明示的遂行文の遂行動詞への進行形の進出に関する予備的考察

抄録

In principle, the simple present tense is used for performative verbs in explicit performative sentences such as I ask you, I warn you, and I dedicate; however, some scholars have pointed out that the progressive form may be used instead of the simple present tense. This paper aims to provide a both diachronic and synchronic overview of the use of the progressive form in performative verbs, mainly focusing on the extent of the inroad of the progressive into different types of performative verbs, primarily based on the Corpus of Historical American English. This study found that the use of the progressive with performative verbs is a 20th-century phenomenon; while a limited number of performative verbs have been employed in the progressive form with a moderate frequency relative to the corresponding simple present, recent decades have witnessed increased relative frequencies in more frequent performative verbs and some extension to new verbs.

The findings of this study largely align with those of De Wit et al. (2018; 2020) concerning the types of performative verbs commonly associated with the progressive form. However, it also identified several contradictory facts and extensions their studies overlooked. This paper argues that while the “extravagance” associated with the progressive form tends to be exploited with informal and colloquial performative verbs, other factors, including individual verb characteristics and additional features of the progressive form, contribute to the usage of progressive performative verbs.