Speech Act Theory: A Detailed Account
by Mohamed Zayed
MA
Researcher in English Linguistics
1. Definition
& Origin
Speech act is a term which was developed by the language
philosopher J. L. Austin. It is widely used in linguistics especially the
branch of pragmatics or language in use, namely discourse analysis. Speech Act Theory
is a theory which aims at analyzing the role of utterances in relation to both
the behavior of the speaker as well as the hearer in a given interpersonal
communication or a piece of discourse. Speech act theory states that, in our
speech or communicational process, we—as speakers—are not merely expressing our
ideas or giving out information. Rather, we do something with language. For
example, the utterance Please, be seated serves the purpose of a polite request or command to be seated. Also,
when a priest states, to newly-weds, I pronounce you man and wife he is
not merely expressing ideas. Rather, the priest is doing the actions of “uniting”
two souls eternally with the holy strings of marriage.
2. Versions or
Degrees of Speech acts
An utterance may have three versions of action: locutionary
act, illocutionary act and perlocutionary act.
Locutionary act is the
act of making a meaningful utterance. It is the initial process of uttering or speaking
the utterance.
Illocutionary act is the act which is performed by the speaker after
the utterance has been made. It simply refers to the function of the utterance
or the intention of the speaker behind the utterance. In other words, it is a
question of what the utterance is trying to do. An illocutionary act may be
that of promising, threatening, requesting, arresting,
commanding, insulting, inciting, etc.
Perlocutionary act is the effect of the utterance on the
hearer. For example, a perlocutionary act may evoke fright, happiness,
persuasion, insult, etc. in the consciousness of the hearer.
Examples:
·
The mother said to her young daughter: “do not stay up
late, dear.”à Locution “just speaking”
·
The mother meant to advise and warn her daughter not
to stay up late (intention)à illocutionary “speaker’s intention”
·
The girl, then, replied: “Ok, mom. I won’t” which
means that the girl was affected by her mother’s advice. Hence, we have the
perlocution of persuasion.
3. Types of
speech act meaning or functions of an utterance
A speech act or an utterance may have the functions: command,
Commissive, constative, declaration, directive, expressive,
and representative.
A speech act may be directive which means that
the listener is trying to do something, e.g. commanding, requesting,
begging, etc.
Commissive speech act means that the speaker is committing
him/herself to a course of action in the future such as promising, guaranteeing,
reassuring, etc.
Expressive speech act means that the speaker is expressing
his/her feelings such as sympathizing, suffering, welcoming,
hating, loving, apologizing, etc.
Declaration speech act means that the speech of the speaker is
declaring or bringing about a new state in the external world such as marrying,
resigning, sentencing one to prison or
death, naming something, etc.
Representative speech acts means that the utterance represents or reflects
the belief of the speaker about the truth of a proposition such as asserting,
believing, hypothesizing, certainty, doubt, possibility,
etc.
Directive speech acts are utterance whose purpose is to get or
persuade other people to do something for the speaker. To do that, there are
two means: grammatical means (e.g. commands), or semantic means
(proper vocabulary such as please). Also, the means could be phonological,
i.e. using persuasive or appropriate intonation.
Constative speech acts are utterances which play the role of descriptive
statements or descriptions of a situation. They are often contrasted with Performative
utterances since constative utterance are ‘saying’ rather than ‘doing’.
4. Verbs of
action (speech act verbs)
The verbs which are employed and used to indicate and
express the speech act—intended by the speaker—are known as Performative verbs
such as apologize, threaten, promise, name, pronounce,
declare, etc.
5. Felicity Conditions
Every speech act must have a criteria that have to be satisfied
in order for the speech act to be valid, successful and achieving its intended
purpose. These criteria or conditions are known as “felicity conditions” or conditions
of a successful speech act. They are preparatory conditions, sincerity
conditions, and essential conditions.
5.1 Preparatory conditions refer to whether
the person performing a speech act actually has the authority or the power to
do so. For example, one cannot possibly ‘fire’ an employee unless one has the
authority of being, e.g. a manager.
5.2 Sincerity conditions refer to the degree of sincerity with
which the act is performed. In other words, is the speech act performed sincerely
or not, e.g. the speaker or the doer is not lying, etc.
5.3 Essential conditions refer to the behavior or the belief of the
speaker after performing the speech act, e.g. accepting the object which
he/she has just requested.
A speech act which does not follow the above-mentioned
criteria is called infelicitous.
6. Direct vs.
Indirect Speech Acts
In the classification of speech acts, an indirect
speech act is an utterance whose structure or linguistic form does not reflect its
purpose or function directly. For example, the utterance I’m feeling cold
is an indirect speech act which serves the purpose of a request for someone
nearby to close a window or a door. Also, the utterance It’s getting late
is an also an indirect speech act which serves the purpose of a polite way to
ask for the permission to take leave, i.e. “May I leave?”
On the other hand, if the speech act is expressed
literally in a sentence, e.g. expressing the fact that someone is feeling
cold, then such a speech act will be called a direct one.
Best,
M. Zayed
MA Researcher in English Linguistics
E-mail: mohamed.zayed1994@gmail.com
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