The Illocutionary Frames Principle (IFP) and the Austinian Postulations: A Clause-Structure Investigative Discourse

Abstract

Austin (1962) is a theory of speech act; in this regard, it is essentially a theory in pragmatics, which as a field of language study, studies how language is used according to varied contextual nuances. In this paper, my arguments subtly engage semantics and those pragmatic notions which constitute the communicative elements produced by clause structure. I explore the System of Mood, the Abstract Performative Hypothesis and the Illocutionary Frames Principle (IFP) to establish my positions. The findings include: the clause in which a speech act verb occurs determines illocutionary acts performed in discourse, among other things; linguistic issues abound, which reveal the strengths and weaknesses of Austinian postulations; apart from determining what is communicated in discourse, clause structure also has effects and implications on meaning and participants.