Glossary of Linguistic Terms

Commissive Illocutionary Point

Definition: 

A commissive illocutionary point is the illocutionary point of a speaker committing to bring about the state of affairs described in the propositional content of the utterance.

Discussion: 

According to certain analyses, a commissive illocutionary point is one of the five basic purposes that a speaker can have in making an utterance.

See Also: 
Speaker
Proposition
Utterance
Source: 
Searle and Vanderveken 1985
38–39
Crystal 1985
57

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library. Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003.

LinguaLinks Ordering Information

Glossary Hierarchy

  • Illocutionary Point
  • Commissive Illocutionary Point