Some Lakhota Presuppositions

Abstract

Three classes of utterances in which Lakhóta speakers reveal presuppositions include (a) statements and questions about the location of objects; (b) sentences utilizing indefinite noun phrases in so-called opaque contexts; and (c) sentences which include verbs of motion and goals of that motion. In the first class, presuppositions are about the orientation of the object in space; in the second class, they are bout the specificity of the indefinite noun, and in the third class, they involve both the relevant mental position of the speaker with respect to the goal and the degree of his identification with the subject of the sentence.