Delocution

In linguistics, delokution describes a certain subtype of word formation introduced by Émile Benveniste . It is characteristic of delocutive formations that, strictly speaking, they are not based on lexical units , but on their performative expression in the context of a speech act . Delocution falls primarily, but not exclusively, into the verbal realm. A delokutives verb with the base X thus has roughly the meaning X say .

Examples

• Latin salutare , 'greet', does not go back directly to the lexeme salus , 'salvation', but rather to the context of the utterance of the same as a greeting.
• German duzen and French tutoyer .
• Italian allarme , 'alarm' goes back to the expression all'arme! , 'to the weapons!'

literature

• Benveniste, Émile (1966 [1958]): Les verbes délocutifs. In: Ders .: Problèmes de linguistique générale. Paris: Gallimard.
• Plank, Frans: Delocutive verbs, crosslinguistically. Manuscript, University of Konstanz. Accessible here: PDF