An illocutionary account of reportative evidentials in imperatives

Abstract

This paper provides a detailed analysis of reportative evidentials in imperative sentences, drawing on original fieldwork in Tagalog and Yucatec Maya. Previous literature presents two distinct views of such sentences, which we dub 'imperative-by-proxy' and 'neutral report' views. Based on a range of data across different sorts of imperative uses in different sorts of contexts, we argue for a version of the 'imperative-by-proxy' theory and propose a formal analysis with theory of illocutionary updates.