Read the article as soon as possible

The pragmatic-implicature process of 'as soon as possible' in imperatives

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21165/el.v54i2.3872

Abstract

This article presents a description of imperatives, with an emphasis on the concept of ASAP (as soon as possible) and contextual engagement contingency (CEC), both of which are pragmatic notions. We will use examples featuring temporal expressions— Make the report (a) ∅, (b) already/now, (c) by the end of the afternoon, (d) by tomorrow, (e) by next week, and (f) at the end of the project—to analyze time expressions that facilitate the immediate execution of the proposed action. ASAP is interpreted as "the most immediate after the utterance" in (a), while the other examples reflect a conditional immediacy. We discuss how Control (CTRL) and CEC validate the transition from illocutionary act to perlocutionary act, considering the agency of the addressee. We observe that context is crucial in selection, taking into account the beliefs and perceived capacities of the addressee, as it highlights the relevance of the hierarchy among the speakers in the scene. The study of ASAP, along with CEC and CTRL, and implicature cancellation enriches our understanding of the description of imperatives.

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Author Biography

Yan Masetto Nicolai, Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar), São Carlos, São Paulo, Brasil

PhD student in Linguistics (PPGL-UFSCar) with the theme of formal description of Imperatives in Brazilian Portuguese from the perspective of formal Semantics. Cartographic syntax and Pragmatic, under Prof. Dr. Dirceu Cleber Conde's (DL-UFSCar) supervision and Prof. Dr. Kai von Fintel's (MIT) co-supervision. Member of GeSER - Group of formal studies in Syntax, Semantics and Pragmatics - under the responsibility of Dirceu Cleber Conde. Licentiate in Portuguese-Spanish Letters from UFSCar (2011~2015) and Master in Linguistics from PPGL-UFSCar (2117~2019). Made a Santander exchange (2015) to Malaga, Spain. Has teaching experience since 2012, mainly focusing on entrance exams in the areas of Portuguese Language-Writing and Grammar.

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Published

2026-02-27

How to Cite

Masetto Nicolai, Y. (2026). Read the article as soon as possible: The pragmatic-implicature process of ’as soon as possible’ in imperatives. Estudos Linguísticos (São Paulo. 1978), 54(2), 455–472. https://doi.org/10.21165/el.v54i2.3872

Issue

Vol. 54 No. 2 (2025)

Section

Artigos

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