volitivi

Volitivi, or the volitive mood, is a grammatical category used in some languages to encode volition—the speaker’s will, desire, or exhortation. The term in linguistic literature covers several related functions, including the optative (stating a wish that something happen), the hortative (urging a speaker or audience to act, often with let us), and the jussive (a third-person or impersonal command). The name derives from Latin volitio, from volere “to wish” or “to want.”

Volitive forms may be realized with dedicated verb endings or particles in languages that mark volition morphologically. In languages without a separate volitive, volitional force is conveyed by subjunctive or indicative moods used together with modal verbs or adverbials. The volitive often contrasts with the imperative, which directly commands, while the optative and hortative express non-imperative wishes or exhortations.

Examples of volitive usage include English phrases such as “Let him go” (hortative) and “May you succeed” (optative). In classical Greek, the optative mood served a prominent volitive function; Sanskrit and some other Indo-Iranian languages have explicit optative forms as well. Cross-linguistically, volitive marking ranges from explicit affixes and particles to periphrastic constructions, illustrating how speakers encode speaker-will in syntax. The study of volitive mood sheds light on how languages encode affective and interpersonal nuances in communication.