1.Speech Acts and Speech Events

8/11/2019 1.Speech Acts and Speech Events

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1. Introduction

2. Speech acts

3. IFIDs

4. Felicity conditions 5. Performative Hypothesis

6. Speech act classification

7. Direct and Indirect speech acts. 8. Speech events

9. Conclusion


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George Yule(1996), Pragmatics, New York:Oxford University Press.

Jacob L. Mey (1993), Pragmatics: An

introduction, Blackwell.


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utterance (n) : spoken words

explicit (adj) : clear and easy to understand

implicit (adj) :hidden, not clear

precondition (n) : something that musthappen or exist before something else canexist or be done

declarative (adj) : in the form of a simple

statement

interrogative (adj) : in the form of a question

imperative (adj) : in the form of an order


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1. Why dont you join our party tonight?.

Invitation


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I. What are speech acts?

- actions performed through spoken words

=When you say something, you actually dosomething.

- labeled as apology, complaint, compliment,invitation, promise or request.

( Yule Pragmatics pg 47 ).


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Example: - Youre clumsy. ( complaint ).

- Ill pay you back tommorow. ( promise)

- Get me a glass of water, please! (request)


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1. Locutionary Act.

- the basic act of utterance

- the act of producing a meaningful linguistic

expression.

= You speak something correctly in grammar

and meaning.

Example: I want you to go out!


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2. Illocutionary Act

= The intention of the speaker+ the act of forming an utterance with some

kind of function.+ performed through the communicative

force, known as the illocutionary force of anutterance such as a statement, an explanation,an offer, etc.( G.Yule,1996,48)

+ Illocutionary force= communicationpurpose

Example: - The TV volume is too loud!( Could you turn down the TV volume?)


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3. Perlocutionary Act

=The hearer realizes the intention of thespeakerThe perlocutionary act :

aimed at creating an effect on the hearer

performed by saying something in a particularcontext.

Example:

A stranger is trying to break into your house

=> may make the hearer feel worried and scared Im so thirsty.

=> may get the hearer to bring about somewater.


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Same utterance ===> differentillocutionary forces

Example:

- The final test will be difficult. ( A )- (I warn you that A ).- (I think that A ).- ( I promise that A )


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IFID is a piece of language that signals whatkind of speech acts are being performed.

Example:

Could you open the window, please? (question)

IpromiseI will take you to the zoo.(promise)

IFIDS

I= Illocutionary

F=Force

I=Indicating

D= Devices


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Performative verb: a verb that clearly indicates

illocutionary act being performed.Example: apologize, request, state,promise

Describe the speech acts being performed

Example:

Sergeant: Shut your mouth up.

Soldier: No, sir.

Boss: I'm your sergeant. I'm ordering you to shut up.


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word order, stress, intonation:Example:

You love her. (I tell you that you love her)

You love HER? (I request confirmation that youlove her)

Are you CRAZY? (I prevent you from doingsomething stupid)

Get out of this room now. (I ask you to get out ofthis room now)


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Determines whether a speech act isrecognized as intended or not.

These conditions help the hearerunderstand the speakers intention.


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Example:When the speech act is infelicitous(inappropriate).

I declare peace/ war. (said by a citizen)- shouldbe a president.

I pronounce you innocent (said by one in thecrowd)- should be by the judge

Im sorry for hurting you (the speaker doesntfeel sorry at all)- a lie


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General conditions : onthe participants canunderstand the languages being used andthey are not pretending or being ignorant

Example:

The participants understand English in theEnglish spoken-environment and they actively getthe information.


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Content conditions:

According to Searle

The speaker must be the one who is to performthe act

b, Futurity rule: The act that is to perform musttake place in the future

Example: I promise I will come back soon.

I warn you that your laziness will lead you tofailure.


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Preparatory conditions:

PromiseAccording to Searle(1969) a promise is a

pledge to do something for you, not to you

The event will not happen by itself

The event will have beneficial effect

Hearer: be prepared for the act

Speaker: not be obligated to perform the

act. Example

I promise I will pay the ticket tomorrow.


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Warning According to Searle (1969) threat is a

pledge to do something to you, not for you

The speaker thinks the event will occur.

The hearer doesnt clearly know if the eventwill occur. (G.Yule 1996 p.51)

The event will not have beneficial effect.

Example:

If I happen to see you around this corner, youdont know what will be happening.


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Sincerity condition: the speaker must beserious in carrying out the act.

Promise

ability: the speaker is physically and mentallyable to do the promised act.

state-of-mind: the speaker intends to do thefuture act.

Example: Id love to see you tomorrow. (the speaker really

want to meet the hearer tomorrow).


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Warning:

The speaker believes the act will not havebeneficial effect (G.Yule1996p.51)

Example:

Behave or you will be grounded for a week.


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Essential condition: combines with a specification of

what must be in the utterance content, the context,

and the speaker`s intention, in order for a specific

speech act to be appropriately performed

(G.Yule,1996,51)

Promise: Speaker is aware that he/she is committedhim/herself to do the act.

Example:

I promise that I will water the flower tomorrow.


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Warning: Speaker is aware that he/she isinformed of the act.

Example:She threatened to kill me if I didnt give

her money. (changing from non-informingof bad future to informing)


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Searles felicity condition:I promise I will fix your broken computer in two

days.

1.Sincerity condition 3. Content conditionState of mind Futurity rule

Ability

2. Essential condition 4. Preparatory condition

Non-obligation to obligation Beneficial effectNon-expectancy condition


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Performative hypothesis

All sentences are performative utterances atsome abstract level.

