The expression of directive meaninga corpus-based study on the variation between insubordinated if-clauses, imperatives and conditionals in contemporary spoken British and American English

Résumé

This dissertation focuses on the analysis of insubordinated clauses introduced by if, as in "okay if you’d like to get dressed now" which differ from prototypical conditional clauses in that they lack the apodosis and in their illocutionary force is that of a polite request. these clauses are said to have undergone a process of insubordination, that is, “the conventionalized main-clause use of what, on primae facie grounds, appear to be formally subordinate clauses” (evans 2007: 367). Athis dissertation intends to carry out a syncronic study of these constructions in contemporary spoken british and american english. through the use of linguistic corpora, this study will provide an analysis of their formal features, their grammatical status and their pragmatic functions, along with a comparison with the uses of other types of clauses with which they share illocutionary force, that is, imperatives and prototypical conditionals.