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Speech Acts

Pragmatics examines speech acts and events. There are three types of speech acts: locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary. Locutionary acts involve producing meaningful linguistic expressions, illocutionary acts involve the communicative force of an utterance, and perlocutionary acts involve the effect of an utterance on the hearer. Illocutionary force indicating devices (IFIDs) like performative verbs help convey the intended illocutionary act. Felicity conditions specify the appropriate context for a speech act to be recognized. There are also five classifications of speech acts: declarations, representatives, expressives, directives, and commissives.

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Fitri Sabrina Alwiyah
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421 views15 pages

Speech Acts

Pragmatics examines speech acts and events. There are three types of speech acts: locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary. Locutionary acts involve producing meaningful linguistic expressions, illocutionary acts involve the communicative force of an utterance, and perlocutionary acts involve the effect of an utterance on the hearer. Illocutionary force indicating devices (IFIDs) like performative verbs help convey the intended illocutionary act. Felicity conditions specify the appropriate context for a speech act to be recognized. There are also five classifications of speech acts: declarations, representatives, expressives, directives, and commissives.

Uploaded by

Fitri Sabrina Alwiyah
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  • Introduction to Speech Acts & Events: Provides an overview of the topic, presenting visuals without detailed text content.
  • Speech Acts Explanation: Defines different types of speech acts including locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts.
  • Problems with Illocutionary Acts: Discusses potential issues with interpreting illocutionary acts and understanding speaker intentions.
  • Solutions and Devices for Indicating Illocutionary Force: Explores methods to indicate illocutionary force using devices and felicity conditions.
  • Classification of Speech Acts: Classifies speech acts into five categories: declarations, representatives, expressives, directives, and commissives.

Pragmatics

SPEECH ACTS & EVENTS


Speech acts:

Actions performed via
utterances
•  Locutionary Acts: Performed via producing a
meaning linguistic expression
•  Illocutionary Acts : Performed via the
communicative force of an utterance
•  Perlocutionary Acts: Performed via the effect of
the utterance on the hearer
Locution / Illocution / Perlocution

Distinction between the following:

•  Locution => (“the words that are uttered or


written”)

•  Illocution => (“the speaker’s or writer’s intention


[...]”)

•  Perlocution => (“the intended effect [...]”)


Problem
•  The same utterance can potentially
have quite different illocutionary acts
•  How can speakers assume that the
intended illocutionary act will be
recognized by the hearer?
Solution

•  Illocutionary Force Indicating Devices


(IFIDs)
•  Felicity conditions
Illocutionary Force Indicating
Devices (IFIDs)
•  Performative verbs
–  Used in a simple positive present tense
sentence
–  1st person singular subject
•  I promise…
•  I sentence you…
•  I apologize…
Test of Performative Verbs
•  I hereby V …
– I _______ name the ship ‘Elizabeth’.
– I _______ warn you not to sleep in
class.
– I _______ believe that there’s no Santa
Claus.
Felicity conditions

The appropriate circumstances for the


performance of a speech act to be
recognized.
Felicity conditions
“I promise to see you tomorrow’.
•  General condi,ons
–  The u1erance is understood.
•  Content condi,ons
–  The content of the u1erance is about a future event and the speaker
is commi1ed to the act.
•  Preparatory condi,ons
–  The event does not happen by itself.
–  The event will have a beneficial effect.
•  Sincerity condi,ons
–  The speaker does have a genuine inten,on to carry out the future act.
•  Essen,al condi,ons
–  The u1erance changes the speaker’s state from non-obliga,on to
obliga,on
Speech act classification
•  Declarations
•  Representatives
•  Expressives
•  Directives
•  Commissives
Declarations
•  The speech acts that change the state of the
world via utterances.
–  I now pronounce you husband and wife
–  We find the defendant guilty.
Representatives
•  The speech acts that states what the speaker
believes to be the case or not.
•  Statements of fact, assertions, conclusions, and
descriptions
–  The world is flat.
–  It is a sunny day.
Expressives
•  The speech acts that state what the speaker
feels.
•  Psychological states (pleasure, pain, likes, joy,
sorrow…)
–  I am sorry.
–  Congratulations.
Directives
•  The speech acts used by the speaker to get
someone else to do something.
•  Commands, orders, requests, suggestions.
–  Go away!
Commissives
•  The speech acts that speakers use to commit
themselves to some future ac,ons
•  Promises, threats, refusals, pledges.
–  I can’t do that.

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