In linguistics, hortativemodalities (/ˈhɔːrtətɪv/ⓘ; abbreviatedHORT) are verbal expressions used by the speaker to encourage or discourage an action. Different hortatives can be used to express greater or lesser intensity, or the speaker's attitude, for or against it.
Hortative modalities signal the speaker's encouragement or discouragement toward the addressee's bringing about the action of an utterance.
The term hortative dates to 1576, from Late Latinhortatorius "encouraging, cheering", from hortatus, past participle of hortari "exhort, encourage", intensive of horiri "urge, incite, encourage". When encouraging others it becomes exhortative while when including the speaker it becomes cohortative.
Ambiguityedit
Hortative modalities share semantic and lexical similarities with other modalities, which can lead to confusion between them. Also, hortative constructions rarely have forms that are uniquely their own. The English expression Let's, a contraction of let us, is one such construction. However, let us is used for other functions:
Andy says to his sister Barbara: "The movie starts in an hour. Let us go."[1] Andy is telling Barbara that they should leave now if they want to make it to the movie on time. (cohortative – mutual encouragement)
Barbara says to her parent, Chris, "We have finished our chores. Let us go." Barbara is demanding that Chris allow them to go to the movies because they have no more chores to do. (imperative)
The modal '(have) got' is used to express obligations, but is also hortative:
Chris says to their employee, Ethan, "Donna is out sick today. You've got to be there." Chris is telling Ethan that because his co-worker is sick, he has to come to work. (obligatory – being there is required)
Ethan says to his friend Frankie, "It's gonna be the biggest party of the year. You've got to be there." Ethan is telling Frankie that she should go to the party because it will be the biggest of the year. (exhortative – being there is strongly encouraged)
Further ambiguity may result when hortative formations have many words or appear as adverbially-modified forms of other modalities:
Frankie says to her friend Greg, "Recently, some cars have been broken into. You might not want to park there." Frankie is cautioning Greg against parking where some cars have recently been broken into. (dehortative – parking there is politely discouraged)
That construction consists of might (a modal of possibility) + not (the negative marker) + want (a volitiveclass II modal). Forms such as this one are often misconstrued as other modalities further modified (in this case, volition negated and modified for possibility).
Imperative-hortative systemsedit
Many languages have imperative-hortative systems in which modalities dealing with commands and encouragement are grouped together. That is not the case in English and results in some disagreement among linguists.[who?]
Imperatives and hortatives both involve the expression of a wish of the speaker about a future state of affairs. In that respect, they are like optatives, but in contrast to optatives, they convey an appeal to the addressee(s) to help make the future state of affairs true. If the person in control of the desired state of affairs is the addressee(s), the utterance is an imperative. In any other case, it is a hortative. Consider the following examples:
May he live a hundred years! (optative)
Sing! (imperative)
Let's sing! (hortative)
(1) illustrates an optative. It expresses a wish or hope of the speaker, but there is no appeal to the addressee to make it true. (2) and (3) also express a wish of the speaker, but in both cases, there is an appeal to the addressee to help make it true, with the desired future state of affairs specified as that of someone singing. Note that the person(s) supposed to sing is/are the addressee(s) in (2), thus making it a command. In (3), however, the intended singer(s) is/are the addressee(s) together with the speaker, thus effecting the modality of mutual encouragement that the speaker and the addressee(s) are to perform the action.[2]
^Johan van der Auwera, Nina Dobrushina, and Valentin Goussev, "Imperative-Hortative Systems", in Haspelmath, Martin (2005). The world atlas of language structures. Oxford UP. p. 294. ISBN978-0-19-925591-7.
Sourcesedit
Palmer, Robert L. Mood & Modality. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 2001
Palmer, Robert L. Modality & The English Modals. Longman, London. 1979
December 15, 2023
hortative, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, examples, perspective, this, article, deal, primarily, with, english, speaking, world, represent, worldwide, . This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the English speaking world and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject You may improve this article discuss the issue on the talk page or create a new article as appropriate November 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Hortative news newspapers books scholar JSTOR February 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message In linguistics hortative modalities ˈ h ɔːr t e t ɪ v abbreviated HORT are verbal expressions used by the speaker to encourage or discourage an action Different hortatives can be used to express greater or lesser intensity or the speaker s attitude for or against it Hortative modalities signal the speaker s encouragement or discouragement toward the addressee s bringing about the action of an utterance Contents 1 Etymology 2 Ambiguity 3 Imperative hortative systems 4 References 5 SourcesEtymology editThe term hortative dates to 1576 from Late Latin hortatorius encouraging cheering from hortatus past participle of hortari exhort encourage intensive of horiri urge incite encourage When encouraging others it becomes exhortative while when including the speaker it becomes cohortative Ambiguity editHortative modalities share semantic and lexical similarities with other modalities which can lead to confusion between them Also hortative constructions rarely have forms that are uniquely their own The English expression Let s a contraction of let us is one such construction However let us is used for other functions Andy says to his sister Barbara The movie starts in an hour Let us go 1 Andy is telling Barbara that they should leave now if they want to make it to the movie on time cohortative mutual encouragement Barbara says to her parent Chris We have finished our chores Let us go Barbara is demanding that Chris allow them to go to the movies because they have no more chores to do imperative The modal have got is used to express obligations but is also hortative Chris says to their employee Ethan Donna is out sick today You ve got to be there Chris is telling Ethan that because his co worker is sick he has to come to work obligatory being there is required Ethan says to his friend Frankie It s gonna be the biggest party of the year You ve got to be there Ethan is telling Frankie that she should go to the party because it will be the biggest of the year exhortative being there is strongly encouraged Further ambiguity may result when hortative formations have many words or appear as adverbially modified forms of other modalities Frankie says to her friend Greg Recently some cars have been broken into You might not want to park there Frankie is cautioning Greg against parking where some cars have recently been broken into dehortative parking there is politely discouraged That construction consists of might a modal of possibility not the negative marker want a volitive class II modal Forms such as this one are often misconstrued as other modalities further modified in this case volition negated and modified for possibility Imperative hortative systems editMany languages have imperative hortative systems in which modalities dealing with commands and encouragement are grouped together That is not the case in English and results in some disagreement among linguists who Imperatives and hortatives both involve the expression of a wish of the speaker about a future state of affairs In that respect they are like optatives but in contrast to optatives they convey an appeal to the addressee s to help make the future state of affairs true If the person in control of the desired state of affairs is the addressee s the utterance is an imperative In any other case it is a hortative Consider the following examples May he live a hundred years optative Sing imperative Let s sing hortative 1 illustrates an optative It expresses a wish or hope of the speaker but there is no appeal to the addressee to make it true 2 and 3 also express a wish of the speaker but in both cases there is an appeal to the addressee to help make it true with the desired future state of affairs specified as that of someone singing Note that the person s supposed to sing is are the addressee s in 2 thus making it a command In 3 however the intended singer s is are the addressee s together with the speaker thus effecting the modality of mutual encouragement that the speaker and the addressee s are to perform the action 2 References edit Commonly contracted as let s go Johan van der Auwera Nina Dobrushina and Valentin Goussev Imperative Hortative Systems in Haspelmath Martin 2005 The world atlas of language structures Oxford UP p 294 ISBN 978 0 19 925591 7 Sources editPalmer Robert L Mood amp Modality Cambridge University Press Cambridge 2001 Palmer Robert L Modality amp The English Modals Longman London 1979 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Hortative amp oldid 1186684241 Cohortative, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
