Verbapprobare

Verbapprobare is a term used in theoretical linguistics to denote a proposed class of verbs whose core meaning encodes approval or endorsement of a proposition, action, or policy. In analyses that posit such a class, a verb of this type commonly selects a clausal complement that states what is being approved, and the sentence's mood or modality may reflect the speaker's stance.

The name combines 'verb' with approbare, the Latin verb meaning to approve. It is a descriptive label rather than a historical category found across languages; many discussions use it as a convenient shorthand for a family of semantics rather than a single real language-specific term.

Typical properties proposed for verbapprobare include: licensing of sentential complements, possible requirement of a subjunctive or other non-finite mood, and marking of approval as a propositional attitude rather than a mere action. The subject or clause may be controlled by the main verb, and the object of approval may be propositions, actions, or plans. The semantics are often contrasted with verbs of permission, belief, or desire.

In natural languages, the related concepts appear in various forms, such as approbare in Latin and approvar in Romance languages (aprobar, approvar, approvare), which express approval of a proposition or decision. Some languages also encode stance or evidential support for the approval, affecting the syntax of the embedded clause.

Examples illustrating the hypothetical verbapprobare construction include: The council verbapprobare that the budget is adopted. The editor verbapprobare the manuscript after minor revisions. These examples show how the verb would assign the embedded clause as its object of approval, with possible mood agreement.

See also: speech act verbs, intention-focused verbs, factive verbs, deontic modality, evidentiality.