SPEECH ACTS

By Julia Nueva Pimentel

Language describes the world
around us
It's cold in here, isn't it?
So, is this sign
portraying the pool's
environment,
or is it doing
something else?
J.L AUSTIN
BRITISH PHILOSOPHER

Developed an idea that

statements can be distinguished
into 2 types
 Constatives Performatives
sentences sentences
that describe that denote an
something as true or ACTION
false
 Constatives Performatives
• The sun is a star. • Bring me my cup.
• It's raining outside. • Please close the door.
• There are seven days • Pass the salt.
in a week .
WHAT IS SPEECH
ACT THEORY?
 Speech act theory is a subfield of
pragmatics. The theory is concerned with
the way words can be used to not only
give information but also to perform
certain actions, or to cause others to
perform them.
JOHN L. AUSTIN (1911—1960)
BRITISH PHILOSOPHER

John Austin first presented speech act

theory in 1955 at the William James
Lectures at Harvard University. This theory
was later published posthumously in
Austin’s infl uential book How to Do Things
with Words (1962)
 "I apologise..."
J.L Austin observed that
‘many utterances do not "Can you please..."
communicate
information, but are
"Stop it" "I promise..."
equivalent to actions
"I now declare...
 JOHN SEARLE
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHER

Best known for his work in the

philosophy of language—especially
speech act theory—and the philosophy of mind.
Austin is the one who came up with the fi ndings
that people not only uses that language to assert
things but also to do things. And people who
followed him went to greater depths based on
this point.
SPEECH
ACT
A speech act is an utterance that serves a
function in communication. We perform speech
acts when we offer an apology, greeting,
request, complaint, invitation, compliment, or
refusal.
LOCUTIONARY

ILLOCUTIONARY

PERLOCUTIONARY
LOCUTIONAR
Y• It is the act of saying something that makes sense
in a language following the rules of pronunciation
and grammar.
• literal meaning of the utterance
 UTTERANC
Ethrough the means of using words.
• What the speaker is trying to convey

• Utterance acts can be any form of sound and

do not necessarily have to be intelligible
PROPOSITIONAL ACT
A propositional act is a speech act that a speaker performs when
referring or predicating in an utterance.

• You go home.
• Do you go home?
• Go home!
• How I wish you’d go home!
ILLOCUTIONARY
• the performance of a particular language
function or the action intended by the speaker
• the intended purpose of the utterance;
speaker's intention
PERLOCUTIONARY
• the achieving of some kind of
effect on the addressee
• what is produced by saying the
locution
 3 ASPECTS OF SPEECH ACTS

Linguistic Intentions of Effect of the

property of the speaker in utterance on
utterance making the a person who
utterance takes part in
a dialogue.
JOHN SEARLE (1976)
JOHN ROGERS SEARLE IS AN AMERICAN PHILOSOPHER
WIDELY NOTED FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE
PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE, PHILOSOPHY OF MIND,
AND SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY.
SEARLE DEVELOPS A “THEORY IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF
A LANGUAGE, ACCORDING TO WHICH SPEAKING IN A
LANGUAGE IS A MATTER OF PERFORMING
ILLOCUTIONARY ACTS WITH CERTAIN INTENTIONS,
ACCORDING TO CONSTITUTIVE RULES
5 CLASSIFICATIONS OF
ILLOCUTIONARY ACTS
• ASSERTIVE
• DIRECTIVE
• COMMISSIVE
• EXPRESSIVE
• DECLARATIVE JOHN SEARLE (1976)
ASSERTIV
E ASSERTS AN IDEA, OPINION, OR SUGGESTION. THE
• THE SPEAKER
SPEAKER PRESENTS 'FACTS' OF THE WORLD, SUCH AS
STATEMENTS AND CLAIMS.

• Paris is the capital of France.

• I watched a great documentary last night.
DIRECTIVE
S INTENDS TO GET THE LISTENER TO DO
• THE SPEAKER
SOMETHING. THIS COULD BE BY GIVING AN ORDER, OFFERING
ADVICE, OR MAKING A REQUEST.

