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Speech Act

A speech act is an utterance made by a speaker to achieve an intended effect, such as a request or apology. According to J. L. Austin, there are three types of speech acts: locutionary (the act of saying), illocutionary (the intention behind what is said), and perlocutionary (the effect of what is said). John Searle further classified illocutionary acts into five categories: assertive, directive, commissive, expressive, and declaration.

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5 views15 pages

Speech Act

A speech act is an utterance made by a speaker to achieve an intended effect, such as a request or apology. According to J. L. Austin, there are three types of speech acts: locutionary (the act of saying), illocutionary (the intention behind what is said), and perlocutionary (the effect of what is said). John Searle further classified illocutionary acts into five categories: assertive, directive, commissive, expressive, and declaration.

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agnesmolen3
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TYPES OF SPEECH ACT

What is Speech Act?


A speech act is an utterance
that a speaker makes to achieve
an intended effect.
Speech acts are performed
when a person offers an apology,
greeting, request, complaint,
invitation compliment, or refusal.
Speech act is an act of
communication.
Three Types of Speech
Act
According to J. L. Austin (1962), a
philosopher of language and the
developer of the Speech Act
Theory, there are three types of
acts in every utterance, given the
right circumstances or context.
Three Types of Speech Act
1. Locutionary
“Please do
LOCUTIONARY 
the dishes.” act is the actual act
of uttering or saying
something. An
By uttering the locution
“Please do the dishes,” utterance that
the speaker requests ILLOCUTIONARY produces literal
the addressee to wash
the dishes. meaning. (What is
said.)
 This act happens with
the utterances of a
“Please do the dishes”
would lead to the
PERLOCUTIONARY
sound, a word or even
addressee washing the
dishes
a phrase as a natural
unit of speech.
Three Types of Speech Act
“Please do
2. Illocutionary act
LOCUTIONARY
the dishes.”  is the social
function of what is
By uttering the locution said.
“Please do the dishes,”
the speaker requests ILLOCUTIONARY
the addressee to wash  It is the intention of
the dishes.
the speaker. (What
the speaker
intends.)
“Please do the dishes”
would lead to the
PERLOCUTIONARY
addressee washing the
dishes
Three Types of Speech Act
“Please do
3. Perlocutionary act
LOCUTIONARY
the dishes.”  refers to the
consequent effect
By uttering the locution of what was said.
“Please do the dishes,”  The effect of the
the speaker requests ILLOCUTIONARY
the addressee to wash utterance to do
the dishes.
something from the
hearer’s side.
 The act performed
“Please do the dishes”
would lead to the
PERLOCUTIONARY
by the addressee.
addressee washing the
dishes
“I warn you to
LOCUTION stop
smoking.”

The speaker warned


the addressee to stop
smoking. ILLOCUTIO
N

The addressee
/hearer will stop/not
stop smoking.

PERLOCUTIO
Situation: Break Time at the School
Canteen

Scenario Line Intention Outcome

My classmate “Wow, a cake! To indirectly say My friend just


and I were eating Does it taste that I want to be responded, “Yes,
at the canteen. good?” given a slice of it tastes good.”
the cake.

*I was not given


a slice of the
cake.

Or

My friend
responded, “You
want some? And
give me a slice
Title of the Movie: My Ex and Whys

Character Line Intention Outcome /effect

Liza Soberano as “Am I not To express her Gio (Enrique Gil)


Calixta “Cali” enough? Pangit frustration to the realized that
Ferrer ba ako? Kapalit- person who what he did was
palit ba ako? cheated on her. wrong.
Searle’s Classification of
Speech Act
As a 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.
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 can love you better 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:
3. Commissive
 a type of illocutionary act which
commits the speaker to doing
something in the future.
Examples of a commissive act
are promising, planning,
vowing, and betting.

Example:
 From this moment on, I will love you
and honor you for the rest of my life.
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:
 Thank heavens, you came to save me! I
owe you my life.
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, and excommunicating.

Example:
 You are hired!
 By saying that someone is hired, an
employee causes or brings about the
person’s acceptance to job; consequently,
this changes his external situation.

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