DIRECTIVE SPEECH ACTS IN OLD ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Abstract

The article is aimed to investigate speech acts in the Old English language (7–11 centuries). Our study focuses on oneof the types of speech acts – directives. Literary monuments of the Old English language, the oldest of which date back tothe 7th century, served as illustrative material.We have studied and identified the main types of directives that were most manifested in the language of the abovemantioned period. Based on previous researches, and analyzing the sources of illustrative material, we were able to traceback the peculiarities of the directives usage in the Old English language, and to make a comparative analysis.The diachronic analysis revealed that orders were the most commonly used type of directive speech acts. They provedto be the most diachronically stable and have retained a one-part structure since the Old English period. That is whyour research focuses on this period, as it is important to investigate the origin and formation of directives, which in itsfurther development became an important part of the imperatives. The grammaticalization of directives and imperativesentences in general was mainly pragmatic and morphological. It was connected to the development of the imperativemood and language in general.The usage of electronic corpora has helped us to determine the frequency of manifestation of a particular directivemarker in literary monuments. The article analyzes four main types of directives: ic bidde, sceu scealt / ge sculon, uton,neodþearf / þearf. Performative directives were among the most widely used and widespread in the written literature of the period under study. In Old English, the typical model of a directive speech act was: a directive verb in the first personsingular or plural + object. A subordinate clause with a request was often added with the specified action that the speakerrequired to perform.Our study allowed us to establish that the choice of directives depended (in most cases) on face threat. Instead,the peculiarities of their manifestation had a different purpose. Thus, performatives were used to emphasize the effectof the speech act and to ensure the performance of a certain action. Other types of directives were used to emphasizethe urgency and necessity of the implementation of a particular act, and to clarify to whom it applies. We found thatthe above mentioned directives were used mainly in religious texts.