Ian Lemuel S.

Virtucio September
13, 2016
Grade 11 – René Descartes Oral
Communication in Context

Speech Act
DEFINITION
In linguistics, a speech act is an utterance defined in terms of a speaker's intention and the
effect it has on a listener.
Speech-act theory, as introduced by Oxford philosopher J.L. Austin (How to Do Things With
Words, 1962) and further developed by American philosopher J.R. Searle, considers three levels or
components of such utterances.

TYPES OF SPEECH ACTS

1. Locutionary Acts
In speech-act theory, a locutionary act is the act of making a meaningful utterance, and
is also known as a locution or an utterance act.
The term locutionary act was introduced by British philosopher John L. Austin in How
to Do Things With Words (1962). American philosopher John Searle has replaced Austin's
concept of the locutionary act with what Searle calls the propositional act--i.e., the act of
expressing a proposition.

Examples and Observations

 "The act of 'saying something' in the full normal sense I call, i.e., dub, the performance of
a locutionary act, and the study of utterances thus far and in these respects the study of
locutions, or of the full units of speech. . . .
"In performing a locutionary act we shall also be performing such an act as:
 asking or answering a question;
 giving some information or an assurance or a warning;
 announcing a verdict or an intention;
 pronouncing sentence;
 making an appointment or an appeal or a criticism;
 making an identification or giving a description;
 and the numerous like."

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  Three Sub-Acts
"A locutionary act has to do with the simple act of a speaker saying something, i.e. the
act of producing a meaningful linguistic expression. It consists of three sub-acts.
(i) a phonic act of producing an utterance-inscription
This is concerned with the physical act of producing a certain sequence of vocal
sounds (in the case of a spoken language), which is also called a phonetic act, or a set
of written symbols (in the case of a written language).
(ii) a phatic act of composing a particular linguistic expression in a particular language
This refers to the act of constructing a well-formed string of sounds and/or
symbols, be it a word, phrase, sentence, or discourse, in a particular language.
(iii) a rhetic act of contextualizing the utterance-inscription
This is responsible for tasks such as assigning reference, resolving deixis, and
disambiguating the utterance-inscription. This is referred to as a propositional act by
Searle. Thus, if John says to Mary, Pass me the glasses, please, meaning 'Hand the
glasses over to me' with me referring to himself and glasses to spectacles, he performs
the locutionary act of uttering the sentence Pass me the glasses, please."

 The Propositional Content of a Locutionary Act

"A locutionary act is the act of using a referring expression (e.g., a noun phrase) and a
predicating expression (e.g., a verb phrase) to express a proposition. For instance, in the
utterance You should stop smoking, the referring expression is you and the predicating
expression is stop smoking. . . .
"The propositional content of a locutionary act can be either expressed directly or
implied via implicature. For example, a warning such as I warn you to stop smoking
constitutes an expressed locutionary act because its propositional content predicates a
future act (to stop smoking) of the hearer (you).
"On the other hand, consider the warning I warn you that cigarette smoking is
dangerous. This utterance constitutes an implied locutionary act because its propositional
content does not predicate a future act of the hearer; instead, it predicates a property of
cigarettes."

2. illocutionary Acts

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 In speech-act theory, an illocutionary act is the way in which a sentence is used to
express an attitude with a certain function or "force" (called illocutionary force).
Steven Davis notes that an illocutionary act can be made explicit "by the use of a
performative verb formula. For example, if a speaker says, 'I'll be there' and it is unclear
whether it is a promise that has been made the speaker can make it explicit by saying 'I promise
that I'll be there'".
In addition, as Daniel R. Boisvert observes, we can use sentences to "warn, congratulate,
complain, predict, command, apologize, inquire, explain, describe, request, bet, marry, and
adjourn, to list just a few specific kinds of illocutionary act".

Examples and Observations

 "A direct illocutionary act is performed when a speaker utters a certain meaningful
sentence (correctly, literally, etc.) with certain intentions. For example, I directly assert
that rocks are hard when I use the English sentence 'Rocks are hard' with the intention
of describing rocks as being hard. I directly direct my addressee to come home when I
use the English sentence 'Come home' with the intention of directing my addressee to
come home at a time later than the time of utterance. . . . [A]n illocutionary act may be
defective . . . by being performed insincerely. My expressing excitement when I use the
sentence 'What a car!' is defective in this sense when your car does not actually excite
me; my act of asserting that rocks are hard is defective in this sense when I do not
actually believe that rocks are hard. . . .
"A direct illocutionary act, then, can be said to be 'conversationally' successful when
its respective typical conversational purpose is achieved--that is, when its
conversational success conditions obtain—and conversationally defective otherwise."

3. perlocutionary Acts
In speech-act theory, a perlocutionary act is an action or state of mind brought about
by, or as a consequence of, saying something, also known as perlocutionary effect.
"The distinction between the illocutionary act and the perlocutionary act is important,"
says Ruth M. Kempson: "the perlocutionary act is the consequent effect on the hearer which the
speaker intends should follow from his utterance" (Semantic Theory).

Examples and Observations

 "Intuitively, a perlocutionary act is an act performed by saying something, and not in

saying something. Persuading, angering, inciting, comforting and inspiring are often
perlocutionary acts; but they would never begin an answer to the question 'What did he
say?' Perlocutionary acts, in contrast with locutionary and illocutionary acts, which are
governed by conventions, are not conventional but natural acts. Persuading, angering,
inciting, etc. cause physiological changes in the audience, either in their states or
behavior; conventional acts do not."

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 An Example of a Perlocutionary Effect
"Consider a negotiation with a hostage-taker under siege. The police negotiator
says: 'If you release the children, we'll allow the press to publish your demands.' In
making that utterance she has offered a deal (illocutionary act). Suppose the hostage-
taker accepts the deal and as a consequence releases the children. In that case we can
say that by making the utterance, the negotiator brought about the release of the
children, or in more technical terms, that this was a perlocutionary effect of the
utterance."

