Lecture on Speech Acts
Critical Thinking Online Lectures
Topic: Speech Acts
Types of Sentences and Their Meanings
Interrogative Sentences
Definition: Interrogative sentences are questions that end with a question mark (?).
Common starters include:
What
When
Who
Whom
How
Which
Where
Whose
Verb ‘to be’ forms: is, are, was, were, am.
Do-verbs: do, did, does.
Role: They play the role of requesting information.
Successful: When the desired information is obtained.
Unsuccessful: When the desired information is not obtained.
Imperative Sentences
Definition: Imperative sentences start with action verbs and commonly end with a period (.) or an exclamation point (!).
Role: To instruct someone to carry out an action.
Successful: When the action is completed.
Unsuccessful: When the action is not completed or not obeyed.
Types of Imperatives
Commands: Forceful imperatives that must be obeyed.
Instructions: Given by someone in authority to someone of lesser authority, often across a social or age gap.
Directives: More formal settings or conversations.
Plea: Requests made to persuade someone to do something.
Covert commands: Ambiguous interrogatives that imply imperatives.
Declarative Sentences
Definition: Declarative sentences convey information and can state facts or value judgments.
Types of Declarative Sentences
Factual Statements:
Description: These describe the way the world is based on observable facts. They can be true or false.
Example: "Grass is green in Accra" (True); "Obama is the President of Ghana" (False).
Value Judgments:
Description: These describe how the world should be or how things ought to be.
Forms of Value Judgments:
Moral Value Judgments: Claims related to ethics or morality.
Example: "Do not commit adultery."
Non-Moral Value Judgments: Claims based on personal preferences or aesthetic values that do not involve moral implications.
Example: "The shirt is too tight on you."
Differences between Factual and Value Judgments:
Factual statements can be proven true or false based on reality.
Value judgments are subjective and normative, indicating how things should be, with moral implications present in moral value judgments.
Emotional or Exclamative Sentences
Definition: These sentences express strong emotions and end in an exclamation mark (!).
Usage: They can consist of short phrases or full sentences.
Examples: "Jesus!"; "Oh God!"; "I hate how he dresses!"
Sentence Fragments
Definition: Incomplete sentences that lack either a subject or a verb, sometimes regarded as not proper sentences.
Example 1: "Called you yesterday." (Missing subject)
Example 2: "My house maid Crew is missing." (Missing context or verb)
Example 3: "Gyen though my lecturer organized the quiz." (Missing main clause)
Uses: Common in text messages and informal communication. Examples in public contexts include: "Vote for Continuity." and "Road diversions."