Ritual speech, performativity, and modality
The present work provides frameworks for thinking about performative utterances which are not solely of the form first person, present, active.. etc. Centering the account of performative utterances on what they aim to achieve rather than what they tangibly bring into the world, has led to a more co...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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2023
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| _version_ | 1824459171593977856 |
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| author | Frangulov, AM |
| author2 | Altshuler, D |
| author_facet | Altshuler, D Frangulov, AM |
| author_sort | Frangulov, AM |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | The present work provides frameworks for thinking about performative utterances which are not solely of the form first person, present, active.. etc. Centering the account of performative utterances on what they aim to achieve rather than what they tangibly bring into the world, has led to a more compelling account of what the utterances do. In fusing the Hacquard's (2010) events-based accounts of modality and Eckardt's (2012) events-based account of performativity this thesis shows that modals and performative utterances may be more connected than previously thought, and that together a detailed account can be made of how it is possible to have quantified subject DPs in utterances without hereby (something previously thought impossible). The quantification problem referenced is shown to be avoidable when modality is involved. Specifically, the default speech event, which Hacquard (2010) posits, can be the target of Eckardt's (2012) self-referential inference that the described event is identical with the ongoing transfer of information, which allows the assertion to be self-referential and therefore performative, without encountering the problem of the quantification on the agent of the matrix verb. This thesis has filled a theoretical gap by investigating the formal mechanisms that may be at play in ritual speech, performative utterances, and modality. It has done so primarily through semantic reasoning but has also made many connections to philological, philosophical, anthropological, and developmental scholarship. The incorporation of historical data from the ritual corpora of the Rigveda and Hittite ritual tablets, has not only enriched the quality of analysis through quantitative analysis, but it also provided catalysts for many of the discussions raised and many future lines of inquiry. In the examination of the facts of performativity in ritual speech, this thesis has shown that formal semantic consideration of this type of data can reveal many insights into performative speech as a whole. |
| first_indexed | 2025-02-19T04:37:33Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oxford-uuid:36e9551e-5a3b-4aac-98c1-0e12614110f9 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-02-19T04:37:33Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:36e9551e-5a3b-4aac-98c1-0e12614110f92025-02-10T11:51:09ZRitual speech, performativity, and modalityThesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_bdccuuid:36e9551e-5a3b-4aac-98c1-0e12614110f9SemanticsMagicRitual language (Linguistics)PragmaticsEnglishHyrax Deposit2023Frangulov, AMAltshuler, DBianconi, MThe present work provides frameworks for thinking about performative utterances which are not solely of the form first person, present, active.. etc. Centering the account of performative utterances on what they aim to achieve rather than what they tangibly bring into the world, has led to a more compelling account of what the utterances do. In fusing the Hacquard's (2010) events-based accounts of modality and Eckardt's (2012) events-based account of performativity this thesis shows that modals and performative utterances may be more connected than previously thought, and that together a detailed account can be made of how it is possible to have quantified subject DPs in utterances without hereby (something previously thought impossible). The quantification problem referenced is shown to be avoidable when modality is involved. Specifically, the default speech event, which Hacquard (2010) posits, can be the target of Eckardt's (2012) self-referential inference that the described event is identical with the ongoing transfer of information, which allows the assertion to be self-referential and therefore performative, without encountering the problem of the quantification on the agent of the matrix verb. This thesis has filled a theoretical gap by investigating the formal mechanisms that may be at play in ritual speech, performative utterances, and modality. It has done so primarily through semantic reasoning but has also made many connections to philological, philosophical, anthropological, and developmental scholarship. The incorporation of historical data from the ritual corpora of the Rigveda and Hittite ritual tablets, has not only enriched the quality of analysis through quantitative analysis, but it also provided catalysts for many of the discussions raised and many future lines of inquiry. In the examination of the facts of performativity in ritual speech, this thesis has shown that formal semantic consideration of this type of data can reveal many insights into performative speech as a whole. |
| spellingShingle | Semantics Magic Ritual language (Linguistics) Pragmatics Frangulov, AM Ritual speech, performativity, and modality |
| title | Ritual speech, performativity, and modality |
| title_full | Ritual speech, performativity, and modality |
| title_fullStr | Ritual speech, performativity, and modality |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ritual speech, performativity, and modality |
| title_short | Ritual speech, performativity, and modality |
| title_sort | ritual speech performativity and modality |
| topic | Semantics Magic Ritual language (Linguistics) Pragmatics |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT frangulovam ritualspeechperformativityandmodality |