O odnosu aspektualnosti i performativnosti glagola
On the Relationship between the Aspect and the Performativity of Verbs

Summary/Abstract: In this paper we will attempt, on the one hand, to demonstrate how the change of aspect influences the performative traits of verbs in the Croatian language, and on the other, to find the answer to the question why only one aspect, i.e. the imperfective one, is employed in the institutional and even everyday performative use of verbs. From a (linguistic) philosophical perspective, this results in a paradoxical situation: since imperfectivity marks the duration of the action, the only logical conclusion is that, as long as the action is taking place, it is not finished. In other words, if someone says obećavam da ću doći (“I am promising that I will come”), this action cannot be described in such a manner as to say that the speaker has promised to come. Austin, at least in the early version of his theory, claims that only such verbs are true performatives, i.e. that they perform the action that they describe. However, we must ask ourselves when is this action actually performed, and not when it is being performed, i.e. is there a culmination point after which we could say the speaker has actually made a promise, and not that he was just making a promise? In this context, and on concrete examples, we will test the nature of the relationship between telicity, aspect and performativity, i.e. we will try to find out if it is possible to establish any clear co-dependency between these three traits of verbs.

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