AUSTIN’S SPEECH ACT THEORY

AND THE SPEECH SITUATION

When we interact with other people, we
sometimes do not have a particular
intention, other than simply indicating
that:

We have recognized each other's

presence.
In the majority of cases we:

 Make other people aware of our mental

states by using language.

 We inform, request, order, complain,

persuade, etc.

 Whatever we try to accomplish with

our language is a communicative
intention.
 Speech act

-is an utterance that a speaker makes to achieve

an intended effect

-some of the functions which are carried out

using speech acts are offering an apology,
greeting, request, complaint, invitation,
compliment, or refusal
The philosopher John Austin was one of
the first to argue that we use language:
 Not simply to make statements.
 But to ‘do things’, such as orders, requests,
apologies, etc.
 I order you to get out.
 Could you open the window, please?
 I apologize for what I said.

His book “How to do things with words” (1962)

greatly influenced pragmatics and philosophy
of language.
Austin suggests three kinds of acts

a. locutionary act

- the actual act of uttering the sentence, which is to

have a meaning

Example
“Please do the dishes.”

-include phonetic acts, phatic acts, and rhetic acts.

 Phonetic acts are acts of pronouncing sounds

 Phatic acts are acts of uttering words or

sentences in accordance with the
phonological and syntactic rules of the
language to which they belong

 Rhetic acts are acts of uttering a sentence

with sense and more or less definite
reference.
b. illocutionary act

-the act of having a certain force

-it is informed with a certain tone, attitude, feeling, motive,

or intention to achieve a purpose

Example
By uttering the locution “Please do the dishes,” the
speaker requests the addressee to wash the dishes.
 Austin classifies illocutionary
acts into five types
 Verdictives - one can exercise judgment
 Exercitives - exert influence or exercise power
 Commissives - assume obligation or declare
intention
 Behabitives - adopt attitude, or express
feeling
 Expositives - clarify reasons, argument, or
communication
c. perlocutinary act

- acts attributed to the result of what is said

- this effect is based on the particular context
in which speech act was mentioned.

Example
“Please do the dishes” would lead to the
addressee washing the dishes.
By describing an imminently dangerous
situation (locutionary component) in a
tone that is designed to have the force
of a warning (illocutionary
component), the addresser may
actually frighten the addressee into
moving (perlocutionary component).
 (1) It’s stuffy in here.
 The locutionary act is the saying of it with its literal
meaning “There isn’t enough fresh air in here”.
 The illocutionary act can be a request of the hearer to
open the window.
 The perlocutinary act can be the hearer’s opening the
window or his refusal to do so. In fact, we might utter
(1) to make a statement, a request, an explanation, or
for some other communicative purposes.

This is also generally known as the illocutionary force of

the utterance.
Husband: That’s the phone
Wife: I’m in the bathroom.
Husband: Okay.

Its illocutionary acts are:

(i) a refusal to comply with the request
(ii) a request to her husband to answer the
phone instead.
Speech act functions
1) Exchange factual information
 The plain departs at 7:10.

2) Exchange intellectual information

 These arguments are correct.

3) Exchange emotional attitudes

 I’m worried about my term papers.
4)Exchange moral attitudes
 I appreciate your help.

5)Persuasion
 Hand in your assignments.

6)Socializing
 Hi, Larry, how are you?
 As response to Austin’s speech
Act Theory, John Searle (1976), a
professor from the University of
California, Berkeley, classified
illocutionary acts into five distinct
categories.
 Searle’s Classification of Speech act

1. Assertive
A type of illocutionary act in which the
speaker expresses belief about the truth of a
proposition.

Some examples of an assertive act are

suggesting, putting forward, swearing,
boasting and concluding

Example
No one makes better pancakes than I do.
2. Directive
A type of illocutionary act in which the
speaker tries to make the addressee perform
an action.

Some examples of a directive act are asking,

ordering, requesting, inviting, advising and
begging.

Example
Please close the door.
3. Commissive
A type of illocutionary act which commits
the speaker to doing something in the future.

Example of a commissive act are

promising, planning, vowing, and betting.

Example
From now on, I will participate in our
group activity.
4. Expressive
A type of illocutionary act in which the
speaker expresses his/her feelings or emotional
reactions.

Some examples of an expressive act are

thanking, apologizing, welcoming, and
deploring.

Example
I am so sorry for not helping out in our group
projects and letting you do all the work.
5. Declaration
A type of illocutionary act which brings a change
in the external situation. Simply put, declarations
bring into existence or cause the state of affairs
which they refer to.

Some examples of declarations are blessing,

firing, baptizing, bidding, passing a sentence,
excommunicating.

Example
You are fired!
By saying that someone is fired, an employer causes
or brings about the person’s unemployment, thus
changing his external situation.
AUSTIN (1962) SEARLE (1976)

Verdictives Assertive

Exercitives Directive

Commissive Commissive

Behabitives Expressive

Expositives Declaration
CLASSIFICATION OF SITUATION EXAMPLE
SPEECH ACT

When you are accused of “I swear! I did not do it!”

ASSERTIVES doing something you did not
do

When you order a meal in a “I’ll get value meal A. Kindly

DIRECTIVES restaurant upsize my drinks and fries.”

When you promise to do “I’ll clean the house later.”

COMMISSIVES something

When you offer an apology “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it.”

EXPRESSIVES

When a judge sentences a “The jury finds you guilty of

DECLARATION defendant to jail grant theft auto, and are
sentenced to 10 years in
prison without bail.”
Activity 1

Read the sentence carefully and identify the intention of

the following speech acts.

a. Request c. Suggestion e. Rebuke g. Offer

b. Apology d. Command f. Invitation

Speaker- Listener Speech Act

1. mother to son Your room is very untidy!
2. a tourist to a hotel clerk Can I have a suite room in the
second floor?
3. a friend to her student I’m so sorry for what happened
yesterday the canteen.
4. a teacher to her student Why don’t you attend the remedial
class reading?
Activity 1

Speaker- Listener Speech Act

5. father to his son Come home early today!

6. a stranger to a lady Miss, it seems that your
bag is heavy. May I carry it
for you?
7. a neighbor to daughter It’s my birthday tomorrow.
Your presence will certainly
make my celebration
special.
8. mother to daughter Never tell a lie!
Activity 1
Decide which type of speech act is represented by each of these
statements
A. Propositional Act ( Locutionary act)
B. Illocutionary act
C. Perlocutionary act

1. Your professor says, “ For our class on Wednesday, please

read pages ten to fifteen and answer Activity 1
2. While talking with your classmates, you mention that you
watched the famous musical stage play at PICC
3. Two friends are talking about a television show that both of
you watched. You say, “What did you think about John’s to
Annie’s news of her accepting the marriage proposal of the
old man?”
Activity 1
4. When you learned that your friend will no longer stop from
schooling, you let out a sigh of relief.
5. Your sister says, “Let us start cleaning the house”
6. While having a conversation with your cousin, you tell her
that you listened to the latest song of your favorite singer.
Activity 3

Many English verbs can be used to perform

different speech acts.
1. applaud
2. grant
3. urge
4. guarantee
5. agree
6. swear