statement
The term statement is ambiguous. He specifically designates
- a sentence that typically contains a statement → statement sentence ;
- an utterance to which a truth value can be assigned → statement (logic) ;
- the utterance with which a statement is asserted → the statement as a speech act type;
- the statement before an authority (e.g. police, court) → testimony , testimony in criminal and administrative offense proceedings , testimony in disciplinary proceedings , testimony as an expert, etc.
- that which is stated → content of the statement (the proposition ).
In terms of aesthetics too
- the artistic statement; “That which a work expresses”, “the expression of the inner content”.
Statement as a statement
It is widespread that a statement is equated with a statement , e.g. B. in the definition "statements are sentences that are true or false".
Synonyms for the declarative sentence are declarative sentence or descriptive sentence.
From a semantic point of view, a propositional sentence is a declarative sentence , i.e. a linguistic formulation with which either a fact , a presumption , a thesis or a personal position such as an opinion is expressed. From a grammatical point of view, a statement in the Indo-European languages is a sentence in the indicative mode .
In the grammar school, the declarative sentences are the question sets and instruction sets faced as sets with a fundamentally different meaning and usage.
However, there is a fundamental difference between the statement and the statement: A statement is only typically expressed by a statement . Not all statements are used to implement statements and not all statements are implemented by statements.
- Example: "I would have liked to have won the lottery" is a statement that expresses a wish rather than a statement.
- Example: “I promise to marry you” is not a statement, but a promise of engagement.
Statement as an assertion
The term statement also denotes the asserting utterance , i.e. H. the assertion (also: the constative utterance, the determination, etc.). What is meant is a certain type of speech act.
So one speaks z. B. from the testimony (in the sense of an act).
The assertion as a speech act is usually made in the form of a statement. But this is not mandatory. A rhetorical question can, for example, be a (rhetorically covered) assertion.
Statement as a truthful sense
A statement, that is, what is typically said in a propositional sentence in an asserting utterance, is that which one can meaningfully say is either true or false. This is the concept of statement as used in the logic ( proposition (logic) used) and in linguistics, especially in the speech act theory , proposition is called.
In a (colloquial / linguistic) sense that is not as strict as that in logic, what contains a sentence or - apparently - assertive utterance is also called a statement.
- Example: The expression “It is raining” is an abstract grammatical statement that has a meaningful content in colloquial language, but due to a lack of truthfulness (when ?, where?) Does not represent a statement in the logical sense; however, in the context of the specific utterance (place, time) is a truth-defining statement.
- Example: A witness does not say anything concrete, verifiable or falsifiable in his “testimony”, he just keeps talking about the bush. His "statement" is not a statement in the logical sense (if only it should be).
The justification of the distinction between a statement and a statement (sentence) content becomes clear from the fact that a statement (a proposition) can be made (stated) by different statements:
- Example:
- Berlin is the capital of germany.
- The capital of Germany is Berlin.
- Germany's capital is Berlin.
- Germany has a capital and it's called Berlin.
- Berlin is the capital of Germany.
or in other sentences than statements:
- Berlin is the capital of Germany, or do you have a different opinion?
See also
- Interpretation , a process that is used to talk about the content of a work of art, for example.
Web links
- Statement . duden.de
- Statement. In: Digital dictionary of the German language . Retrieved October 8, 2019
Individual evidence
-
↑ as here Peter Hinst: Logische Propädeutik . W. Fink, Munich 1974, p. 21 ff .: Statements - assertive utterance - proposition;
- Helmut Glück (Ed.): Metzler Lexicon Language. 4th edition. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2010: Statement practically only refers to proposition and for statements to declarative clauses ;
- according to Hoyningen-Huene: Logic , 1998, p. 32 f. the expression statement has at least 5 meanings connected to it: [1] the utterance of the statement; [1.1] the scheme of the utterance; [2] an act of judgment; [2.1] the scheme of the act of judgment; [3] the sense of meaning.
- ↑ statement. duden.de
- ↑ statement. In: Digital dictionary of the German language . Retrieved October 8, 2019
- ^ So Brun, Hirsch, Hadorn: Textanalyse. 2009, p. 196.
- ↑ After Robert Wall: Logic and set theory. Scriptor, Kronberg Ts. 1974, p. 31.