This document discusses speech acts and speech events. It covers the following key points:
1. Austin and Searle classified utterances into a small set of functions, though meaning and intent can differ from context to context.
2. A speech act refers to the illocutionary act performed through an utterance, such as greeting, apologizing, requesting, promising, etc.
3. Searle categorized speech acts into five groups - directives, commissives, representatives, declaratives, and expressives. Each group contains different types of speech acts based on their intent and function.
This document discusses speech acts and speech events. It covers the following key points:
1. Austin and Searle classified utterances into a small set of functions, though meaning and intent can differ from context to context.
2. A speech act refers to the illocutionary act performed through an utterance, such as greeting, apologizing, requesting, promising, etc.
3. Searle categorized speech acts into five groups - directives, commissives, representatives, declaratives, and expressives. Each group contains different types of speech acts based on their intent and function.
This document discusses speech acts and speech events. It covers the following key points:
1. Austin and Searle classified utterances into a small set of functions, though meaning and intent can differ from context to context.
2. A speech act refers to the illocutionary act performed through an utterance, such as greeting, apologizing, requesting, promising, etc.
3. Searle categorized speech acts into five groups - directives, commissives, representatives, declaratives, and expressives. Each group contains different types of speech acts based on their intent and function.
This document discusses speech acts and speech events. It covers the following key points:
1. Austin and Searle classified utterances into a small set of functions, though meaning and intent can differ from context to context.
2. A speech act refers to the illocutionary act performed through an utterance, such as greeting, apologizing, requesting, promising, etc.
3. Searle categorized speech acts into five groups - directives, commissives, representatives, declaratives, and expressives. Each group contains different types of speech acts based on their intent and function.
• Austin (1962) and Searle (1969)-it is possible to classify
utterances into very small set of functions. • We ought to assign functions to utterances • Problem of assigning functions is that speaker’s intent and meaning may not be similar. eg: It’s rather warm in here, isn’t it? Possible intent? i) An ice-breaker ii) A request • No utterances is context-free in meaning and function. eg: Since he always deceive us in many ways than one, I always smell something fishy whenever he tries to be nice to us. • P. F. Strawson and John R. Searle, "speech act" is often meant to refer just to the same thing as the term illocutionary act, which John L. Austin had originally introduced • According to Austin “illocutionary act" can be captured by emphasizing that "by saying something, we do something", as when a minister joins two people in marriage saying, "I now pronounce you husband and wife." (Austin would eventually define the "illocutionary act" in a more exact manner.) • . Examples • Greeting (in saying, "Hi John!", for instance), apologizing ("Sorry for that!"), describing something ("It is snowing"), asking a question ("Is it snowing?"), making a request and giving an order ("Could you pass the salt?" and "Drop your weapon or I'll shoot you!"), or making a promise ("I promise I'll give it back") are typical examples of "speech acts" or "illocutionary acts". • In saying, "Watch out, the ground is slippery", Peter performs the speech act of warning Mary to be careful. • In saying, "I will try my best to be at home for dinner", Peter performs the speech act of promising to be at home in time. • In saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please?", Peter requests the audience to be quiet. • In saying, "Can you race with me to that building over there?", Peter challenges Mary In language development
• Dore (1975) stated that children's utterances were
realizations of one of nine primitive speech acts: • labelling • repeating • answering • requesting (action) • requesting (answer) • calling • greeting • protesting • practicing Searle’s (1969, 1976) • Directives • Commissives • Representatives • Declaratives • Expressives Directives • Syntactic form alone does not tell us how to interpret the speakers’ intent. eg. How many times do I have to tell you? * Five times. • Directives can be classified into 5 types, depending n the relationships of speaker and addressees- 1) Subordinates - I need the file on the international language conference. (Personal need/desire statement) 2) Familiar equals - Give me the file…………………………..…. . (Imperative) 3) Unfamiliar people - Could you give me the file…………….… ? (Embedded imperative) 4) Obstacle to compliance - Do you have/ May I have………… ..? ( Permissive directive) 5) People w/ shared rules like family - This has to be done over. What about the file…..? (Hint-w/ humor) Group Discussion • Hatch, p. 123 Qs. 3 • Hatch p. 124 Qs. 5 Commissives • Statements that function as promises or refusals for actions. • May be strong (highly hedged) in positive or negative directions • Eg. Maybe I can do that tomorrow I already gave the assignment to the office • This form vary acc.- social relationships, status, situations and gender. • Women are commonly thought to use more commissives than men. • Why? Representatives • Can be judged as truth value • Avoiding weasel words (temper directness of statement) with hedges (soften claims or statement) • Examples- • “Maybe she just feels kinda blue”. • Refer to page 127 Declaratives • Austin calls it performatives • When this act is performed it becomes a new state of being • Example- “class dismissed” • “ I pronounce you man and wife” • Exercise page 129 Qs. 1 Expressives • Statements of emotions • I’m so dissapointed. • What a great day! • Exercise-page 130 Qs. 1