Nonrequesting Uses of Imperatives

Abstract

Abstract pivotal to all of ash creek requesting discourse is a system of acceptable uses of imperatives, or other unambiguous directives having imperative functions, to demand compliance of listeners. Except under certain very specific and highly restricted contextual constraints, Ash Creek residents will recognize such imperative forms as “orders.” “Orders” are a speaker’s blatant assertions of control over another individual and are invariably interpreted negatively—with sometimes highly negative responses involving violence. Residents have well-developed metapragmatic discourse about the use of “orders,” which, in turn, constructs a well-developed ideology of “order” language. At the same time, Ash Creek English does not exclude the imperative mood from its grammar. Imperative constructions can be, under certain contextual constraints, very common. This chapter explores the usage patterns that lead to this apparent contradiction as they relate to the reproduction or transformation of the community socioeconomy. It first discusses formal constraints on nor-mative imperative syntax and then considers non-requesting uses of “orders” in reported speech and oral narratives.