Performative

Performatives are (often formulaic) SPEECH ACTS which, when uttered, perform
a social act and bring about a new reality (see Austin 1962). Such utterances
have no TRUTH CONDITIONS and usually contain a performative VERB. These
are
called explicit performatives. The performative verb indicates the illocutionary
force of the utterance. For example,
I declare the resolution carried. (BNC, HM6)
I promise I will be there in a minute. (BNC, KR1)
I vote that this is a good point. (BNC, J99)
Performative verbs can often be identified by seeing if the word hereby can
be inserted before them. The meanings of the above sentences do not depend
on their truth condition and are not falsifiable. We do not know, for example,
if the person voting on the good point above actually believes that the point
is a good one or whether it can be independently verified that the point is
good. The meaning, or pragmatic force of the performative, depends on
certain conditions, known as FELICITY CONDITIONS, being appropriate for them
to
be uttered and to be meaningful. For example, if someone says I resign, for
the performative to be felicitous, they have to have a particular job or role
that they are allowed to resign from, and they must utter the performative
to someone who is able to accept their resignation. If these conditions are
not present, the uttering of the sentence would be infelicitous and would
have no force.