Explicit Performatives (EP)
Using the thereby test as described above, indicate which of the following sen- tences express explicit performatives (EP) and which do not express explicit performatives (N) in appropriate circumstances:
1. I pledge allegiance to the flag.
2. We pledge allegiance to the flag.
3. I pledged allegiance to the flag.
4. I always pledge allegiance at the start of a game.
5. You pledge allegiance to the flag.
6. He pledges allegiance to the flag.
7. He doesn’t pledge allegiance to the flag.
8. Pledge allegiance to the flag!
9. Why don’t you pledge allegiance to the flag?
10. Pierre is the capital of South Dakota.
11. I state that Pierre is the capital of South Dakota.
12. I order you to leave.
13. Get out of here!
14. I didn’t take it.
15. I swear that I didn’t take it.
16. I won’t talk to you.
17. I refuse to talk to you.
18. I’m out of gas.
19. I feel devastated.
20. Bummer!
21. I claim this land for England.
22. I bring you greetings from home.
Here the same linguistic act, uttering the word “yes,” is used to do four dif- ferent things: to state something, to make a promise, to take an oath, and to refuse to do something.
We can make this idea of a speech act clearer by using the notion of an ex- plicit performative. Explicit performatives provide a systematic way of identify- ing different kinds of speech acts. The basic idea is that different speech acts are named by the different verbs that occur in explicit performatives. We can thus use the thereby test to search for different kinds of speech acts.