[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/hbo-2026-idialu-speech-act-theory-performative-language/)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [docs](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/) / [papers](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/) / [Ancient Hebrew](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/hbo/) / Speech act theory and the performative language of lament in the individual Psalms of complaint

# Speech act theory and the performative language of lament in the individual Psalms of complaint

**Authors:** Idialu (full author list not retrieved) · **Year:** 2026 · **Venue:** International Journal of Arts, Languages, Linguistics and Literary Studies (AJOL) **Link:** [ajol.info/index.php/jolls/article/view/337773](https://www.ajol.info/index.php/jolls/article/view/337773) · **Licence:** [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) — cited only

[**0** citations](https://openalex.org/works?filter=cites:W7217687210) openalex-snapshot · 2026-10-14[International Journal of Arts Languages Linguistics and Literary Studies](https://openalex.org/S5407054724)[licence](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

- [Publisher's page](https://doi.org/10.4314/jolls.v15i3.4)
- [PDF](https://www.ajol.info/index.php/jolls/article/download/337773/317402)
- [DOI 10.4314/jolls.v15i3.4](https://doi.org/10.4314/jolls.v15i3.4)
- [OpenAlex](https://openalex.org/W7217687210)

**Authors (2)**

1. [Raphael Akhijemen Idialu](https://openalex.org/A5018449801) [ORCID](https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5538-7319) · [Semantic Scholar](https://www.semanticscholar.org/author/114453110) · h 1 · 5 citations · 11 works
2. [Princess Omovrigho Idialu](https://openalex.org/A5078549101) [ORCID](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7722-8981) · [Semantic Scholar](https://www.semanticscholar.org/author/147802415) · h 1 · 5 citations · 10 works

Citations and author metrics from openalex-snapshot (2026-10-14); authors with the same name are not always told apart.

## What it is about

The full text is not in the library and the abstract could not be fetched (the article page returned nothing, the index refused); this card rests on the title alone, and its ideas are provisional. By its title, the article applies speech act theory to the individual lament psalms, treating their language (complaint, petition, confession of trust, vow of praise) as performative: saying the words does something, such as lodging a complaint before God or binding the speaker to a vow.

## Ideas

- I1. The lament's parts map onto `prag` acts Mova already has or could have: complaint (assertive with negative polarity addressed to God), petition (directive), confession of trust (assertive, positive), vow (commissive). Within the Torah the closest material is the prayers and complaints in direct speech (Gen 32:10–13, Ex 5:22–23, Num 11:11–15, Num 14:13–19, Deut 9:26–29): check that the current rules give these acts and tally the sequence of acts per prayer.
- I2. Mark performative utterances (where the speech is the act: blessing, curse, vow, oath with qatal of the "performative perfect", e.g. נָתַתִּי "I hereby give") as their own act in `prag`, distinct from report; see the Andrason 2012 card on the performative qatal for the form side.

## For Mova

I1 is a check on `tools/macula/src/prag.rs` output for a short list of Torah prayers, reported in [Discourse: narrative, speech and the shape of a text](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/hbo/09-discourse/) (genres, politeness). I2 is a candidate act value in `prag` and a point in `06-verb.md` (qatal). The Psalms themselves are outside our trees.

Topics: [Speech act theory](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/topics/speech-act-theory/)

## Cite

The paper itself, not this card. BibTeX from the library's record of the work. [DOI 10.4314/jolls.v15i3.4](https://doi.org/10.4314/jolls.v15i3.4)

```
@article{idialu2026speech,
  title = {{Speech act theory and the performative language of lament in the individual Psalms of complaint}},
  author = {Idialu, Raphael Akhijemen and Idialu, Princess Omovrigho},
  journal = {International Journal of Arts Languages Linguistics and Literary Studies},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.4314/jolls.v15i3.4},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.4314/jolls.v15i3.4}
}
```

- [← previous Identifying Phrase Boundaries in the Samaritan Pentateuch with Machine Learning](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/hbo-2026-cantanhede-identifying-phrase-boundaries-samaritan-pentateuch/)
- [next → How far back in antiquity can we trace the oral tradition underlying Tiberian Hebrew?](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/hbo-2026-joosten-far-back-antiquity-trace-oral/)
- [↑ back to Ancient Hebrew](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/hbo/)