Famous Lines

Recall your favorite movies/teleserye and their striking lines. Analyze the speech act

Title of the Movie: My Ex and Whys

of the characters.

Character
Line Intention Effect
Liza “Am I not To express Gio
Soberano enough? her (Enrique
as Calixta Pangit ba frustration Gil) realized
ako? to the that what
“Cali” Kapalit- person who he did was
Ferrer palit ba cheated on wrong.
ako? her.
Title of the Movie:
Character Line Intention Effect
Suppose you are in the same situation. What would be your
reaction as Gio? Write your answer on the space provided
below.
Speaking a language is performing speech acts such
as making statements, giving commands, asking
questions, making remarks, requests and so on, and
more abstractly, acts such as referring and predicating
and that these acts are in general made possible by
and are performed in accordance with certain rules for
the use of linguistic elements. This module will help
you recognizes that communicative competence
requires understanding of speech act to respond
appropriately for effective communication.
 Types of
Speech Act
Three Types of Speech Act
According to J. L. Austin (1962), a philosopher of
language and the developer of the Speech Act
Theory, there are three types of acts in every
utterance, given the right circumstances or context.
These are:

“Please do the
By uttering the locution
dishes” would lead to
“Please do the “Please do the dishes,”
the addressee
dishes.” the speaker request
washing the dishes
the addressee to wash
the dishes.

Locutionary Illocutionary Perlocutionary

a. Locutionary
Locutionary speech act is roughly equivalent to uttering certain
utterance with certain sense and reference, which again is roughly
equivalent to meaning in traditional sense (Austin, 1962: 108). In
line with this, Cutting (2002: 16) states that locutionary is what is
said. also proposed by Yule (1996) who states that locutionary act
is the act of producing meaningful utterances.
The example of the locutionary speech act can be seen in the
following sentences:

1. It’s so dark in this room.

2. The box is heavy.
The above two sentences represent the actual condition. The first sentence refers to the lighting of
the room and the second sentence refers to the weight of the box.
b. Illocutionary
The illocutionary act is performed via the communicative force of an
utterance,
such as promising, apologizing, offering (Yule, 1996:48). This act is also called
the
act of doing something in saying something. The most significant level of
action in
a speech act is the illocutionary act because the force, which has been desired
by
the speakers, determines this act.
Illocutionary act can be the real description of interaction condition. For
example:
1. It’s so dark in this room.
2. The box is heavy.
Based on the examples above, the first sentence shows a request to switch the light on and the
second sentence shows a request to lift up the box.
c. Perlocutionary
Hufford and Heasley (1983:250) states that perlocutionary act is the act that is
carried out by a speaker when making an utterance causes in certain effect on the
hearer and others. Perlocutionary act is also the act offering someone.
Perlocutionary act refers to the effect the utterance has on the thoughts or
actions
of the other person. A perlocutionary act is specific to the circumstances of
issuance, and is therefore not conventionally achieved just by uttering that
particular utterance, and includes all those effects, intended or unintended, often
indeterminate, that some particular utterance in a particular situation cause. For
example:
1. It is so dark in this room.
2. The box is heavy

Based on the example it can be inferred that the first sentence is uttered by someone while
switching the light on and the second sentence is done by someone while lifting up the box.
Suppose that a bartender utters the words:

“The bar will be closed

in 5 min”.
1.Locutionary: Saying that the bar will be closed in 5min.(Act
of Saying)

2.Illocutionary: The act of informing the customers of the bar’s

imminent closing and perhaps also the act of urging them to
order a last drink. (Function: Info-persuasion)

3.Perlocutionary: The bartender intends to be performing this

act by causing the customers to believe the bar is about to
close and of getting them to want and to order one last drink.
(Effect)
Classification of
Speech acts
C. CLASSIFICATION OF SPEECH ACTS
Speech acts can be classified into five categories as Searle in Levinson
(1983: 240)
states that the classifications are representatives, directives, commissive,
expressive, and declarations.

a. Representatives
Representatives are speech acts that the utterances commit the
speaker to the truth
of the expressed proposition. The utterances are produced
based on the speaker’s
observation of certain things then followed by stating the fact or
opinion based on
the observation. When someone says “she’s beautiful”, the
speaker can state the
It also states what the speaker believes to be the case or not.
Statements of fact,
assertions, conclusions, and descriptions are all examples of the
speaker
representing the world as he or she believes it is. For example
when someone says
“The earth is flat”, it represents the speaker’s assertions about the
earth. The
speaker has opinion that the earth is flat.

