intendswhether

Intendswhether is a theoretical operator proposed in linguistics and artificial intelligence semantics to capture a speaker or agent’s intention to determine the truth value of a proposition. It combines notions of intentional action with interrogative or epistemic content, signaling a planned information-seeking activity rather than a settled judgment. In formal analysis, intendswhether is treated as a functional head that takes a proposition or embedded clause as its complement and yields an agent-centered interpretation about forthcoming inquiry.

Syntax and realization are typically discussed in formal notation rather than everyday speech. In many accounts, intendswhether is represented as intendswhether(φ), where φ is a proposition or embedded question. In actual language, it is often described as a semantic annotation or a theoretical mood rather than a standalone lexical item. The operator can be analyzed as introducing a deontic-like commitment to information gathering or verification, affecting how subsequent content is evaluated and presented.

Semantics and pragmatics of intendswhether emphasize the speaker’s goal of resolving φ. Its presence can modify how evidential stance, epistemic certainty, and discourse progression are interpreted, and it often motivates follow-up questions, checks, or observations. It is distinct from mere intention verbs by foregrounding the aim of inquiry about the truth value of φ rather than the action’s outcome alone.

Examples (notation-based): intendswhether(P) denotes the agent’s plan to determine whether P is true. Informally, one might paraphrase as “the agent intends to find out whether P.” Related concepts include epistemic modality, inquiry-driven discourse, and the distinction between intention and evidence in communicative acts. The term remains primarily a theoretical construct used in modeling information-seeking behavior.