Nama : Alfi Ana Lestari

NIM/Class : 192120015/PBI 5A

PROPOSITIONS AND ILLOCUTIONS

Entry test:
1. Briefly define what is meant by a directive act.
Answer: A directive act is any illocutionary act which essentially involves the
speaker trying to get the hearer to behave in some required way.
2. Give an example of a directive act.
Answer: Ordering, suggesting, requesting, etc.
3. Briefly define what is meant by a commissive act.
Answer: A commissive act is any illocutionary act which essentially involves
the speaker committing himself to behave in some required way.
4. Give an example of a commissive act.
Answer: Promising, undertaking, accepting, etc.
5. Is the sentence I promise to fail you if you do not hand in your essay on
time literally used to promise? Why?
Answer: No, a warning or threat.

Practice 1:
Each of the following is a statement from an everyday context in which the
word meaning or means or mean is used. Say whether the statement is about sentence
meaning or about utterance meaning.
1. A statement by a tourist guide: The inscription above this door, translated
into English, means Those who enter here will live forever. (Sentence Meaning)
2. What did you mean by telling me you’d think twice about lending money to Gary?
(Utterance Meaning)
3. When George says that his gun is loaded, he means it as a threat.
(Utterance Meaning)
4. I think I understand the literal meaning of what you’re saying, but I can’t see why
you should be saying it to me. (Sentence Meaning)
5. Fred is very understanding; he knows what I mean even though I don’t use the
right words to say it. (Utterance Meaning)
6. No head injury is too trivial to ignore actually, and surprisingly, means the opposite
of what you first think. (Sentence Meaning)

Practice 2: Express the propositional content of each of the following directives with
a declarative sentence.

1. ‘I would like you to feed my cat while I’m on holiday’.

Example: You will feed my cat while I’m on holiday.
2. ‘Forceps!’ (Uttered by a surgeon during an operation)
3. ‘Relax!’
4. ‘Don’t give up!’
5. Is it polite or rather impolite to issue a directive with an utterance beginning ‘You
will . . .’?

Answer:
1. You will feed my cat while I’m on holiday
2. You will pass me the Forceps
3. You will relax
4. You will not give up
5. Impolite
Practice 3: Give an interrogative sentence corresponding to sentence (1-5) above.
Answer:
1. Will you feed my cat while I’m on holiday?
2. Will you pass me the foreceps?
3. Will you relax?
4. Won’t you give up?
5. Will it be polite or rather impolite to issue a directive with an utterance beginning
‘You will . . .’?
Practice 4:
1. In each of the following cases, give an assertion of the propositional content of the
commissive illocution concerned.
a. Father promising to buy his son a rubber dinghy when he can swim:
I will …
b. Dinner guest, off ering to help wash the dinner dishes:
c. Soldier volunteering to cover his section’s retreat:
2. For each of the above cases (a)–(c), turn the assertion you gave as answer into
a question.
3. Could the utterances (assertions) given as answers to (1) (a)–(c) actually be
commissive speech acts (i.e., acts of promising, off ering, and volunteering)?
4. Could the utterances (questions) that you gave as answers to (2) (a)–(c) actually
be commissive speech acts?

Answer:
1.
a. ‘I will buy you a rubber dinghy when you can swim’
b. ‘I’ll help wash the dishes’
c. ‘I’ll cover the section’s retreat’
2.
a. ‘Will I buy you a rubber dinghy when you can swim?’
b. ‘Will I help wash the dishes?’
 c. ‘Will I cover the section’s retreat?’

3. Yes, in all three cases

4. No, in all cases

Practice 5:
If I say to you: ‘Will you turn off the kitchen light?’
1. What is the direct illocution of the utterance? (Question)
2. What is the indirect illocution of the utterance? (Request)
3. If there are any referring expressions used, list them. (You and the kitchen light)
4. What is the predicate? ( The verb ‘turn off’)
5. In this instance, does the predication apply to a past, present, or future connection
between the objects or persons referred to. (A future connection)
Practice 6:
For each of the following utterances, (a) name the most likely illocutionary act being
carried out, (b) say whether the speaker is explicitly referred to, and (c) say whether
the hearer is explicitly referred to.
1. ‘I am most grateful to you’
a.
b. Yes / No
c. Yes / No
2. ‘Thank you very much’
a.
b. Yes / No
c. Yes / No
3. ‘Thanks a lot’
a.
b. Yes / No
c. Yes / No
4. ‘Go away’
a.
b. Yes / No
c. Yes / No
5. ‘Please will you pass the sugar’
a.
b. Yes / No
c. Yes / No
6. ‘I hereby undertake to pay all my debts’
a.
b. Yes / No
c. Yes / No
Answer:
1. ‘I am most grateful to you’
a. Thanking
 b. Yes
c. Yes
2. ‘Thank you very much’
a. Thanking
b. No
c. Yes
3. ‘Thanks a lot’
a. Thanking
b. No
c. No
4. ‘Go away’
a. Ordering (or commanding)
b. No
c. No
5. ‘Please will you pass the sugar’
a. Requesting
b. No
c. Yes
6. ‘I hereby undertake to pay all my debts’
a. Promising
b. Yes
c. No
Practice 7:
1. Would it seem reasonable to say that I thank you has as its meaning a proposition,
involving two referring expressions? (Yes)
2. What illocutionary act is normally carried out with the utterance ‘Hello’?
(Greeting)
3. Is Hello a declarative sentence? (No)
4. Would it seem reasonable to call hello a predicate? (No)
5. What is the negative of I thank you? ( I do not thank you)
6. Is there a negative of Hello? (No)
7. Would it seem reasonable to analyse the meaning of Hello as a proposition? (No)
Practice 8:
1. What illocutionary act is normally carried out in uttering ‘Hey!’
Answer: Calling for attention
2. Would it be reasonable to analyse the meaning of Hey! as a proposition, involving
referring expressions and a predicate?
Answer: No
3. What illocutionary act is normally carried out in uttering ‘Goodbye’?
Answer: Leave taking
4. Would it be reasonable to analyse the meaning of Goodbye as a proposition,
involving referring expressions and a predicate?
Answer: No
Practice 9: Given below are some further utterances which could also be regarded as
using primary illocution indicators. For each one, state the illocutionary act(s)
normally indicated by it.
1. ‘Bravo!’
2. ‘Please’
3. ‘Hi’
4. ‘Pardon?’
5. ‘Hooray’
6. ‘Eh?’
Answer:
1. Congratulating (or expressing admiration)
2. Requesting (or entreating)
3. Greeting
4. Requesting repetition of the hearer’s previous utterance
5. Expressing (exuberant) approval, congratulating
6. Querying (or asking or enquiring)