Explicit performatives in Old English: A corpus-based study of directives

Kohnen, Thomas

doi:10.1075/jhp.1.2.07koh

Article published In: Journal of Historical Pragmatics
Vol. 1:2 (2000) ► pp.301–321

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Explicit performatives in Old English

A corpus-based study of directives

Thomas Kohnen | Gerhard Mercator University, Duisburg

Published online: 30 August 2000

https://doi.org/10.1075/jhp.1.2.07koh

This article deals with directive performatives in Old English. Using the Old English section of the Helsinki Corpus, it examines their frequency, their distribution across text types and their major functions. In addition, the data are compared with their Latin sources and with the frequency of directive performatives in the Modern English LOB Corpus. The results suggest that directive performatives were much more frequent in Old English, with Modern English showing a clear tendency to avoid face-threatening performatives.

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