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In:Possibility and Necessity: Concepts and expressions of modality
Edited by Jean Albrespit, Christelle Lacassain and Tracey Simpson
[Studies in Language Companion Series 237] 2025
► pp. 186–216

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Hedged performatives across time

Report on a pilot study

ORCiD logo with link | University of Lille
ORCiD logo with link | University of Lille
Published online: 4 November 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.237.08dep
Abstract
In this chapter, we report on a corpus study that investigates diachronic changes in the use of 15 hedged performatives (HPs) (Fraser 1975) in British English. The time span ranges from 1710 till 2016: we use three corpora to investigate the use of HP from Late Modern English till Contemporary English. The main trends are described on the basis of quantitative overviews and the changes in frequency are assessed from three angles: (a) the impact of spoken vs. written register, (b) the impact of the modal verb (must vs. have to vs. can), (c) the impact of the semantic profile of the performative verb. Our findings are as follows: HPs occur more frequently in spoken English. The general changes in frequency of the modal must (but not that of have to and can) are reflected in the rise and fall of the HPs in which they are used, but at the same time, the normalised frequencies of the HPs with must are still considerably higher than those of the HPs with have to (with some exceptions in the spoken register). Finally, HPs with a verb that is semantically lighter like say are argued to be more likely to increase in frequency than those with a semantically heavier verb like confess.
Article outline
  • 1.Aims and context
  • 2.Methodology: Corpora and selection of HPs
    • 2.1Choice of corpora
    • 2.2Choice of modal verbs
    • 2.3Choice of HPs
    • 2.4Research hypotheses
  • 3.Diachronic patterns: Changes in frequency
    • 3.1HPs in the written register (from Late Modern English to Contemporary English)
      • 3.1.1I must x
      • 3.1.2I have to x
      • 3.1.3I can x
    • 3.2HPs in the spoken register (from Late Modern English to Contemporary English)
      • 3.2.1I must x
      • 3.2.2I have to x
      • 3.2.3I can x
  • 4.Discussion of diachronic trends
    • 4.1Register
    • 4.2Discussion of the impact of syntactic category (core modal vs. lexical verb)
    • 4.3Discussion of impact of illocutionary type
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Erratum
  • ?ack?
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
References (19)
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