phat·ic

(făt′ĭk)

adj.

Of or relating to communication used to perform a social function rather than to convey information or ideas.

[From Greek phatos, spoken, from phanai, to speak; see -phasia.]

phat′i·cal·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

phatically

(ˈfætɪklɪ)

adv

in a phatic manner

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

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References in periodicals archive

Apart from this, the interrelationship between language and identity by illustrating various functions of language such as communicative, representative, expressive, phatic and performative functions.23 So language communicates, represents, expresses, phatically communicates and performs identity in various forms of discourse.

Representation of the Afghan National Identity in Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns

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