registrative

Registrative is a term used in linguistics to describe a grammatical category that marks actions undertaken to create or confirm a record. In languages where it is described, registrative forms signal that the utterance concerns recording, listing, or documenting information, rather than reporting a simple event. Depending on the language, registrative meaning may be analyzed as a mood, an aspect, or a functional extension of a verb.

Semantically, registrative forms typically occur with verbs of counting, inventorying, transcription, or enumeration. They may indicate that the act of recording is the primary purpose of the action, or that the information is intended for future reference, archives, or official registers.

Cross-linguistic attestation of registrative constructions is limited; it has been reported in a small number of descriptive grammars and is not universally recognized as a broad cross-linguistic category. Morphology is variable: registrative marking can be affixes attached to the verb, clitics, or separate auxiliary words; in some languages it interacts with evidential or narrative marking.

Examples in the literature are typically given in field descriptions with glosses such as count-REG beads, where REG indicates registrative purpose. The registrative category is often discussed alongside related notions such as evidential, perfective, and habitual aspects.

Etymology: from Latin registrare ‘to record, register’. In practice, registrative is a specialized label in descriptive linguistics and may be under active research in languages with strong record-keeping or ritual documentation traditions.