optative
Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- adjective expressing a wish or a choice.
- adjective related or pertaining to the optative mood.
- noun a mood of verbs found in some languages (e.g. Old Prussian, Ancient Greek), used to express a wish. English has no inflexional optative mood, but it has modal verbs like "might" and "may" that express possibility.
- noun a verb or expression in the optative mood.
Examples
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Greek has a particular mood called the optative mood.
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However, when developing his general theory of speech acts, Austin abandoned the constative/performative distinction, the reason being that it is not so clear in what sense something is done e.g. by means of an optative utterance, expressing a wish, whereas nothing is done by means of an assertoric one.
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Imperative (prejective), conjunctive or optative (subjective), preterite or perfect (trajective), neutral indicative (objective) are grammatical necessities arising out of times and spaces.
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The language of vainglory, of indignation, pity and revengefulness, optative: but of the desire to know, there is a peculiar expression called interrogative; as, What is it, when shall it, how is it done, and why so?
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Its optative character is obvious (to those who understand English) and the fact that it is in the optative excludes the possibility of truth or falsehood.
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(A sentence is in the optative mood if it expresses a wish or a desire.)
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Our American literature and spiritual history are, we confess, in the optative mood; but whoso knows these seething brains, these admirable radicals, these unsocial worshippers, these talkers who talk the sun and moon away, will believe that this heresy cannot pass away without leaving its mark.
Note
The word 'optative' comes from a Latin word meaning 'to wish'.
