The Syntax of Givenness Ivona Kucerová

(70) st
terminating point
object
e,st
λ
st
subject
G . . .
Thus if there is only one G-operator per propositional domain (which seems to be correct
considering the nature of the G-operator, though this is hard to test), unless the object
moves before the subject is merged the object could not be interpreted as presupposed. I
therefore conclude that we need an independent requirement which prefers derivations with
very local movement to derivations with a non-local G-movement.
Another issue that has remained unanswered so far is when exactly the Maximize presupposition
evaluation takes place. I assume that the evaluation may happen at the end of
a phase. This allows limitation of the global comparison only to structures which can be
derived within a phase from the same numeration. I assume this is possible under the assumption
that phases correspond to propositions. But nothing in our system depends on this
choice. If it turns out that presuppositions are computed only at the level of the utterance,
the system can be straightforwardly adjusted to that.
4.3 The evaluation component
In the previous section we have concentrated on defining a given operator and on introducing
such an operator within the logical form. In this section, I will set up a formal
evaluation component for the purposes of Maximize presupposition. This step will complete
the modification of the originally purely syntactic system. In the rest of this section I
will examine whether the modified system can account for the data from chapters 2 and 3
that we originally covered by G-movement.
To see exactly how the evaluation component works we need not only to define the reference
set but also to have a clear metrics that we can use to compare different derivations.
We already have a definition of a reference set. The definition is repeated below.
(71) Reference set for Maximize Presupposition evaluation
For purposes of Maximize Presupposition, the reference set, toward which Maximize
presupposition is evaluated, consists of all derivations
a. that are based on the same numeration and free insertion of a G-operator, and
b. that make the same assertion.
In order to have a clear metrics I will define two constraints with respect to which each
candidate within a reference set will be evaluated. 16 First, we need to guarantee that all
16 The reader should not be misled by the terminology. The system developed here is not an optimality
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