Realisative verbs, communicative situation and Searle's declarative acts

Abstract

In this paper, the notion of performative utterance is revisited in order to show that the possibility that a certain ilocutionary verb can be used performatively depends on the communicative context in which the utterance is produced. In this sense, it is shown that colloquial conversations, for example, are a more restrictive context regarding the use of performative verbs than written, more formal exchanges. To account for these data, the concept of “constitutive rule” that explains ilocutionary acts in Searle’s theory is used, and it is argued that the type of speech acts named “declarations” in Searle’s taxonomy should not be considered a type of ilocutionary acts comparable to the other four types in this classification.