Second-person singular imperatives in Finnish everyday conversations: Multifunctionality and routinization of grammatical formats

The chapter discusses different ways in which second-person singular imperatives are used in Finnish conversations and how this multifunctionality should be described in a grammar of Finnish talk-in-interaction. In traditional grammar writing, the description of imperatives has focused on their use in directive actions. The chapter shows that in spoken interaction, second-person singular imperatives have a wider range of functions: they can also be used in actions that are not primarily directive, e.g., storytellings, assessments, news deliveries, and informings. In such use, they function as sedimented formulae with fixed local tasks and recurrent collocative elements. The chapter suggests that formulaicity and routinization of grammatical formats play an important role in everyday language use, which should be reflected in grammar writing.