“We use the term speech acts to describe actions such as asking questions, making requests, giving orders, making promises, giving advice, and making threats.”

Speech Acts

• A speech act is an utterance that a speaker makes to achieve an intended effect.

1. Speech Acts According to Austin (1962)

• According to J.L. Austin (1962), there are three types of acts in every utterance, given the circumstances or context

  • Locutionary Act - The actual act of uttering; the literal meaning of the utterance.

    • Ex: “Would you close the door?

  • Illocutionary Act - The intention of the speaker when uttering the words.

    • Ex: “Would you close the door?”

  • Perlocutionary Act - The effect or result of the utterance to the thoughts of the listener

    • Ex: “Would you close the door?”

      Effect: The listener will realize that there is a need to close the door so he/she will do so.

Speech Acts: Example 1

Bus Driver: “This bus won’t move until you boys move in out of the doorway.”

• Locutionary Act: The driver is saying she won’t start the bus with people standing in the doorway.

• Illocutionary Act: An order for the boys to stay away from the doorway and move further into the bus.

• Perlocutionary Act: The boys moving inside the bus.

Speech Acts: Example 2

Woman (inside the waiting room): “It’s hot in here.”

• Locutionary Act: The temperature is the room is relatively high.

• Illocutionary Act: The woman is requesting for someone to turn on the AC.

• Perlocutionary Act: Someone getting up to turn on the AC

INDIRECT SPEECH ACTS

• There are also indirect speech acts which occur when there is no direct connection between the form and the utterance and the intended meaning. They are different from the inferred speech act.

  • Ex.      “Could you pass the rice?”

  • Inferred speech act: Do you have the ability to pass the rice?

  • Indirect speech act: Please pass the rice.

Performatives

• Austin also introduced the concept of performative statements which enables the speaker to perform something by uttering it. Verbs that execute the speech act intended to effect. It is uttered by the right person at the right circumstances that results change

  • Ex.      “I now pronounce you, man and wife.”

2. Speech Acts According to Searle (1975)

Categories of Speech Acts

• Assertives - Speech acts that commit a speaker to the truth of the expressed proposition.

• Directives - Speech acts that are to cause the hearer to take a particular action.

• Commissives - Speech acts that commit a speaker to some future action.

• Expressives - Speech acts that express the speaker’s attitudes and emotions towards the proposition

• Declarations - Speech acts that change the reality in accord with the proposition of the declaration

3. Speech Acts According to Cohen (1996)

Categories of Speech Acts

• Representatives - Utterances used to describe some state of affairs

• Directives - Utterances used to get the hearer to do (or not do) something

• Commissives - Utterances used to commit the speaker to do some act

• Expressives - Utterances used to express the emotional state of the speaker

• Declarations - Utterances used to change the state of some entity