Editing Pragmatics (section)

===The performative===
{{main article|Performative utterance|Speech act theory}}

[[J. L. Austin]] introduced the concept of the [[Performative utterance|performative]], contrasted in his writing with "constative" (i.e. descriptive) utterances. According to Austin's original formulation, a performative is a type of utterance characterized by two distinctive features:
* It is not [[Truth value|truth-evaluable]] (i.e. it is neither true nor false)
* Its uttering ''performs'' an action rather than simply describing one

Examples:
* "I hereby pronounce you man and wife."
* "I accept your apology."
* "This meeting is now adjourned."

To be performative, an utterance must conform to various conditions involving what Austin calls [[felicity conditions|felicity]]. These deal with things like appropriate context and the speaker's authority. For instance, when a couple has been arguing and the husband says to his wife that he accepts her apology even though she has offered nothing approaching an apology, his assertion is infelicitous: because she has made neither expression of regret nor request for forgiveness, there exists none to accept, and thus no act of accepting can possibly happen.