• Pass me the salt please.

• You should not drink that!
COMMISSIVE
SCOMMITS TO DOING SOMETHING IN THE FUTURE.
• THE SPEAKER
THIS COULD BE MAKING A PROMISE, A PLAN, A VOW, OR A BET.

• I'll see you at 6 tomorrow.

• I do!
EXPRESSIVE
S• THE SPEAKER STATES SOMETHING ABOUT THEIR
PSYCHOLOGICAL ATTITUDES AND THEIR ATTITUDES TOWARDS A
SITUATION. THIS COULD BE AN APOLOGY, A WELCOME, OR AN
EXPRESSION OF GRATITUDE.

• I'm so sorry about yesterday.

• I really appreciate your help.
DECLARATION
S• THE SPEAKER DECLARES SOMETHING THAT HAS THE
POTENTIAL TO BRING ABOUT A CHANGE IN THE WORLD.
• BLESSING, FIRING, BAPTIZING, BIDDING, PASSING SENTENCE,
EXCOMMUNICATING

• I now declare you husband and wife.

• You're fi red!
DIRECT AND INDIRECT
SPEECH ACTS
DIRECT SPEECH REFERS TO A SPEECH ACT THAT HAS A
DIRECT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TYPE OF SENTENCE
AND ITS FUNCTION. IN CONTRAST, INDIRECT SPEECH
ACTS OCCUR WHEN THERE IS AN INDIRECT RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN THE TYPE OF SENTENCE AND THE FUNCTION.
DIRECT AND INDIRECT
SPEECH ACTS
DIRECT SPEECH REFERS TO A SPEECH ACT THAT HAS A
DIRECT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TYPE OF SENTENCE
AND ITS FUNCTION. IN CONTRAST, INDIRECT SPEECH
ACTS OCCUR WHEN THERE IS AN INDIRECT RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN THE TYPE OF SENTENCE AND THE FUNCTION.
 FOR PERFORMATIVES TO ACTUALLY "PERFORM,"
BOTH SPEAKER AND AUDIENCE MUST ACCEPT
CERTAIN ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE SPEECH ACT.
THESE ASSUMPTIONS ARE CALLED FELICITY
CONDITIONS AND ARE OFTEN DIVIDED INTO THREE
CATEGORIES: ESSENTIAL CONDITIONS, SINCERITY
CONDITIONS, AND PREPARATORY CONDITIONS.
ESSENTIAL
CONDITION
• THIS MEANS THAT YOU SAY WHAT YOU SAY, THAT BOTH
SPEAKER AND HEARER TAKE THE UTTERANCE TO BE
PERFORMATIVE.

• I promise to do my homework
• I told my teacher 'I promise to do my
homework
SINCERITY
CONDITION
• THIS MEANS THAT YOU MEAN WHAT YOU SAY, THAT BOTH
SPEAKER AND HEARER TAKE THE UTTERANCE TO BE
INTENTIONAL, TO ACCURATELY REPRESENT THE WISH OF THE
SPEAKER AND THE HEARER'S UNDERSTANDING THAT THE
UTTERANCE EXPRESSES THAT WISH.

• I promise to do my homework
PREPARATORY
CONDITION
• THIS MEANS THAT YOU CAN DO WHAT YOU SAY, THAT BOTH
SPEAKER AND HEARER AGREE THAT IT IS SITUATIONALLY
APPROPRIATE TO FOR YOU TO PERFORM THE SPEECH ACT. DON'T
CONFUSE "CAN DO" WITH "ABLE TO DO." ABILITY IS PART OF
SINCERITY. IN THIS CASE, "CAN DO" MEANS "ALLOWED TO DO,"
TO BE SOCIALLY SANCTIONED TO PERFORM THE ACT.

• I now pronounce thee, husband and wife.

 We study speech act theory in order to
understand that, besides the literal meaning
(grammatical forms), the implied meaning
(functional usage of forms) uttered by speakers
should also be taken into account by hearers.
 locution illocution perlocution

Can you pass me

my phone?

Order