INTERPERSONAL AND

NON-LITERAL MEANING
Submitted to fulfill the course assignment:
“SEMANTIC AND PRAGMATIC“
Supporting lecturer:
Dr. Sardian Maharani Asnur, S.Pd., M.Pd.

Compiled by:
M. Hilmy Fhauzan Adam (20400118002)
Dewi Sahruni (20400118008)
Nurul Latifa Amin (20400118017)
Nur Syamsi (20400118025)
Widya Lestari (20400118027)
Achmad Ichzan (20400118034)

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

TARBIYAH AND SCIENCE TEACHING FACULTY
ALAUDDIN STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY OF MAKASSAR
2020
A. SPEECH ACTS
1. Definition of An Act of Assertion
An ACT of ASSERTION is carried out when a speaker utters a declarative sentence
and give information to the listener that what the speaker talking about is real.
Example
If I say, „Dewi is in the library‟. I tell listener that someone who name is Dewi is in
the library.
2. Definition of The Descriptive Fallacy
The DESCRIPTIVE FALLACY is the view that the sole purpose of making
assertions is to DESCRIBE some state of affairs.
Example
According to the Descriptive Fallacy view, my only purpose in uttering „Dewi is in
the library‟ would be to describe a particular state of affairs, and nothing more.
Something that we have to know
Quite contrary to the popular belief that actions and words are entirely distinct, many
actions can actually be performed with words. Now we will look at some actions,
usually, but not always, involving human objects, that can be performed either by
physical means, such as a gesture, or by making an appropriate utterance.
3. Definition of A Performative
A PERFORMATIVE utterance is one that actually describes the act that it performs,
i.e. it PERFORMS some act and SIMULTANEOUSLY DESCRIBES that act.
Example
„I promise to repay you tomorrow‟ is performative because in saying it the speaker
actually does what the utterance describes, i.e. he promises to repay the hearer the
next day. That is, the utterance both describes and is a promise. By contrast, the
utterance „Nurul promised to repay me tomorrow‟, although it describes a promise, is
not itself a promise. So this utterance does not simultaneously do what it describes,
and is therefore not a performative.
4. Definition of A Constative
A CONSTATIVE utterance is one which makes an ASSERTION (i.e. it is often the
utterance of a declarative sentence) but is NOT performative.
 Example
„I‟m trying to get this box open with a screwdriver‟ is a constative utterance, because
it makes an assertion about a particular state of affairs, but is not performative, i.e.
the utterance does not simultaneously describe and perform the same act.
5. Definition of A Performative Verb
A PERFORMATIVE VERB is one which, when used in a simple positive present
tense sentence, with a 1st person singular subject, can make the utterance of that
sentence performative.
Example
Sentence is a performative verb because, for example, „I sentence you to be hanged
by the neck‟ is a performative utterance. Punishis not a performative verb because,
for example, „I punish you‟ is not a performative utterance.
Something that we have to know
Although most performative utterances have 1st person singular subjects, there are
exceptions. In fact, the most reliable test to determine whether an utterance is
performative is to insert the adverbial word hereby immediately before the verb and
see if the modified utterance is acceptable. If a sentence can be accompanied by
hereby without seeming odd, then the utterance of that sentence (in normal
circumstances) constitutes a performative utterance.
6. Summary
Words and sentences when uttered are used to do things, to carry out socially
significant acts, in addition to merely describing aspects of the world. The notion of a
performative illustrates this point in some rather special cases.

