What is the word that means there is a difference in import of the same words when the exact same words are spoken by a different person


I have come across this word in a book; it gives the example:



If a layman says “I now pronounce you man and wife,” it doesn't make the couple husband and wife.


But when the same words are spoken by a priest, it makes them husband and wife.



The word possibly starts with either "i" or "l".




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

verbs - "Baby is creeping" vs. "baby is crawling" in AmE

commas - Does this sentence have too many subjunctives?

time - English notation for hour, minutes and seconds

grammatical number - Use of lone apostrophe for plural?

etymology - Origin of "s--t eating grin"

etymology - Where does the phrase "doctored" originate?

word choice - Which is the correct spelling: “fairy” or “faerie”?