Representatives speech act can be noted by some speech acts verb,

such as: remind,
tell, assert, deny, correct, state, guess, predict, report, describe,
inform, insist,
assure, agree, claim, beliefs, conclude.
b. Directives
Directives area speech acts that speaker uses to get someone
else to do something.
These speech acts include requesting, questioning, command,
orders, and
suggesting. For example, when someone says “Could you lend
me a pencil,
please?” the utterance represents the speaker requests that the
hearer to do
something which is to lend him a pencil.
c. Commissives
Commissives are speech acts that the utterances
commit the speaker to some future
course of action, these include promising, threatening,
offering, refusal, pledges.
For example when someone says “I’ll be back”,
represents the speaker’s promise
that he/she will be back.
d. Expressives
Expressives are speech acts that the utterances
express a psychological state. These
speech acts include thanking, apologizing, welcoming,
and congratulating. For
example, when someone says “don’t be shy, my home
is your home.” The utterance
represents the speaker’s expression that he/she
welcomes someone
e. Declarations
Declarations are speech acts that the utterances effect
immediate changes in the
institutional state of affairs and which tend to rely on
elaborate exta- linguistic
institutions. These speech acts include excommunicating,
declaring war,
christening, firing from employment. For example “you are
dead to me.”
1. What type of Speech Act
according to Austin is this: "I love
you to the moon and back."
A. Locutionary

B. Illocutionary

C. Perlocutionary
2. What type of Speech Act according to
Austin is it when a woman turns down a
proposal from her boyfriend?

A. Locutionary

B. Illocutionary

C. Perlocutionary
3. What type of Speech Act according to
Austin is it when someone makes a
promise?

A. Locutionary

B. Illocutionary

C. Perlocutionary
PRACTICE/APPLICATION/SYNTHESIS:
Classify the Speech acts, according to the functions performed: Choose your
answer write on the space provided

QUESTION
DIRECTIVE
EXPRESSIVE
REPRESENTATIVE
DECLARATIVE
COMMISSIVE
________________1. A friend says to another friend, “Why don’t you like to ski?”
________________2.A fathers says to his child, “Why don’t you spend less time watching
TV?”
________________3. A child says to her playmate, “Yippee–cookies!!.”
________________4. A doctor says to a patient, “I advise you to stop smoking.”
­________________5.One secretary says to another, “My daughter’s getting married in
August.”
________________6. A priest says over an infant, “I baptize you in the name of . . .”
________________8. A mother says to her daughter, “Who washed the dishes?”
________________9. A passerby says to a motorist with a flat tire, “Let me help you with
that.”
_______________10.A woman says to someone next to her at the grocery store, “It’s going to
be a very windy day.”
_______________11.A police officer says to a young man who was speeding,
“You’re under arrest”
_______________12. A coach says to a team member, “Way to go!”
_______________13. A teenage boy says to another teenage boy, “Go ahead–
Make me!”
_______________14. An umpire says, “Strike Three!”
_______________15. One friend says to another, “I swear I won’t see Martha
again.”
_______________16. A parent says to her child, “I forbid you to leave your room.”
_______________17. A man says to a friend, “What time is it?”
_______________18. A buyer says to a seller, “I agree with your terms”
_______________19. A judge says to a happy couple, “I now pronounce you
husband and wife.”
 1. Give at least 5 example of the following
Locutionary act Illocutionary act Perlocutionary act