Sebastian Buchczyk
Current Research in the Semantics/Pragmatics Interface
This paper argues that mood alternation under response stance verbs (RSVs) is systematically constrained rather than a matter of free choice. Focusing on performative uses of admetre in Catalan, we show that the verb presupposes that the proposition ϕ has been introduced into the common ground, without presupposing the truth of ϕ itself. Building on observations by Cattell (1978) and Kastner (2015), this analysis challenges the view that RSVs are factive and necessarily encode speaker commitment to ϕ. We propose that performative uses of admetre license two distinct illocutionary acts associated with different moods: assertion with the indicative and grant with the subjunctive. These acts are formally modeled within a Commitment Space framework, which captures the correspondence between mood and illocutionary force. The analysis reveals a crucial contrast: the subjunctive grant blocks updates with ¬ϕ without committing the speaker to ϕ, resulting in ϕ being added to a newly established Commitment State, whereas the indicative assertion both accepts and commits the speaker to ϕ. This unified account explains the observed mood alternation and sheds light on the fine-grained pragmatic effects of RSVs in Catalan.