#A.2.9:4.1 — Normative definition

Preface node heading:a-2-9-4-1-normative-definition:6355

#What this page is

This is generated FPF reference text from the specification preface or supporting sections. It helps interpret FPF; it is not FPF Reference product documentation.

#Methodology

Use it to understand how the specification wants to be read, then return to a route, pattern, or work packet for active work. Cite generated IDs only when the wording changes the task decision.

#Content

U.SpeechAct <: U.Work is a kind declaration. An actual Work individual is admitted as SA : U.SpeechAct when its primary effect is communicative: it places an utterance into a context in a way that is recognized by that context’s institutional semantics (policies, procedures, protocol rules) as potentially:

• asserting/informing,
• requesting/directing,
• promising/committing (as an instituting act),
• declaring/authorizing/revoking (status-changing acts),
• notifying (event announcement relevant for downstream work).

Per A.7 and A.15.1, the actual speech-act occurrence is a Work individual; its SpeechActRecord and utterance descriptions are epistemes, while its carriers are utterance carriers, publication carriers, or traces that allow observation and audit. (Note: “Surface” is reserved for MVPK publication/interoperability surfaces; do not use it here.)

Whether a given act type institutes commitments, permissions, or status changes is entirely context-policy dependent. Absent an explicit policy, treat SA : U.SpeechAct only as an actual communicative Work occurrence; neither its kind membership nor a complete-looking record licenses a deontic inference.

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Last Updated: 2026-07-28 — upstream FPF commit 17edd955 (github.com/ailev/FPF)