Austin defines: a performative as an

utterance contains a special type of verb (aperformative verb) by force of which itperforms an action.

Performative hypothesis implies that allsentences have truth values and allsentences are predicted to be true by virtueof simply uttering them.


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Basic format: I (hereby) Vp you that U

Vp = promise, warn, threat, declare, ask,order, request, predict, etc...

E.g: I will buy you a catI (hereby) promise to you that I will buyyou a cat


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Explicit and implicit performatives

An explicit performative is one in which the

utterance inscription contains an expressionthat makes explicit what kind of act is beingperformed (Lyons, 1981, 175).

It includes a performative verb that allows the

speaker to avoid misunderstanding the forcebehind an utterance.


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Advantages Disadvantages

Clarified the elements involvedin the production andinterpretation of utterances.(G.Yule,1996,52)

The explicit performative version

of a command has a much more

serious impact than the implicit

version. ( G.Yule,1996,52)

It shows that some adverbs oradverbial clasues are natually

attach to the explicitperformative clause rather thanthe implicit version.( G.Yule,1996,52)

- Its difficult to know what exactlyVp for some utterances.

-We dont know how many Vpsthere are in any languages.-( G.Yule,1996,52-53)


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1. Declarations

Change the world via their utterance(

G.Yule,1996,53)=The power of the speakers utterance canchange the reality.

The speaker has to have a special

institutional role,in a specific context The speaker changes the world via words


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2. Representatives

Speech acts that state what the speaker

believes to the the case or not(G.Yule,1996,53)

Sp asserts a proposition as true or false.

Statements offact,assertions,conclusions,descriptions

The speaker makes words fit the world

For example:

The sun rises in the East and sets in the West. Mozart is the greatest composer.

A spider has eight lExamples.


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3. Expressives

Speech acts that state what the speakersfeels

Express psychological states and can bestatements of pleasure, pain, likes, sorrow,joy.

The speaker makes words fit the world offeeling.

For example

It was very kind of you.Bravooooo!!!!


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4. Directives

The speaker uses them to get someone elseto do something

Express what the speaker wants (commands,orders, request, suggestions..) can be

negative or positive The speaker attempts to make the world fit

the words (via the hearer)

For example Can you pick me up tomorrow morning? Lets go to a restaurant in stead of eating at

home.


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5. Commissives

The speakers use to commit themselves to somefuture action (express what the speaker intendssuch as promises, threats, refusals, pledges.

They can be performed by the speaker alone orby the speaker as a member of a group

The speaker undertakes to make the world fitthe words (via speaker)

For example:

Dont worry! I will borrow you some money

Dont move or I will shoot.


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Direct speech acts: are the speech acts directlyindicated by a literal reading of thegrammatical form and vocabulary of thesentence uttered.

There is a direct relationship between a structureand a function

Indirect speech acts are the speech acts whoseforce differs from what is taken to be theliteral meaning of the sentence uttered.

There is an indirect relationship between astructure and a function


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Structure

Declarative

Interrogative

Imperative

Function

Statement

Question

Command/

Request

Direct speech act.

Direct speech act.

Direct speech act.

Indirect


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E.g1:

How old are you? the speaker asks the hearers age (direct speech act)

The speaker warns the hearer that he is too old to actlike a child (indirect speech act)

E.g2: The door is there. reply of the question: where is the door? ( direct

speech act)

the speaker commands the hearer to leave (indirectspeech act)

Indirect speech acts are generally associated

with greater politeness in English than direct speechacts. ( G.Yule-1996,57)


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The unified set of speech acts Speech event = speech act + speech act + +

speech act.

The activities in which participants interactvia language in some conventional way to

arrive at some outcome. ( G.Yule-1996,57)


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Example 1:

A: Are you leaving now, Jane?

B: Yes, I am. Are you, too?A: No. I dont know how to go home now.

B: Why is it?

A: I went to school by bus this morning but Ive spent all ofmy money.

B: Where is your house?

A: Its at 75thStreet. Is it near your house?

B: Yeah.

A: Fantastic!

B: Ok, lets go.

This speech event helps the speaker avoid asking Can youride me home?


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Example 2:

A: Do you have any plan for Saturday?B: I dont know yet.

A: You know, there will be a concert of yourfavorite bands.

B: Really? Sounds great!

A: And I have bought 2 tickets.

B: Youre so sweet. Thank you. See you there!

The extended interaction may be called arequesting speech event without a centralspeech act of request.


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Determines the interpretation of anutterance as performing a particular speechact.

May include an obvious central speech actbut will also include other utterances leadingup to and subsequently reacting to that

central action ( G.Yule, 1996,57) A speech event means asking about

precondition, not making a direct request.


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A speech event can be defined by a unifiedset of components throughout:

Same purpose of communication

Same topic

Same participants

Same language variety (generally)

Example : exchange greetings, telling jokes,giving speeches.


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Example: A: I got 2 movie tickets. Will you befree tonight?.

B: Ive never been busy at night!:) ( in a

humourous way to say Yes, of course).

=> This speech event helps the speaker avoidasking Can you go out with me tonight?


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The usefulness of speech act analysis = whatwe can do with words and identify thecommon spoken words that perform specificactions.

Nevertheless, we need to look at moreextended interaction to understand howthose actions are carried out and interpretedwithin speech events. (G.Yule,1996,58)


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1.Speech Acts and Speech Events

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