A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE ...

4.1.3 Situational immediacy
There is a very restricted context in which plain conjunct verbs are uttered in
isolation, without a predicating word or element, to show what I call SITUATIONAL
IMMEDIACY. I use the term situational here because speakers usually make these
comments or remarks in response to an event, action, or situation which has just
occurred, either in real time, or within a conversation. The term immediacy is used here
since the use of plain conjuncts within these contexts is usually only grammatical when
said in the moment to describe or make reference to the event or situation at hand;
otherwise, the use of conjunct becomes awkward. For lack of a better comparison, the
use of plain conjuncts in this fashion appears to be akin to the English usage of lone
adjectives in same type of situations. For example, in English, when one sees or hears
something they perceive to be beautiful, they might say: “Beautiful!”. In the moment,
the lone utterance of the adjectival word beautiful is grammatical and appropriate, but
once taken out of that moment (i.e. telling a friend later that you saw a beautiful portrait),
its use becomes awkward if not support by other periphrastic content, i.e. it was
beautiful.
Also, these statements may be accompanied by a heightened sense of emotion, either
in a dismissive, joking, or surprising manner. In a way, this is similar to temporal
immediacy described above except that the preceding clause is not an independent clause,
but a real world event or situation. The following examples were uttered by my
consultants at one time or another in relation to in the moment events.
211