A prototype approach to sentences and sentence types

Abstract

This paper proposes a new solution to the age-old problem of defining the sentence and sentence types. Arguing against traditional definitions, we propose that the category SENTENCE exhibits a complex prototypical structure on the levels of morphosyntactic form, conceptual content, and pragmatic function. By positing that the central member of the category SENTENCE is the declarative sentence type, we can show how imperative sentences are related to the prototypical declarative sentence type and that imperatives exhibit an internal prototypical structure of their own. Finally, using a scenario approach, we show how the conceptual and pragmatic functions of declarative and imperative sentences may overlap.