressions indicate the status of their denotations.
Anaphoric expressions include personal pronouns, clitics and person inflections, demonstratives, and definite articles as well as indefinite articles that indicate a non-given referent.
a. ''The crowd'' approached the gate. The guards were AFRAID of
the women">u>the womensub>Given.
b. ''The children'' were up late. I'm reluctant to WAKE
the boys">u>the boys/u>
Given.
c. ''John'' ate garlic bread. Then
e/u>Given kissed Mary.
Decantation
''Decantation'' is a form of
prosodic
In linguistics, prosody () is concerned with elements of speech that are not individual phonetic segments (vowels and consonants) but are properties of syllables and larger units of speech, including linguistic functions such as intonation, str ...
reduction.
a. Ten years after John inherited an old farm, he SOLD
the shed">u>the shed/u>
Given
Here ''the shed'' is decanted because it is referring to the prior mentioned ''farm''. Decantation is conditioned by Common Ground Management and can be seen as presuppositional because it ''expresses a presupposition of a situationally salient antecedent of a particular sort''.
Decantation can also occur in indefinite
noun phrase
In linguistics, a noun phrase, or nominal (phrase), is a phrase that has a noun or pronoun as its head or performs the same grammatical function as a noun. Noun phrases are very common cross-linguistically, and they may be the most frequently oc ...
s:
a. If John paints a hot dog, Sam will eat
a hot dog">u>a hot dog/u>
Given.
Decantation can occur on a
focused constituent that is given at the same time, where it does not bear the pitch accent but functions as a
focus
Focus, or its plural form foci may refer to:
Arts
* Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in South Australia Film
*''Focus'', a 1962 TV film starring James Whitmore
* ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based ...
with ''only'' :
a. X: Everyone already knew that Mary only eats VEGETABLES.
Y: If even PAUL knew that Mary only eats
vegetables">u>vegetables/u>
Given, then he should have suggested a different RESTAURANT.
Deletion
''
Deletion
Deletion or delete may refer to:
Computing
* File deletion, a way of removing a file from a computer's file system
* Code cleanup, a way of removing unnecessary variables, data structures, cookies, and temporary files in a programming language
* ...
'' is an extreme form of reduction.
a. Bill went to Greenland, and Mary did _ too.
In this example, one can find the deletion of the VP ''went to Greenland.''
Word Order
In the double object construction, given constituents precede new constituents:
a. Bill showed the boy a girl.
*Bill showed a boy the girl.
*Bill showed the girl a boy.
Common Ground
Common Ground (CG) in
linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
refers to shared knowledge between at least two participants in
discourse
Discourse is a generalization of the notion of a conversation to any form of communication. Discourse is a major topic in social theory, with work spanning fields such as sociology, anthropology, continental philosophy, and discourse analysis. ...
. It is a set of propositions and entities that are known to both speakers, and is updated during the discourse.
Common Ground can further be divided into
*''Common Ground Management'' (CG Management) that is concerned with the immediate and temporary needs and communicative goals
of discourse partners.
*''Common Ground Content'' (CG Content) that records and updates the shared knowledge and belief
of discourse partners.
Exceptions
Two individuals who spend a lot of time together or have many shared experiences can more easily latch onto one another's givenness in their discourse. However, when this phenomenon is relied upon in future or ongoing conversations, deficits in information can begin to develop, and as a result, it becomes difficult to assess givenness in the context of new conversations.
References
{{Formal semantics
Semantics
Pragmatics
Formal semantics (natural language)