| n° | parameter | values | examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Speech act participants (speaker, hearer, bystander) | ||
| Presence | none vs. one vs. many | monolog, dialog, palaver, chorus ... | |
| Nature | supernatural vs. human being vs. animal | prayer, animal talk ... | |
| Social group | sex, age, social status, profession, ethnic affiliation ... | ||
| Roles/distance | symmetric vs. asymmetric | friends; mother – daughter, chief – citizen ... | |
| intimate vs. stranger | kin – same social group – outsider | ||
| 2. | Context of speech act (situation) | ||
| Place | church, mill, pub ... | ||
| Time | daytime vs. night ... | ||
| Formality | distance vs. proximity | friendly encounter, work, ritual ... | |
| Real-life embedding | real vs. fictional | game, drama ... | |
| 3. | Task | ||
| Illocution | narrative | myth, proverb, joke, riddle ... | |
| descriptive | encyclopedic treatise of anything ... | ||
| instructive/directive | working routine, game instruction ... | ||
| discursive | political/forensic speech, sermon, blessing, curse ... | ||
| interrogative | examination, interrogation ... | ||
| poetic | poem, song ... | ||
| Topic | traditional/modern; past/future | work/leisure, family/village/society, mythical figures/ | |
| Spontaneity | ritualized | baptism, courtship ... | |
| conventional | greeting and leave, route directions, official address ... | ||
| creative | event report, poem ... | ||
| spontaneous | exclamation, dispute ... | ||
| 4. | Channel | ||
| Medium | oral vs. written | ||
| Directness | face-to-face vs. technical transmission | telephone, letter ... | |
Adapted from: Lehmann, Christian 2001, "Language documentation: a program". Bisang, Walter (ed.), Aspects of typology and universals. Berlin: Akademie Verlag (Studia Typologica, 1); 83-97.