Describing speakers' repertoires of communicative intents and rules for expressing those intents is crucial to any complete description of the language capacity. Many different systems for classifying speakers' communicative intents have been developed and used in research analyzing both the acquisition of speech acts and the nature of the communicative deficits shown by various language-impaired populations. We argue, though, that these systems have typically been limited in scope, in applicability across the full developmental range, or in their theoretical foundations. The criteria for an adequate system for analyzing communicative intents are discussed, and a system proposed which meets those criteria.