Speech Acts Flashcards
(25 cards)
who studied speech act theory and what did they propose
JJ Austin; words as actions to be studied
structures of speech acts
- locutions
- illocutions
- perlocutions
what is a locution
actual form of the word and their semantic meaning
what is an illocution
what the speaker is DOING when performing the sentence: i.e. threatening, commanding?
what is a perlocution
the result of the loction= hearers reaction
what are performatives
verbs that both state and perform the illocution: “i promise to compe back early”
- -> i/we subjet
- > simple present
- -> action verb under control of speaker
what are the 6 types of illocutionary acts
- Assertion
- Question
- Order
- Request
- Promise
- Advice
what are felicity conditions
govern the success of a speech act depending on:
- appropriate procedure
- appropriate participants/circumstances
- complete execution
- appropiate feelings/thoughts
examples of felicity conditions
UNIVERSITY= confer degree CHURCH= marries people BUISSNESS= hires and fires
what did searle do
extended speech act theory:
placed illocutionary acts into 6 categories describtion the relation of the words to the world
Searle’s speech act categories
- REPRESENTATIVE
- DIRECTIVE
- COMMISIVE
- ROGATIVE
- EXPRESSIVE
- DECLARATIVE
Representative speech act
truthful sentence; declarative
word fit outside world
speaker responsible
‘tom is eating pie’
Directive speech act
commands/advice; imperative
worlds WILL fit word
hearer responsible
“Close the door!”
Commissive speech act
future action commitment (promises/oaths): declarative
world WILL fit words
speaker resonpsible
speaker in future tense; “i PROMISE I WILL do that”
Rogative speech act
request for information; interrogative
words will fit world
hearer responsible
‘where did she go?’
Expressive speech act
Attitudes/emotions such as thanks or excuses: declarative
words fit world physcologically
speaker responsible
“i’m sorry to hear that”
Declarative speech act
change reality; i.e. declaring war or baptisizing;
declarative
words change the world
speaker responsible (speaker is subject and present tense word)
‘we find him guilty’
in which speech acts is the hearer responsible
rogatives (has to give information) and directive (has to follow directions)
in which speech acts do the words fit the world
expressive
representative
rogative
in which speech acts does/will the world fit the words
commisives
directives
in which speech act does the word change the world
decllarative
2 general types of speech acts
direct and indirect
direct speech acts
direction relationship between linguistic structure and action
indirect speech acts
speech act performed indirectly by the performance of another:
i.e. “CAN YOU OPEN THE WINDOW?” is a rogative but indirectly fulfills DIRECTIVE speech act