B. PERLOCUTIONS AND ILLOCUTIONS

1. Perlocution/Perlocutionary Act
The perlocutionary act (or just simply the perlocution) carried out by a speaker
making an utterance is the act of causing a certain effect on the hearer and others. In
perlocutionary, there is an influence affect. The speaker tries to influence the hearer
to do what he/she wants to do. Perlocutionary act is the hearer‟s reaction toward the
speaker‟s utterance. Thus, an utterance can cause the hearer to do something. In
addition, perlocutionary act is an act to influence the hearer such as, embarrassing,
intimidating, and persuading and so on (Nadar 15). Perlocutionary act is the effect
created by illocutionary act to the hearer, such as shocking, misleading, and
 convincing and so on. This act is also known as, „the act of affecting someone‟
(Wijana 20).
The perlocution of an utterance is the causing of a change to be brought about,
perhaps unintentionally, through, or by means of, the utterance (Latin per „through,
by means of ‟). The point of carefully distinguishing the perlocutionary aspect of the
speech act from others is that perlocutions can often be accidental, and thus bear a
relatively unsystematic relationship to any classification of sentence types.
Illocutions also often cause listeners to do things. To that extent they are
perlocutionary acts. If you say “I bet you a dollar he’ll win.” and I say “On,” your
illocutionary act of offering a bet has led to my perlocutionary uptake of accepting
it. The perlocutionary force of your words is to get me to bet, and you have
succeeded (Wardhaugh 277).
2. Illocution/Illocutionary Act
The illocutionary act (or simply the illocution) carried out by a speaker making
an utterance is the act viewed in terms of the utterance‟s significance within a
conventional system of social interaction. This is the second dimension or the
illocutionary act. The illocutionary act is performed via the communicative force of
an utterance (Yule 48). Illocutionary acts have to do with the intents of speakers
such as starting, questioning, promising or commanding (Wardhaugh 277). The
illocutionary act is analyzed based on context; it is about what‟s going on behind the
text. Context is the background knowledge assumed to be shared by s (speaker) and
h (hearer) and which contributes to hearer‟s interpretation of what speaker means by
given utterance (Leech 13).
For example, “it feels hot, isn’t it?” To find the illocutionary aspect in this
sentence, it ought to relate to the context when this utterance occurs. Another
example “Shut the door!” based on the example, it means people want somebody to
close the door, on the other hand, it is called an order statement which the speaker
intends to order people for the self-importance. The illocutionary act relates to the
speaker‟s purpose. In other words, every speaker has certain purposes by uttering
utterances.
The purpose of illocutionary act is to produce the utterance known as
illocutionary force. By using illocutionary force, the speaker informs something in
conversation or communication. Then that information will be received by the
hearer. The illocutionary act succeeds to achieve the perlocutionary effect. Actually,
 illocutionary act is rather difficult to be identified than locutionary act because we
have to consider who will be the speaker and the hearer are, when and where the
speech acts occurr. Thus, the illocutionary act is central of understanding speech act
(Wijana 19).
3. The contrasts between illocutions, perlocutions, and other speech act categories
The contrasts between illocutions, perlocutions, and other speech act categories have
typically been illustrated by lists of verbs and verb like expressions. For example:
Illocutionary: report, announce, predict, admit, opine, ask, reprimand, request,
suggest, order, propose, express, congratulate, promise, thank, exhort.
Perlocutionary: bring hearer to learn that, persuade, deceive, encourage, irritate,
frighten, amuse, get hearer to do, inspire, impress, distract, get hearer to think about,
relieve tension, embarrass, attract attention, bore (Leech 203).

4. FELICITY CONDITIONS
Speech acts have been the heart of pragmatic studies for decades, however, only few
researches have been produced in term of felicity condition. Researches on pragmatics
usually concern about the classification of speech acts and little did researchers discussed
on felicity condition of an utterance. Felicity condition is essential in pragmatics studies
since it tries to provide sufficient explanation of utterance that cannot be explained by
using truth conditional semantics. An utterance cannot be said as true or false only by
considering whether or not it fits the world. An utterance will be felicitous only if it
fulfills the conditions. A promise will be felicitous if the one who makes it fulfills it in
the future time, as a consequence, a promise cannot be made in the past time. “I would
come to your house‟ is not a promise since it is produced in the past time; therefore, the
right utterance for a promise is “I will come to your house‟. The use of verb „would‟
instead of „will‟ does not meet the condition of a promise because the propositional
content in which a speaker predicates a future act is not fulfilled. Considering some
conditions of an utterance will lead speaker and hearer to produce felicitous utterances.

