Abstract

Any classification of illocutionary acts to be well-founded has to be based on logical principles characteristic of the different types of these acts; and the relevant principles nave to be couched in terms of general action theory. This approach is specified for informatives and directives, and the essential connections between these two (most basic?) types of illocutionary acts are explicated and diagrammed - showing the primacy of informatives. Discussion of why, in talking about communicative acts, some divergence from ordinary language is to be recommended.