A Semantic- Pragmatic Analysis into the Presupposition on the Play Ersieh Irani

Accepted in the background without argument or catching the attention of the addressee, presuppositions are linguistic structures discussed in semantics and applied pragmatics. Based on Yule’s popular divisions of suppositions - existential, factive, lexical, structural, non-factive and counterfactual, this research aims to answer the following research questions: What are the most and least frequently used presuppositions? Which presuppositions are used by the powerful and powerless families and how is this justified? How are men and women different in their use of presuppositions How are presuppositions and plot line related? The finding showed that the structural and non-factive presuppositions are the most and least frequently used presuppositions, respectively. The powerful family members use more structural presuppositions in order to ask, find and complete their information. The powerless family members use more lexical presuppositions in order to help characterization of themselves and others and help the development of the plot. Although men’s use of presuppositions is higher than women’s, this difference in factive presuppositions is more obvious due to the men’s tendency to be more direct. Furthermore, the plot line and the use of presuppositions are inversely related.