#A.2.9:4.1 — Normative definition

Preface node heading:a-2-9-4-1-normative-definition:5117

#Content

A U.SpeechAct is a U.Work occurrence whose primary (intended) effect is communicative: it places an utterance into a context in a way that is recognized by that context’s institutional semantics (policies, procedures, protocol rules) as potentially:

• asserting/informing,
• requesting/directing,
• promising/committing (as an instituting act),
• declaring/authorizing/revoking (status-changing acts),
• notifying (event announcement relevant for downstream work).

Per A.7, U.SpeechAct is an object/event; its utterance descriptions are descriptions (epistemes/spec clauses/messages‑as‑content), and its carriers are artifacts/traces that support observation and audit. (Note: “Surface” is reserved for MVPK publication/interoperability surfaces; do not use it here.)

Whether a given actType institutes commitments/permissions/status changes is entirely context‑policy dependent. Absent an explicit policy, treat a U.SpeechAct as a communicative Work occurrence with observable provenance only; do not infer deontic bindings from the act by default.