Jary, Mark;
Kissine, Mikhail;
(2016)
When terminology matters: The imperative as a comparative concept.
Linguistics
, 54
(1)
pp. 119-148.
10.1515/ling-2015-0039.
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Abstract
The imperative should be thought of as a comparative concept, defined as a sentence type whose only prototypical function is the performance of the whole range of directive speech acts. Furthermore, for a non-second-person form to count as an imperative it must be homogeneous with the second-person form, thereby allowing true imperative paradigms to be distinguished from those that recruit alternative structures. This definition of the imperative sentence type allows more accurate crosslinguistic analysis of imperative paradigms, and provides principled grounds for distinguishing between imperative and so-called "hortative" and "jussive" forms. It also helps to clarify the irrealis-or better-potential status of imperatives, and suggests an explanation for the crosslinguistic variability in the non-directive occurrence of imperatives in good wishes.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | When terminology matters: The imperative as a comparative concept |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1515/ling-2015-0039 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1515/ling-2015-0039 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | Social Sciences, Linguistics, Language & Linguistics, imperative, subjunctive, irrealis, hortative, sentence type, directive speech acts, potentiality |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Linguistics |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10214685 |
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