Speech acts and speech events

Speakers do not only produce utterances containing grammatical structures and words, they perform
actions via those utterances.

Examples:

You’re fired. You’re welcome. It’s so delicious.

Actions performed via utterances are generally called speech acts (e.g. compliments, expressions of
surprise, complaints, invitations, apologies, promises). Descriptive terms for different kinds of
speech acts apply to the speaker’s communicative intention in producing an utterance. The speaker
expects that his/her communicative

intention will be recognized by the hearer. They are both helped in this process by the
circumstances surrounding the utterance. These circumstances, including other utterances, are
called the speech event. It is the speech event that determines the interpretation of an utterance
as performing a particular speech act, as in:

This tea is really cold!  (a wintry day vs. a really hot summer’s day)

On any occasion, the action performed by producing an utterance consists of

three related acts:

locutionary act

The act of producing a meaningful linguistic expression.

illocutionary act

While forming an utterance we have a certain kind of function in mind. The IA is performed via the
communicative force of an utterance, which is generally known as

the illocutionary force of the utterance (what it ‘counts as’, e.g. offer, invitation)

Speakers do not create utterances with functions without intending them to have an effect. They
assume that their hearers will recognize the effect intended. This third dimension is

perlocutionary act

Speakers utter something on the assumption that hearers will recognize the effect intended. This is
generally known as the perlocutionary effect.

1. I’ve just made some coffee.

 The same locutionary act (see Example 2a) can count as a prediction, a promise, or a warning
(different illocutionary forces).

2a. I’ll see you later. (=U)

  b. (I predict that) U.

  c. (I promise you that) U.

  d. (I warn you that) U.

     The most obvious device for indicating the illocutionary force is an expression of the type
shown in Example 3 below where there is a slot for a verb that explicitly names the illocutionary
act being performed. Such a verb can be called performative verb (Vp). Compare with the verb
predict, promise and warn above in Examples 2abcd.

Example 3: I (Vp) you that ...

Example 4:      Him: Can I talk to Mary?

Her: No, she’s not here.

Him: I’m asking you can I talk to her?

Her: And I’m telling you SHE’S NOT HERE!

felicity conditions

certain expected or appropriate circumstances for the performance of the speech act to be
recognized as intended

Examples 5a: I sentence you to six months in prison.

                 5b: I now pronounce you husband and wife.

Examples 5ab are not appropriate if the speaker is not e.g. a judge in a courtroom.


felicity conditions - general conditions (e.g. speakers understand the language) - content
conditions (e.g. a promise is a future act of the speaker) - preparatory conditions (e.g. with a
promise, the event will not happen by itself and it will have a beneficial effect) - sincerity
conditions (e.g. for a promise, the speaker genuinely intends to carry out the future action) -
essential conditions (e.g. the utterance changes the speaker’s state from non-obligation to
obligation)


the performative hypothesis

assumption that underlying every utterance (U) there is a clause containing a performative verb
(Vp) which makes the illocutionary force explicit


the basic format of the underlying clause is shown in

Example 6:

I (hereby) Vp you (that) U


Examples:

7a. Clean up this mess!

  b. I hereby order you that you clean up this mess.

8a. The work was done by Mary and myself.

  b. I hereby tell you that the work was done by Mary and myself.


Explicit performatives are shown in Examples 7b and 8b above, whereas

implicit (primary) performatives are in Examples 7a and 8a above.


speech event

an activity in which participants interact via language in some conventional way to arrive at some
outcome. It contains a central speech act that may include other utterances leading up to and
subsequently reacting to that central action.


Example of a speech event:

Him:    Oh, Mary, I’m glad you’re here.

Her:     What’s up?

Him:    I can’t get my computer to work.

Her:     Is it broken?

Him:    I don’t think so.

Her:     What’s it doing?

Him:    I don’t know. I’m useless with computers.

Her:     What kind is it?

Him:    It’s Mac. Do you use them?

Her:     Yeah.

Him:    Do you have a minute?

Her:     Sure.

Him:    Oh, great.


     The above conversation may be called a ‘requesting’ speech event without a central speech act
of request. The analysis of speech events is clearly another way of studying how more gets
communicated than is said.