5. DIRECT AND INDIRECT ILLOCUTIONS

1. Direct and indirect illocutions
Illocation are acts defined by social conventions, acts such as accosting,
accusting, admitting, appologizing, challenging, complaining, etc. One way to think
 about the Illocutionary act is that it reflects the intention of the speaker in making the
utterance in the first place.
Direct Illocution:
The illocution of the utterance that is most directly indicated by a Literal reading
of the sentence uttered.
Indirect illocution
Any further illocution that the utterance may have.
Example :
Can you pass the salt?
a. The direct illocution of it is : questioning the hearer ability to pass the salt
b. The indirect illocution is : a request that the hearer pass the salt.
2. Differences
The differences between direct and indirect illocution is seen through the fact
that a pedantic or deliberately unhelpful reply can be has both kinds of illocutions.
3. Rule
Where the direct illocution of an utterance is deliberately infelicitous, the
indirect illocution is an act to which the hearer‟s attention is drawn by mentioning
one of its felicity conditions.
For this purpose, it has been found useful to classify all illucationary acts into
different categories, depending on the type of interaction between speaker and hearer
that they bring about.
4. Illocutionary acts
A DIRECTIVE act is any illocutionary act which essentially involves the
speaker trying to get the hearer to behave in some required way. A commisive act is
any illocutionary act which essentially involves the speaker committing himself to
behave in some required way.
After introducing the difference between direct and indirect illocutions, and
have begun to explore the methods used by speakers and the listener can identify the
indirect illocution of speech. We introduce the two main types of illocutionary,
namely directives and commissions, and see how they can be done by affirming or
questioning certain conditions of their happiness. Some of these concepts will be
reviewed at next unit.
6. PROPOSITIONS AND ILLOCUTIONS

SENTENCE MEANING is what a sentence means, regardless of the context and

situation in which it may be used. UTTERANCE MEANING is what a speaker means
when he makes an utterance in a particular situation.

The PROPOSITIONAL CONTENT of a directive illocution can be expressed by a

declarative sentence describing the action that the speaker requires of the hearer. (This
definition is partial because it only applies to directives. It does not apply to
commissives, for instance, or other types of illocution.)

One way of carrying out an indirect directive is to (directly) assert that the hearer
will carry out the action required, i.e. to assert the propositional content of the directive.
But this method of getting people to do things is hardly less blunt or more polite than
simply issuing a direct directive. We look now at a method that is (in some instances, at
least) more polite.

Thus another way of carrying out an indirect directive is to question the

propositional content of the illocution. This method actually results in a more polite
utterance than simply asserting the propositional content. But, , this method is not
completely general. Sometimes uttering the interrogative is not more polite than uttering
the corresponding declarative. And sometimes the interrogative form gives rise to a quite
different illocution. These exceptions probably have something to do with the special
nature of such items as relax, give up, and the effects of negation. We will not delve
more deeply into such complications, but will turn to the case of indirect commissives.

The PROPOSITIONAL CONTENT of a COMMISSIVE ILLOCUTION can be

expressed by a declarative sentence describing the action which the speaker undertakes
to perform.

Now we will see whether asserting and questioning the propositional content of a
commissive actually (indirectly) carries out that commissive, parallel to the case of
directives.

Commissives are like directives in that they can be indirectly carried out by asserting
their propositional content, but they differ from directives in that they cannot generally
be carried out by questioning their propositional content. The situation can be
summarized as in the table below. Considerations of politeness are among the main
reasons for speakers preferring to get their message across by means of indirect, rather
than direct, illocutions.

Directives Commissives
Assertion of Relatively impolite Moderately polite
propositional content
Questioning of Relatively polite Moderately polite but
propositional content not appropriate in all cases
We leave the topic of politeness now and look at other aspects of the relationship
between speech acts and the propositions they involve. The fact that one can talk about
the propositional content of any speech act should not be taken to indicate that
propositions necessarily „precede‟ or „underlie‟ speech acts. One can conceive of a
speech act being committed without any thought of its propositional content passing
through the mind of the speaker. The relationship between propositions and illocutions is
simply a special case of the age-old, and very thorny, question of the relationship
between thought and action. There is no simple statement of this relationship. In rational
behaviour, thought precedes and shapes action, but, as we all know, thoughtless actions
occur and can be significant. Even thoughtless actions can be described, after the event,
with declarative sentences, i.e. in terms of propositions. With these reservations in mind,
we will continue to examine the relationship between sentences and utterances,
concentrating on reference and predication.

