In linguistics, sentence function refers to a speaker's purpose in uttering a specific sentence, phrase, or clause. Whether a listener is present or not is sometimes irrelevant. It answers the question: "Why has this been said?" The four basic sentence functions in the world's languages include the declarative, interrogative, exclamative, and the imperative. These correspond to a statement, question, exclamation, and command respectively. Typically, a sentence goes from one function to the next through a combination of changes in word order, intonation, the addition of certain auxiliaries or particles, or other times by providing a special verbal form. The four main categories can be further specified as being either communicative or informative.
Read more about Sentence Function: Communicative Vs. Informative, Declarative Vs. Affirmative Vs. Positive, Allofunctional Implicature, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words sentence and/or function:
“The pipe, with solemn interposing puff,
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