Glossary of Linguistic Terms

Propositional Act

Definition: 

A propositional act is a speech act that a speaker performs when referring or predicating in an utterance.

Examples: 

(English)

The following utterances all have the same propositional act despite their different illocutionary acts, utterance acts, and perlocutionary acts:

  • You go home.
  • Do you go home?
  • Go home!
  • How I wish you’d go home!
Source: 
23–24