 Fire!
"In the perlocutionary instance, an act is perfomed by saying something. For
example, if someone shouts 'fire' and by that act causes people to exit a building which
they believe to be on fire, they have performed the perlocutionary act of convincing
other people to exit the building. . . . In another example, if a jury foreperson declares
'guilty' in a courtroom in which an accused person sits, the illocutionary act of declaring
a person guilty of a crime has been undertaken. The perlocutionary act related to that
illocution is that, in reasonable circumstances, the accused person would be convinced
that they were to be led from the courtroom into a jail cell. Perlocutionary acts are acts
intrinsically related to the illocutionary act which precedes them, but discrete and able
to be differentiated from the illocutionary act."

 The Accordion Effect

"Perlocution has no upper border: any consequential effect of a speech act may be
considered as perlocutionary. If breaking news surprises you so that you trip and fall.
My announcement has not only been believed true by you (which is already a
perlocutionary effect) and thus surprised you, but has also made you trip. Fall and (say)
injure your ankle. This aspect of the so-called 'accordion effect' concerning actions and
speech actions in particular meets general consent, apart from those speech-act
theorists who prefer to limit the notion of perlocutionary effect to intended
perlocutionary effects."

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 Felicity Conditions
DEFINITION
In pragmatics and speech-act theory, the term felicity conditions refers to the conditions
that must be in place and the criteria that must be satisfied for a speech act to achieve its purpose,
and is also called presuppositions.
Several kinds of felicity conditions have been identified, including:
(i) an essential condition
 whether a speaker intends that an utterance be acted upon by the addressee
(ii) a sincerity condition
 whether the speech act is being performed seriously and sincerely
(iii) a preparatory condition
 whether the authority of the speaker and the circumstances of the speech act are
appropriate to its being performed successfully

J.L. AUSTIN’s FELICITY CONDITIONS

1. Felicity conditions for declarations
 Conventionality of procedure: the procedure (e.g. an oath) follows its conventional form
 Appropriate participants and circumstances: the participants are able to perform a
felicitous speech act under the circumstances (e.g. a judge can sentence a criminal in
court, but not on the street)
 Complete execution: the speaker completes the speech act without errors or
interruptions
2. Felicity conditions for requests
 Propositional content condition: the requested act is a future act of the hearer
 Preparatory precondition: 1) the speaker believes the hearer can perform the requested
act; 2) it is not obvious that the hearer would perform the requested act without being
asked
 Sincerity condition: the speaker genuinely wants the hearer to perform the requested act
 Essential condition: the utterance counts as an attempt by the speaker to have the hearer
do an act
3. Felicity conditions for warnings
 Propositional content condition: it is a future event
 Preparatory precondition: 1) the speaker believes the event will occur and be
detrimental to the hearer; 2) the speaker believes that it is not obvious to the hearer
that the event will occur
 Sincerity condition: the speaker genuinely believes that the event will be detrimental to
the hearer
 Essential condition: the utterance counts as an attempt by the speaker to have the hearer
recognize that a future event will be detrimental

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 Searle’s Classification of
Speech Acts
1. Assertives
They commit the speaker to something being the case. The different kinds are: suggesting,
putting forward, swearing, boasting, and concluding.
Example: “No one makes a better cake than me.”
“I did not eat the chocolate cake.”

2. Directives
They try to make the addressee perform an action. The different kinds are: asking, ordering,
requesting, inviting, advising, and begging.
Example: “Could you close the window?”
“Go and close the door.”

3. Commisives
They commit the speaker to doing something in the future. The different kinds are:
promising, planning, vowing, betting, opposing.
Example: “I'm going to Paris tomorrow.”
“I promise to repay the money I owe.”

4. Expressives
They express how the speaker feels about the situation. The different kinds are: thanking,
apologising, welcoming, deploring.
Example: “I am sorry that I lied to you.”
“I am sorry that I ran over your cat.”

5. Declarations
They change the state of the world in an immediate way.
Examples: “You are fired.”, “I swear.”, “I beg you.”
“You’re out!”

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 Performatives
DEFINITION
In English grammar and speech-act theory, a performative verb is a verb that explicitly
conveys the kind of speech act being performed—such as promise, invite, apologize, predict, vow,
request, warn, insist, and forbid. Also known as speech-act verb or performative utterance.
Austin defines performatives as follows:
(1) They do not ‘describe’ or ‘report’ or constate anything at all, are not ‘true or false’.
(2) The uttering of the sentence is, or is a part of, the doing of an action, which again would
not normally be described as, or as ‘just,’ saying something.

EXAMPLES
The initial examples of performative sentences Austin gives are these:
 'I do (sc. take this woman to be my lawful wedded wife)' – as uttered in the course
of the marriage ceremony.
 'I name this ship the "Queen Elizabeth"'
 'I give and bequeath my watch to my brother' – as occurring in a will
 'I bet you sixpence it will rain tomorrow'
Other examples (mainly of explicit performative utterances):
 "I now pronounce you man and wife" – used in the course of a marriage ceremony
 "I order you to go", "Go—that's an order"
 "Yes" - answering the question "Do you promise to do the dishes?"
 "You are under arrest" – used in putting someone under arrest
 "I christen you"
 "I accept your apology"
 "I sentence you to death"
 "I divorce you, I divorce you, I divorce you"
 "I do" – wedding
 "I swear to do that", "I promise to be there"
 "I apologize"
 "I dedicate this..."
 "This meeting is now adjourned", "The court is now in session"
 "This church is hereby de-sanctified"
 "War is declared"
 "I resign" – employment, or chess