We see that for an illocutionary act to be carried out there is no need for either the
speaker or the hearer to be referred to (although, in general, reference to the speaker or
hearer makes the illocution of an utterance more explicit, and hence clearer). We will
now look to see whether the linguistic device of predication is also in some cases
dispensable.

Expressions like Hello, Goodbye, and Hey! belong to a tiny set that seem to have
purely non-propositional meaning. Although of course it is possible to describe their
effects with declarative sentences such as I greet you and I take my leave of you, this is
not an argument that Hello, Goodbye, and Hey! themselves have propositions as their
meanings, or that they contain referring expressions or predicates. Such expressions are
for this reason (verbal) gestures, parallel in essential ways to non-verbal gestures such as
 waves, nods, and handshakes. Rather than classing these expressions under categories of
meaning such as predicate or name, we will categorize them simply as primary illocution
indicators.

Clearly, one-word primary illocution indicators such as these are a rather marginal
part of language. Note that most of those given cannot be integrated into sentences, but
can only be used on their own. An exception is please, which can occur in the middle of
a sentence, as in Will library users please return books to the shelves? The use of please
in an utterance makes it unambiguously a request. The use of please to indicate a
particular illocution is highly conventionalized. No other English word can be so
straightforwardly associated with one particular illocution, while at the same time being
able to appear in the middle of sentences, as please can.

The study of speech acts adds a dimension to the study of meaning, in particular the
interpersonal dimension. It gives us a way of describing how speakers use sentences in
actual utterances to interact with other speakers in social situations, exchanging such
socially significant illocutions as promises, requests, greetings, warnings, etc. But human
communication is not purely interpersonal; people communicate about the world they
live in, using reference and predication. In these units we hope to have given some idea
of the complex ways in which all these semantic notions are related.

7. CONVERSATIONAL IMPLICATURE
1. Definition Conversational Implicature
The term "lmplicature" accounts for what a speaker can imply, suggest or mean,
as distinct from what the speaker literally says. (Grice,1975). lmplicature is one of
the ways that one proposition can be conveyed by a speaker uttering. Implicature is a
technical term, which refers to what is suggested in an utterance, even though
neither expressed nor strictly implied.
Example: John is meeting a woman this evening.
The woman John is meeting this evening is not his mother, his sister or his wife.
2. Types
lmplicature includes two types:
a. Conversational implicature
b. Conventional implicature.
 3. Conversational implicature
Implications derived on the basis of conversational principles and assumptions,
relying on more than the linguistic meaning of words in a sentence. A
(conversationally) implicates B if it is the case that uttering A in a certain
conversational context systematically suggests, everything else being equal, that B is
true. However, the implicature can be called cancelled.
Examples Conversational implicature:
a. Do you like Linguistics?
b. Well, let‟s just say I don‟t jump for joy before class.

A asked B about his feelings about the class, and B said B didn‟t celebrate
before the class. It shows the uninterested feeling of B about Linguistics subject.

4. The Cooperative Principle

Make your conversational contribution such as is required, at the stage at which
it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are
engaged (Yule, 1966). In other words, the listener presumes that the speaker is being
cooperative and is speaking truthfully, informatively, relevantly, exactly, and
appropriately.
5. Scalar implicature
Certain information is always communicated by choosing a word which
expressed one value from a scale of value. The basic of scalar implicature is that
when any form in a scale is asserted, the negative of all forms higher on the scale is
implicated. This is particularly obvious in terms for expressing quantity.
Example: The teacher, all of us have flu, so we are absent from school. Um, actually,
some of us has flu, the other takes care of the illness person. Bill has got some of
Chomsky‟s papers=> Bill hasn‟t got all of Chomsky‟s papers. There will be five of
us for dinner tonight. I like Mary. She is intelligent and good-hearted .
6. Conventional implicature
It is not based on the cooperative principle or the maxims.- not have to occur in
conversation- not depend on special contexts for their interpretation.- associated
with specific words and result in additional conveyed meanings when those words
are used.

