Illocutionary forces

Last modified: 04/30/98

This page is work-in-progress. It is not even close to being complete. It may change from day to day. Do not cite this work. All rights reserved. © 1998 Scott A. Moore.

The following are definitions of the illocutionary forces classified as constatives, directives, or commissives on pages 42-55 of [Bach&Harnish]. The only change is that they classified "deny" as a type of assert (an "assert not"); I made "deny" a separate force.

advisory (admonish, advise, caution, counsel, propose, recommend, suggest, urge, warn)

In uttering e, S advises H to A if S expresses:

1. the belief that there is (sufficient) reason for H to A, and
2. the intention that H take S's belief as (sufficient) reason for him to A.

ascriptive (ascribe, attribute, predicate)

In uttering e, S ascribes F to o if S expresses:

1. the belief that F applies to o, and
2. the intention that H believe that F applies to o.

assentive (accept, agree, assent, concur)

In uttering e, S assents to the claim that P if S expresses:

1. the belief that P, as claimed by H (or as otherwise under discussion), and
2. the intention (perhaps already fulfilled) that H believe that P.

assertive (affirm, allege, assert, aver, avow, claim, declare, indicate, maintain, propound, say, state, submit)

In uttering e, S asserts that C if S expresses:

1. the belief that C, and
2. the intention that H believe that C.

concessive (acknowledge, admit, agree, allow, assent, concede, concur, confess, grant, own)

In uttering e, S concedes that P if S expresses:

1. the belief that P, contrary to what he would like to believe or contrary to what he previously believed or avowed, and
2. the intention that H believe that P.

confirmative (appraise, assess, bear witness, certify, conclude, confirm, corroborate, diagnose, find, judge, substantiate, testify, validate, verify, vouch for)

In uttering e, S confirms (the claim) that C if S expresses:

1. the belief that C, based on some truth-seeking procedure, and
2. the intention that H believe that C because S has some support for P.

deny (assert \ldots\ not)

In uttering e, S denies that C if S expresses:

1. the belief that not C, and
2. the intention that H believe that not C.

descriptive (appraise, assess, call, categorize, characterize, classify, date, describe, diagnose, evaluate, grade, identify, portray, rank)

In uttering e, S describes o as F if S expresses:

1. the belief that o is F, and
2. the intention that H believe that o is F.

disputative (demur, dispute, object, protest, question)

In uttering e, S disputes the claim that P if S expresses:

1. the belief that there is reason not to believe that P, contrary to what was claimed by H (or was otherwise under discussion), and
2. the intention that H believe that there is reason not to believe that P.

dissentive (differ, disagree, dissent, reject)

In uttering e, S dissents from the claim that P if S expresses:

1. the disbelief that P, contrary to what was claimed by H (or was otherwise under discussion), and
2. the intention that H disbelieve that P.

informative (advise, announce, apprise, disclose, inform, insist, notify, point out, report, reveal, tell, testify)

In uttering e, S informs H that C if S expresses:

1. the belief that C, and
2. the intention that H form the belief that C.

offer (offer, propose; also volunteer, bid)

In uttering e, S offers A to H if S expresses:

1. the belief that S's utterance obligates him to A on condition that H indicates he wants S to A,
2. the intention to A on condition that H indicates he wants S to A, and
3. the intention that H believe that S's utterance obligates S to A and that S intends to A, on condition that H indicates he wants S to A.

permissive (agree to, allow, authorize, bless, consent to, dismiss, excuse, exempt, forgive, grant, license, pardon, release, sanction)

In uttering e, S permits H to A if S expresses:

1. the belief that his utterance, in virtue of his authority over H, entitles H to A, and
2. the intention that H believe that S's utterance entitles him to A.

predictive (forecast, predict, prophesy)

In uttering e, S predicts that C if S expresses:

1. the belief that it will be the case that C, and
2. the intention that H believe that it will be the case that C.

prohibitive (enjoin, forbid, prohibit, proscribe, restrict)

In uttering e, S prohibits H from A-ing if S expresses:

1. the belief that his utterance, in virtue of his authority over H, constitutes sufficient reason for H not to A, and
2. the intention that because of S's utterance H not do A.

promise(promise, swear, vow; also contract, bet, swear that, guarantee that, guarantee x, surrender, invite)

In uttering e, S promises H to A if S expresses:

1. the belief that his utterance obligates him to A,
2. the intention to A, and
3. the intention that H believe that S's utterance obligates S to A and that S intends to A.

question (ask, inquire, interrogate, query, question, quiz)

In uttering e, S questions H as to whether or not C if S expresses:

1. the desire that H tell S whether or not P, and
2. the intention that H tell S whether or not C because of S's desire.

requestive (ask, beg, beseech, implore, insist, invite, petition, plead, pray, request, solicit, summon, supplicate, tell, urge)

In uttering e, S requests H to A if S expresses:

1. the desire that H do A, and
2. the intention that H do A because (at least partly) of S's desire.

requirement (bid, charge, command, demand, dictate, direct, enjoin, instruct, order, prescribe, require)

In uttering e, S requires H to A if S expresses:

1. the belief that his utterance, in virtue of his authority over H, constitutes sufficient reason for H to A.
2. the intention that H do A because of S's utterance.

retractive (abjure, correct, deny, disavow, disclaim, disown, recant, renounce, repudiate, retract, take back, withdraw)

In uttering e, S retracts the claim that C if S expresses:

1. that he no longer believes that C, contrary to what he previously indicated he believed, and
2. the intention that H not believe that C.

retrodictive (recount, report)

In uttering e, S retrodicts that P if S expresses:

1. the belief that it was the case that P, and
2. the intention that H believe that it was the case that P.

suggestive (conjecture, guess, hypothesize, speculate, suggest)

In uttering e, S suggests that P if S expresses:

1. the belief that there is reason, but not sufficient reason, to believe that P, and
2. the intention that H believe that there is reason, but not sufficient reason, to believe that P.

suppositive (assume, hypothesize, postulate, stipulate, suppose, theorize)

In uttering e, S supposes that P if S expresses:

1. the belief that it is worth considering the consequences of P, and
2. the intention that H believe that it is worth considering the consequences of P.

Citations

[Bach&Harnish] Kent Bach & Robert Harnish, Linguistic Communication and Speech Acts, MIT Press, 1979.