LINGUISTIC MODELS OF PREVENTIVE SPEECH ACTS IN ENGLISH FROM EXPLICIT WARNING TO CONTEXTUAL INFERENCE

A preventive speech act is oriented towards a future adverse event that has not fully occurred and can still be avoided or reduced. The speaker identifies a danger, evaluates it as undesirable and directs the addressee towards protective conduct. The form of the utterance may explicitly name the act, order or prohibit an action, describe a probable consequence, or merely provide enough contextual evidence for the addressee to infer what should be done.