8. NON-LITERAL MEANING: IDIOMS, METAPHOR, AND METONYMY

1. Idiom

Idiom is an English expression used in everyday life-day. Idiom is usually made

up of multiple phrases combined into one. An idiom is a phrase or expression that
typically presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase; but some
phrases become figurative idioms while retaining the literal meaning of the phrase.
Categorized as formulaic language, an idiom‟s figurative meaning is different from
the literal meaning. Idioms occur frequently in all languages; in English alone there
are an estimated twenty-five thousand idiomatic expressions.

Example: Go dutch, sweet tooth, hit the sack.

2. Metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that describes an object or action in a way that
isn‟t literally true, but helps explain an idea or make a comparison.
Here are the basics:
a. A metaphor states that one thing is another thing
b. It equates those two things not because they actually are the same, but for the
sake of comparison or symbolism
c. If you take a metaphor literally, it will probably sound very strange (are there
actually any sheep, black or otherwise, in your family?)
d. Metaphors are used in poetry, literature, and anytime someone wants to add
some color to their language
Metaphors are used in poetry, literature, and anytime someone wants to add
some color to their language. Metaphors show up in literature, poetry, music, and
writing, but also in speech. If you hear someone say “metaphorically speaking,” it
probably means that you shouldn‟t take what they said as the truth, but as more of an
idea. For example, it‟s finals period and after exams, students are saying things like
“That test was murder.” It‟s a fair guess they‟re still alive if they‟re making comments
about the test, so this is an example of speaking metaphorically or figuratively.
Metaphors can make your words come to life (or in the case of the exam, to
death). Often, you can use a metaphor to make your subject more relatable to the
reader or to make a complex thought easier to understand. They can also be a
tremendous help when you want to enhance your writing with imagery. As a common
 figure of speech, metaphors turn up everywhere from novels and films to presidential
speeches and even popular songs. When they‟re especially good, they‟re hard to miss.
In literature, there are are many other types of metaphors, too: implied,
sustained, dead, and others.
How to Come Up with a Metaphor
You don‟t need anything but your imagination to come up with a good
metaphor, but some added flair can go a long way. Remember, metaphors often
represent something that is hard to take literally. Think of the metaphor “rule with an
iron fist” as an example. Outside of the world of George R.R. Martin‟s Game of
Thrones, it would be a bit difficult to find a person with an actual hand made of iron.
However, we are still able to interpret that metaphor as meaning someone who is hard
and heavy-handed on governance.
3. Metonymy Definition
Metonymy is a figure of speech in which one object or idea takes the place of
another with which it has a close association. In fact, metonymy means “change of
name.” As a literary device, it is a way of replacing an object or idea with something
related to it instead of stating what is actually meant. Metonymy enables writers to
express a word or thought in a different way by using a closely related word or
thought. Therefore, this is a method for writers to vary their expression and produce
an effect for the reader.
Silver screen is an excellent use of metonymy. This phrase is a figure of speech,
meaning it‟s used for effect rather than literal meaning. Also, it is a substitute concept
for movies, movie theaters, etc. “Screen” is related to the way movies were
traditionally shown (or screened) in a theater. In addition, “silver” is associated with
original black and white films and the glitter of Hollywood. As metonymy, it can take
the place of words such as movie, theater, film, etc. In this way, words such as movie
or film aren‟t overused.
Common Examples of Metonymy
Here are some examples of metonymy that may be found in everyday expression:
Hollywood (represents associations with the movie industry)
Turf (represents associations with area of residence or expertise)
Feds (represents associations with government law enforcement)
Press (represents associations with news organizations)
Breeze (represents associations with something that is simple, straightforward, or
easy)
Broadway (represents associations with New York drama productions and stage fame)
Coast (represents associations with seaside, ocean area, regions of land near water)
Booze (represents associations with alcohol or liquor)
Academics (represents associations with school, college, university, classes, or
studying)
Management (represents associations with administration, leadership, or person in
charge of something).