Paguio, Isis Amzel J.

BSED-I

I. Classify each of the following utterances as a directive, commissive,

representative, expressive, question or declaration. ( take each utterance at

face value, i.e., don’t read anything to it.

1. Expressive A child says to her playmate, Happy Birthday.

2. Directive A doctor says to a patient, I advise you to stop smoking.

3. Representative One secretary says to another, My daughter’s getting married

in August.

4. Declaration A pries says over an infant, I baptize you In the name of the…

5. Question A mother says to her daughter, Who washed the dishes?

6. Directive A passerby says to a motorist with a flat tire, Let me help you

with that.

7. Commissive One friend says to another, I swear I won’t see Martha again.

8. Directive A parent says to her child, I forbid you to leave your room.

9. Question A man says to a friend, What time is it?

10. Commissive A buyer says to a seller, I agree to your terms.

 II. On the TV show Little House on the Prairie, the preacher says to Mrs. Ingalls,

Family discipline is based on promises kept- whether punishment or reward. The

preacher here is lumping together two different types of illocutionary acts.

a. What are the two illocutionary acts the preacher is referring to?

Keeping promises

Giving a reward or a punishment

b. What general category of illocutionary acts do they both belong to?

III. When an author signs a contract with a publisher to write a book for a sum of

money, what type of illocutionary act are the parties performing?

The illocutionary act performed by the parties is commissive. Because, by signing

the contract, a mutual agreement of terms between the two parties is established.

Therefore, the two sides are obligated and expected to comply with the contract’s

terms they have agreed upon.

Introduction to Linguistics
Pragmatics: Speech Acts/ Speech Events