SILGLOBALGlossary of
Linguistic Terms

Glossary term S

Success Of Fit

Definition

Success of fit is a correspondence between the state of affairs described by the propositional content of an illocutionary act and the state of affairs in the world.

Examples

Here are some examples of success of fit:

  • The truthfulness of an assertive act’s contents
  • The status of a commissive act’s contents as kept by the speaker
  • The fulfillment of a directive act’s contents by the person from whom compliance is sought
  • A declarative act that is successfully performed

See also

Proposition Illocutionary Act Assertive Illocutionary Point Commissive Illocutionary Point Directive Illocutionary Point Declarative Illocutionary Point

Sources 1

  1. Searle and Vanderveken 1985, 95-98
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