ATLAS OF LANGUAGE

Contextual explanation · NAV-G05-048

Wish

This explanation addresses the term in its originating context. It is not an additional canonical Atlas profile.

Explanation

A wish concerns a state of affairs whose occurrence is represented as desirable. It is neither necessarily an expectation nor already a plan of action. In the context of optatio, the focus is on linguistic expression through an optative construction or conventional formula. Such an utterance may be sincere, ironic or ritualised; form alone does not establish the speaker's inner state. A wish can also be addressed to someone without constituting a direct request. Content, linguistic form and conversational function therefore require separate analysis.

Movement of thought

1. Identify the desired state of affairs. 2. Record the linguistic form. 3. Examine address. 4. Separate expectation from intention. 5. Investigate contextual function.

Example

“May your journey go well” expresses a wish without predicting that the journey will actually go well.

Counter-test

Wishing for rain is neither a weather report nor a plan to produce rain.

Scientific use case

Pragmatics can compare ritualised wishes with spontaneous expressions of desire.

Effect

Wishes create a linguistic space for what is desired.

Resonance

Language can turn towards a possibility without asserting it.

Distinction

Distinguish wish from prediction, intention, request and an inner state inferred with certainty.

Sources