Function of Speech Act

Searle (1979) proposed that speech act could be grouped into general categories based on
the relation of word and world. There are five basic kinds of actions that one can perform on
utterance, by means of the following types: declaration, representatives, directives, commissives,
and expressive.

Declaration
Declarations are those kinds of speech acts that change the world via their utterance. The
speaker has to have a special institutional role, in a specific context, in order to perform
declaration appropriately. The types of declaratives are excommunicating, war declaration,
firing, and etc.
It is the defining characteristic of this class that the successful performance of one of its
members brings about the correspondence between the propositional content and reality,
successful performance guarantees that the propositional content corresponds to the world: if I
successfully perform the act of appointing you chairman, then you are chairman; if I successfully
perform the act of nominating you as candidate, then you are a candidate; if I successfully
perform the act of declaring a state of war, then war is on; if I successfully perform the act of
marrying you, then you are married.
The surface syntactical structure of many sentences used to perform declarations conceals
this point from us because in them there is no surface syntactical distinction between
propositional content and illocutionary force. Thus, 'You're fired' and 'I resign' do not seem to
permit a distinction between illocutionary force and propositional content, but in fact that in their
use to perform declarations their semantic structure is:
I declare: your employment is (hereby) terminated.
I declare: my position is (hereby) terminated.
Declarations bring about some alternation in the status or condition of the referred-to object or
objects solely in virtue of the fact that the declaration has been successfully performed. This
feature of declarations distinguishes them from the other categories.

Representative
Representative is a form of speech that state what the speaker believes to be the case or not. The
purpose in performing representatives is to commit themselves to the belief that the propositional
content of the utterance is true. They are seen, for example, in assertions, statements, claims and
suggestions, they can be either true or false. Testing a representative can be done by simply
questioning whether it can be categorized as true or false. By performing a representative, the
speaker makes the words fit the world (belief).
For examples:
a. The name of British queen is Elizabeth.
b. The earth is flat.
The two examples represent the world’s events as what the speaker believes. Example (a)
implies the speaker’s assertion that the British queen’s name is Elizabeth. In example (b), the
speaker asserts that s/he believes that the earth is flat.

Expressive
Expressive is a form of speech that serves to express or show the psychological attitudes of
speakers towards a situation. They states what the speaker feels and can be statements of joy,
pain, sorrow etc., but also expressions of thanking, apologizing, welcoming, congratulating, etc.
In using an expressive, the speaker makes words fit the world (of feeling). The examples are:
(a) I’m really sorry!
(b) Congratulation!
(c) We greatly appreciate what you did for us.
Example (a) is an expression to show sympathy. Example (b) is used to congratulate someone.
Example (c) can be used to thank or to appreciate someone.

Directives
Directives are those kinds of speech act that the speakers use to get someone to do
something. They express what the speaker wants.
The illocutionary point of these consists in the fact that they are attempts (of varying
degrees, and hence, more precisely, they are determinates of the determinable which includes
attempting) by the speaker to get the hearer to do something. They may be very modest 'attempts'
as when “I invite you to do it or suggest that you do it”, or they may be very fierce attempts as
when “I insist that you do it”.
The direction of fit is world-to-words and the sincerity condition is want (or wish or
desire). The propositional content is always that the hearer H does some future action A. Verbs
denoting members of this class are ask, order, command, request, beg, plead, pray, entreat, and
also invite, permit, and advise. It also includes dare, defy and challenge. The examples are:

(a) Give me a cup of coffee, please.

(b) Could you lend me your pen?
(c) Bring me some cake!

Commissives
Commissives are those kinds of speech act that the speakers use to commit themselves in
some future action. They express what the speakers intend. They are promise, refusals, pledges,
and threats. It can be performed by the speaker alone or the speaker as a member of a group. In
using commissive, the speaker tries to make the world fit the word via the speaker. The examples
are:

(a) I’ll be back.

(b) I’m going to do it right next time.
(c) We’ll not do that.

Function of Speech Act Direction of fit S = speaker

X = situation
Declaration Words changes the world S causes X
Representative Make words fit the world S believes X
Expressive Make words fit the world S feels X
Directive Make worlds fit the word S wants X
Commissive Make worlds fit the word S intends X