COMM Communication verbs

Definition

Verbs of speech and communication: say, tell, ask, write, explain, speak, answer, etc.

Detection Rules

mfte

cql[word={words} & pos="VB.*"]
Word list (307 items)
accuse accused accuses accusing acknowledge acknowledged acknowledges acknowledging address addressed addresses addressing admit admits admitted admitting advise advised advises advising agree agreed agreeing agrees announce announced announces announcing answer answered answering answers appeal appealed appealing appeals argue argued argues arguing ask asked asking asks assert asserted asserting asserts assure assured assures assuring beg begged begging begs call called calling calls challenge challenged challenges challenging claim claimed claiming claims command commanded commanding commands complain complained complaining complains confide confided confides confiding consult consulted consulting consults convince convinced convinces convincing declare declared declares declaring demand demanded demanding demands denied denies deny denying describe described describes describing disagree disagreed disagreeing disagrees discuss discussed discusses discussing emphasise emphasised emphasises emphasising emphasize emphasized emphasizes emphasizing encourage encouraged encourages encouraging excuse excused excuses excusing explain explained explaining explains express expressed expresses expressing inform informed informing informs insist insisted insisting insists invite invited invites inviting mean meaning means meant mention mentioned mentioning mentions object objected objects offer offered offering offers persuade persuaded persuades persuading phone phoned phones phoning plead pleaded pleading pleads pledge pledged pledges pledging pray prayed praying prays promise promised promises promising propose proposed proposes proposing question questioned questioning questions quote quoted quotes quoting recommend recommended recommending recommends remark remarked remarking remarks replied replies reply replying report reported reporting reports respond responded responding responds said sang say saying says shout shouted shouting shouts sign signed signing signs sing singing sings speak speaking speaks specified specifies specify specifying spoke spoken state stated states stating suggest suggested suggesting suggests sung swear swearing swears swore sworn talk talked talking talks taught teach teaches teaching tell telling tells testified testifies testify testifying thank thanked thanking thanks threaten threatened threatening threatens told urge urged urges urging vow vowed vowing vows warn warned warning warns welcome welcomed welcomes welcoming whisper whispered whispering whispers write writes writing written wrote

Requires: word, pos

pybiber

cql[word={words} & pos="VB.*"]
Word list (213 items)
acknowledge acknowledged acknowledges acknowledging add added adding adds admit admits admitted admitting affirm affirmed affirming affirms agree agreed agreeing agrees allege alleged alleges alleging announce announced announces announcing argue argued argues arguing assert asserted asserting asserts bet bets betting boast boasted boasting boasts certified certifies certify certifying claim claimed claiming claims comment commented commenting comments complain complained complaining complains concede conceded concedes conceding confess confessed confesses confessing confide confided confides confiding confirm confirmed confirming confirms contend contended contending contends convey conveyed conveying conveys declare declared declares declaring denied denies deny denying disclose disclosed discloses disclosing exclaim exclaimed exclaiming exclaims explain explained explaining explains forecast forecasted forecasting forecasts foretell foretelling foretells foretold guarantee guaranteed guaranteeing guarantees hint hinted hinting hints insist insisted insisting insists maintain maintained maintaining maintains mention mentioned mentioning mentions object objected objecting objects predict predicted predicting predicts proclaim proclaimed proclaiming proclaims promise promised promises promising pronounce pronounced pronounces pronouncing prophesied prophesies prophesy prophesying protest protested protesting protests remark remarked remarking remarks repeat repeated repeating repeats replied replies reply replying report reported reporting reports said say saying says state stated states stating submit submits submitted submitting suggest suggested suggesting suggests swear swearing swears swore sworn testified testifies testify testifying vow vowed vowing vows warn warned warning warns write writes writing written wrote

Requires: word, pos

Normalization

Per finite_verbs

Examples

Describe it to your partner and say why.

Source: le_foll_2024

Write a list.

Source: le_foll_2024

Say what these words mean.

Source: le_foll_2024

Sources

  • biber_1988 — Biber, Douglas (1988) : Variation across Speech and Writing
  • mfte — Le Foll, Elen & Shakir, Muhammad (2023/2025) : Multi-Feature Tagger of English (MFTE) — Python version
  • pybiber — Brown, David West & Reinhart, Alex (2026) : pybiber — Python package for linguistic feature extraction and Multi-Dimensional Analysis
  • xiao_2009 — Xiao, Richard (2009) : Multidimensional analysis and the study of world Englishes
  • grieve_2023 — Grieve, Jack (2023) : Register variation explains stylometric authorship analysis
  • bohmann_2019 — Bohmann, Axel (2019) : Variation in English Worldwide: Varieties and Genres in a Quantitative Perspective

Notes

Biber’s “public verbs” (tell, say, explain) maps closely to MFTE’s communication verbs.