One of the six factors in any communication exchange; in particular, the agent or mechanism that sends or transmits the message.
Corresponding to this factor is one important function, namely the expressive or emotional function. When the communicative process focuses on the agent sending the message, its function is expressive or emotional. For example, if a person says “I’m tired“, often the function of this message is to reveal something about the addresser. It is accepted that in a certain context the same proposition can perform a conative rather than an expressive function. Because it could mean “Let’s go home“, and in this case, the addressee, not the addresser, is the focus of messaging. This example shows the importance of context in determining the meaning of each message.
It also shows that what appears to be a message or fact may or may not be. In our example, with the pronunciation of “I’m tired“, the speaker is actually asking the addressee to do something (to leave together).
