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Illocutionary conditionals and discourse strategies in aphasia: A corpus-based analysis

  • Roberto Graci

    Roberto Graci is a researcher at the University of Messina. His work investigates the intersection of cognitive linguistics and clinical pragmatics. He is the author of the monograph “Aphasia’s Implications for Linguistics Research”, which explores how language disorders inform and challenge contemporary linguistic theory. He has published several articles in international journals on the relationship between theoretical and experimental approaches to language. He has also organised and participated in major conferences on pragmatics, including Pragmasophia 4 and Pragmasophia 5, the latter co-organised with Alessandro Capone and Mitchell Green.

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Published/Copyright: December 16, 2025
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Abstract

This study investigates illocutionary conditionals – conditional constructions that modulate speech acts such as requests, offers, and warnings – in speakers with aphasia. Previous clinical research has mainly focused on the morphosyntactic properties of conditional constructions, largely overlooking illocutionary conditionals and their pragmatic functions. To highlight the importance of this structure in everyday communication and address this research gap, the study is organized into two parts. The first part provides a comprehensive overview of the syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic features of illocutionary conditionals. The second part presents a corpus-based analysis of how speakers with aphasia use these constructions. Preliminary findings indicate that individuals with aphasia are capable of producing illocutionary conditionals using strategies broadly similar to those of neurotypical speakers, though some differences emerge. These results underscore the need to consider the pragmatic dimensions of conditional constructions in clinical research and suggest that more fine-grained theoretical distinctions from linguistics should be integrated into experimental studies.


Corresponding author: Roberto Graci, University of University of Messina, Messina, Italy, E-mail:

About the author

Roberto Graci

Roberto Graci is a researcher at the University of Messina. His work investigates the intersection of cognitive linguistics and clinical pragmatics. He is the author of the monograph “Aphasia’s Implications for Linguistics Research”, which explores how language disorders inform and challenge contemporary linguistic theory. He has published several articles in international journals on the relationship between theoretical and experimental approaches to language. He has also organised and participated in major conferences on pragmatics, including Pragmasophia 4 and Pragmasophia 5, the latter co-organised with Alessandro Capone and Mitchell Green.

Acknowledgements

I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Prof. Alessandro Capone for his advice and constructive feedback throughout the development of this paper. His guidance has been instrumental in shaping many of the ideas presented here. Any remaining inaccuracies are solely my responsibility. I am also deeply grateful to Prof. Alessandra Giorgi, Prof. Denis Delfitto, Prof. Francesca Santulli, and Prof. Giovanni Gobber for their support throughout my academic career. Finally, I would like to dedicate a special thought to Prof. István Kecskés, whose insightful suggestions and generous advice will always remain in my memory. His passing marks a profound loss for the entire scientific community.

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Published Online: 2025-12-16
Published in Print: 2025-11-25

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