SILGLOBALGlossary of
Linguistic Terms

Glossary term P

Permissive Mood

Definition

Permissive mood is a directive mood that signals the speaker’s act of giving permission.

Examples

(English)

Here is an example of a word that signals permissive mood:

  • You may have another cookie.

Sources 2

  1. Pei and Gaynor 1954, 165
  2. Chung and Timberlake 1985, 247
Explore the bibliography

Find a term or reference

Try “phonology”, “evidentiality”, or “Crystal”. esc to close.