Marișca Andreea

ER, III
Speech Act Theory - Exercises

Exercise 1:
Analyse the following set of answer phone messages for kinds of speech acts (e.g.
request, apology, etc.), and whether the speech acts are direct or indirect:
A: This is 9457 1769. I can’t answer the phone right now. Please leave a message
after the tone.
B: It’s me again. I’m trying to organize the barbeque for John’s birthday on
Saturday. Can you give me a call and let me know if you’ll be coming?
Response:
A: The first example is a direct speech act and as a category of speech act is a
request. The speaker asks the person on the other end of the phone to leave a
message that will be heard when he can. I think it's about direct speech because,
even if it's a voice message on the phone, there is still an interlocutor, the one who
listen the message.
B: The second example I think is also a direct one and as a category of speech act
is a question. I consider it to be direct speech because we again have a speaker and
an interlocutor who receives the message. The message comes in the form of a
question that is clearly waiting for an answer.

Exercise 2:
Richards and Schmidt (Language and Communication, 1983 ) give the example of
‘Hello’ as an utterance which can have different meanings in different contexts.
‘’Hello’’ may be a greeting or a summons (‘Hello…anybody home?”) or an
answer to a summons, as when answering the telephone.
Think of another utterance which can have different meanings depending on the
context. You can also think of examples in your native language.
Response:
-There are several words that can have different meanings depending on the
context in which you place it. An example is the word "yes". It is usually used to
give an affirmative response ((You know this? Yes!), but can also be used as a
response to someone addressing one or trying to attract one's attention (Oh, Mr
Lawrence. Yes?). Although this word usually suggests approval, it is often used
ironically in the form of denial. Often accompanied by the words "how not"
(You're going to help him clean up, aren't you? Yes, how not.)
-The expression "of course" also has several meanings depending on the context in
which it is used. This is used to introduce an idea or action as being obvious or to
be expected (The point is of course that the puzzle itself is misleading.), or used to
give or emphasize agreement or permission (Can I see you for a minute? Of
course.). This can also be used to introduce a qualification or admission (Of course
we've been in touch by phone, but I wanted to see things for myself)

Exercise 3:
Look at Wierzbicka’s ( 2003 : 156–8) analysis of thanking in English and Japanese
in Chapter 5 of her book Cross Cultural Pragmatics: The Semantics of Human
Interaction (you’ve got the book attached in the mail). Discuss this analysis with a
native speaker of a language other than English/think of Romanian or other
languages and cultures you are very familiar with to see if this is the same or
different in that language and culture.
Response:
It can become quite difficult to find the equivalent of words or phrases from one
language to another. For example, most of our expressions find it very difficult to
find an English translation, and often the native of this country does not understand
them. An Englishman will have to think long and hard to understand that the
expression "his face fell" (i-a picat fata) actually suggests that the person is
surprised, he was not literally left without a face. Another expression that gives the
English something to think about is "rubbing mint" (a freca menta). The Romanian
does not rub the mint literally, this expression expresses the fact that he wastes his
time in vain.
Another language that makes English difficult is Russian. For example, when a
Russian native speaks in English, they tend to omit the verb "to be" in the present,
replacing it in writing with a hyphen, because in Russian, the verb "to be" exists
only in past and future tenses (‘’You-beautiful’’, instead of ‘’You are beautiful’’).

Exercise 4 (p. 11 in the pdf. document Speecg Acts – revision and exercises, see
the model exercises in the document)

Response:
May I borrow your laptop?
- Locutionary act: The speaker asks the interlocutor if he can lend them
his laptop.
- Illocutionary act: A direct request to borrow his laptop.
- Perlocutionary act: Whether or not to lend them the laptop.
You are fired.
- Locutionary act: The speaker informs the interlocutor that he is fired,
dismiss from the job.
- Illocutionary act: A direct request to leave that post.
- Perlocutionary act: The interlocutor leaves or not the job.