PERFORMATIVE VERB
PERFORMATIVE VERB. A term used in philosophy and linguistics for a type of VERB (apologize, forbid, inform, promise, request, thank) that can explicitly convey the kind of speech act being performed. In saying I apologize for my behaviour, someone is making an apology, which could also be done in part at least without such a verb: My behaviour was utterly deplorable. Generally, the performative verb in such sentences is in the simple present active and the subject is I, but the verb may be in the simple present passive and the subject need not be I: Smoking is forbidden; The committee thanks you for your services. A test for whether a verb is being used performatively is the possible insertion of hereby: I hereby apologize; The committee hereby thanks you. In hedged performatives, the verb is present but the speech act is performed indirectly: in saying I must apologize for my behaviour, the speaker is expressing an obligation to make an apology, but implies that the acknowledgement of that obligation is the same as an apology. In contrast, I apologized is a report, and Must I apologize? is a request for advice.
More From encyclopedia.com
Performance , Performance
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
ERVIN GOFFMAN AND DRAMATURGY
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Performance, as understood in the context of the soc… Performance Art , Performance art became known as the distinctive art form of the 1970s, and followed the Happenings and action art of the 1960s. The concept behind pe… Acting , INTEGRATING PERFORMANCE AND OTHER CINEMATIC ELEMENTS
QUESTIONS ABOUT ACTING, NARRATIVE, AND AUDIOVISUAL DESIGN
AUDIENCE EXPERIENCE, CULTURAL CONVENTI… Employee Performance , What is the relationship between age and job performance? The average age of people in the workforce is getting higher, with increasing numbers of mi… Social Facilitation , In 1898 Norman Triplett reported an experiment in which schoolchildren turned a fishing reel under two conditions: first alone and then standing besi… Laurie Anderson , Anderson, Laurie
Performance artist; violinist
A performance artist “treads the high-wire between art and popular culture, between ‘refined conscious…
You Might Also Like
NEARBY TERMS
PERFORMATIVE VERB