23-07-20 Speech Acts

Overview on speech acts and face work

Ana larissa adorno

Giovana perini

Fale ufmg.

Saying and writing is doing (AUSTIN, 1962)

THE Speech act theory involves an intention on the part of the speaker and an inference on the
part of the hearer.

Say something or write something they are performing an act. Communication and interaction
interfere in reality.

The notion is actig in language involve comunicatie intention, and kind of knowledge beyond
the part of the heares. Nutsheel to sum up the theory, speaker has intention when they
communicate, while interlocutor, graps this mean being communicate.

Truth-conditions

Expressions such as sorry have no inhenrent truth value. Sorry typically express an apology.

It cannot be said that sorry holds true if and only if the person is being is regretful

Instead, in its primary meaning, the utterance itself perfoms the act of apologizing.

Logical interpretation, expression like sorry do not have an inherent true value, it is not the
case, say expression like sorry be true or false, is there to express apologiez, not to talk an
imaginable reality.

Cannot say sorry holds trues if only people is regretful.

If and only if, logical studies concern.

All the student came to the lecture.

Sorry make no sense…because sorry use not to represent the world, kind of feeling or
sensation. When they say I am sorry, what they are doing in the primary meaning, make an
apologize, may express irony, sarcasm. Chance are they are trying to apologize. Conventional
expression.

FACE THREATING ACTS FTA

- Face therating acts fta challenge the positive or the negative of face wants of both the
heares and the interlocutors brown and levinson 1987.

Language can be very threatening, can hurt feeling, we have exchange where somebody else
image can see hurt or downplayed. Sometimes when we ask a question, we need to be very
partful, not to hurt interlocutor image or face. Asking a question is typical would consider face
threating act. Your interlocutor may feel invade. Not always we want to act according speak
views or needs. Another very important linguist, negotiation good and service is hallidays.

Halliday enphasie how hard to establish interpersonal relation, special when the speaker want
his or her needs to be agreed by the interlocutor, negotiate what good and service is not easy
and can hurt interlocutors space. When use interlocutor space, even when the threat is very
minor, there always a threat persuade according to your needs.

In a very formal lecture, you will need to allowe to ask a question, whenever you like.
Depending on the lecture, you can easy, can have the chance to answer any question.

Just an example on how a question can be hurt the interlocutor image.

Another key issue, has to do with speech act, is something lie.

FELICITY CONDITIONS

Felicity conditions are contextual restrictions on the use of speech acts. Austin 1962

Example, for an act of a weeding to be succeed, a number of contextual factors must hold –
the tow people in question must intend to get married, the person doing the pronouncing
must be qualified to do so and must have been asked to act this way.

Priest to be official weeding, condition.

Fake news to be true, they should be apparently true. Appearance of fake news be true.

The more aware people about how information circulate less chance to believe in fake news.

Whatsapp message, email message, at first appear very true, but only after double check, non
sense, false, or they just fake, they were created by robot.

Simple fact go to a shop, expect shop assistant go to you, felicity condition consist situation of
commercial exchange, shop assistant c ome to you and say may I help you.

May I help you, from shopping assist, felicity conditions of trade, while the customer not say
may I help you.

Window shopping, embarrassing, when may I help you.

Speech acts analysis.

Locutionary act: basic linguistic act of conveying some meaning (explicature)

Illocutionary act: intentions of the speaker what act they intended to perfom

Perlocutionary act, force: speech act as viewed at the level of the consequences affecting the
interlocutor.

Locutonary, hold primary meaning, know or rely on semantic of the language, explicature.

If you say may I help you, know English, semantic knowledge English, know someone is offer to
help.

Primary meaning is locutarion act, semantic meaning, they are fluent in language interpret.

Ilocutionary act, is the intention, not speaker said, but mean. If you don’t have time to explain,
Locutaiontry, what people say, what people mean. What people say.

Illocutartin, what the speker mean.

Missmathc people say and what they really mean.

Mean is to do intention.

Perluctionary force or act, in the level of consequence. I am cold, please close the windows.
Express a feeling, locutionary act, primary meaning.

Please close the windows, speaker means, intention. You go there and close the windows.

Consequence, percolutionary, hard to forsee…locutionary and illocutionary..

Percolutionary is hard, the consequence you never need.

When you say may I come in..expect yes, but you don1’t know, but person,

We are more focus in what people say, locutaointy act, and intention, perculotionary act.

People take too long to perceive your intention, say something interlocutr took so long to
understand.

Not always perceive to buy the interlocutr, locutaiony primariy meaning, ilocutoinary what
intend.

Percolution the consequence, not really the focus now.

QUIZ.

Associatoin and face and politess.

There is not always there. There is a huge variation.

Politeness involves the recognition and the linguistic acknowledgemtn of any threat to the self
image that a person presents publicly.

Protec your image and your interlocutr image.

You do that with face work. While you protecting your face and projecting positive, saving
interlocutor face, is not because we are kind, we gentle, is because undersntad humam been
as the only possibility to engage in communicative exchange, there is some degree of
collaboration, if there is not collaboration, there is not exchange.

When you are too intimate, we have the sensation we no long need collaboration, understand
because very intimiate and always know whats going on.

Sometimes we are too short, we are get sick and tired of explaining, expection people already
know, too concise in our exchange that can lead to serious family problem.

Family member, so close, tend to be so close and intimate, not image protectin is need, can
lead to little c olaboration and little comnunictie problem,

One example, it is very hard to engage in a converstion with people do not offer you feed back.

Talk to an strager and don’t give follow up conversation, because people too shy, or don’t have
same , generation gap, happen to teacher a lot.
You just say something, people just don’t offer anny feed back at all. Despising me, sensation
play down. Very problematic, try to start conversation, and get no feedback, no follow up
response, you stop the conversation.

To engage in comunicaton they must be collaboration.

Indirectness, when an apparent threat is being made, the speaker tends to mitigate it.

To have a fight ,they must be a response. Polite scernarion and impolite scenario, they should
be some degree of collaboration.

Portugues fala antiga, quando um não quer, dois não brigam.

To fight and be very fuzzy, they should be some degree of colabartion, agree to keep up the
fight.

INDIRECTNESS > when an aparrent therat is being made, the speaker tends to mitigate it.

Being indirect tends to represent an attack on negative face of interlocutor. The harder may be
the interlocutor, tendence to be.

QUIZ.

NOW CONSIDER

I’d be jolly grateful if you shut up.

What is the form of speech act (declaritve, question) its illoctionary and perlocutionary forces?

Imperative.

Miss match between semantic and pragmacit.

Declaration, pragmaticlay speaking is an order, order has format of declaration.

It has to do with inderectnass.

You will be more indirect.

Declarative to make indirect to became and order.

Sarcasm, be indirect…go together.

Mock politeness format, power relation.

How powerful, and important and sense you can be, exercicing power.

One of the form of exericce power is by using mock polintess…you exercice a lot of power, you
dispess , look down your intelocutors.