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Research journal "Foreign Languages in Tertiary Education"
ISSN 2072-7607
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Sokolova O. V.

 

Illocutionary functions of the Italian verbs dire and parlare in poetic discourse and colloquial speech: a corpus-based analysis. Pp. 48–60.

 

UDC 811.131.1

DOI: 10.37724/RSU.2026.76.1.006

EDN: PPTVXN

 

Abstract. This study examines the illocutionary functions of the Italian speech act verbs dire (dico/diciamo) and parlare (parlo/parliamo) in two types of discourse: poetry and everyday conversation. The analysis focuses on the pragmatic behaviour of these verbs, considering them beyond their basic pragmatic functions, and on how poetic discourse expands their functional potential. The research employs a comparative, corpus-based, and discourse-oriented approach, applying it to a custom-built corpus of contemporary poetry, which is supplemented by data from the conversational corpus KiParla. The findings reveal that dire exhibits a high level of multifunctionality. In addition to its representative use, the verb is employed in declarative, inquisitive, directive and commissive acts, performing several supplementary illocutionary roles. These include autocommunicative and metalinguistic functions, violation of the sincerity condition and the illocutionary act of silence. The functional range of parlare is more limited, primarily involving representative and, to a lesser extent, declarative acts. However, it reveals a notable sensitivity to the parameterisation of communicative roles. Overall, the results suggest that poetic discourse reshapes patterns of everyday speech and amplifies the pragmatic capacities of illocutionary verbs, revealing their latent performative potential and broadening the scope of their functions.

Keywords: pragmatics, pragmatic units, performatives, speech acts, verbs of speaking, illocutionary functions, discourse analysis, colloquial speech, contemporary poetry, Italian.

 

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