Combplied By:

F.D.N Marpaung
What is a Speech Act?

- A speech act is an utterance that serves a function in

communication.
- Speech act is a pragmatic element involving the speaker,
listener, or writer or reader and what is being discussed.
- Speech Events may also include Speech Acts. J.L Austin
observed that „many utterances do not communicate
information, but are equivalent to actions
Searle in his book Speech Acts: An Essay in
the philosophy of language (1969, 23-24)
suggests that pragmatically there are at
least three types of actions that can be
realized by a speaker, namely locutionary
acts, illocutionary acts ) and perlocutionary
acts.
Kinds of speech Act :

- locutionary acts, = state

- illocutionary acts ) = stated and did
- perlocutionary acts. = Impact/Effect
on the listener
Here are some examples of speech acts we use or hear every day:

Greeting: "Hi, Eric. How are things going?"

Request: "Could you pass me the mashed potatoes, please?"

Complaint: "I‟ve already been waiting three weeks for the computer, and I
was told it would be delivered within a week."

Invitation: "We‟re having some people over Saturday evening and wanted to
know if you‟d like to join us."

Compliment: "Hey, I really like your tie!"

Refusal: "Oh, I‟d love to see that movie with you but this Friday just isn‟t
going to work."
three facets of speech acts

Locutionary: Meaning, namely, the literal meaning

of the utterance.
Illocutionary: Is related to the social function
that the utterance or the written text has.
Perlocutionary: Is the result or effect that is
produced by the utterance in the given context.
 For example: „‟It‟s stuffy in here‟‟
• The locutionary act is the saying of it with its literal
meaning “There isn‟t enough fresh air in here”.
• The illocutionary act can be a request of the hearer
to open the window.
• The perlocutinary act can be the hearer‟s opening
the window or his refusal to do so. In fact, we might
utter to make a statement, a request, an explanation,
or for some other communicative purposes. This is
also generally known as the illocutionary force of
the utterance.
A locutionary speech act is a
speech act to say something.
For example "It's very hot
here!", the locutionary meaning
relates to "the air temperature
in that place is high".
Illocutionary act is a speech act to do
something.
For example "It's very hot here!", the
illocutionary meaning could be in the
form of a request to open the window
wide, or if the sentence is repeated, it
might indicate a complaint.
Perlocutionary acts are speech acts that
prioritize the impact or effect on the
interlocutor.
Example "It's hot here", based on a certain
context (hot air, being in a room with all the
windows and doors closed, for example), the
result that will be obtained is that the
window will be opened wide or it is ignored at
all.
5 types of speech acts
• Representatives
• Directives
• Commissives
• Expressives
• Declarations
 Representatives
• Representative is a speech act that
commits a speaker to the truth of the
expressed proposition (asserting,
concluding, describing)
• e.g. I went to the Affandi painting
exhibition. There are about twenty
painting on display. Some are very
classic and extraordinarily awesome.
Directives
Directive is a speech act that is to cause the
hearer to take a particular action (requesting,
questioning, ordering)
1) I need/ want that car.
2) Give me your pen.
3) Could you give me your pen, please?
4) May I have some soda? Is there any milk
left?
5) This has to be done over. What about the
renovation?
Commissives
• Commissive is a speech act that
commits a speaker to some
future action (promises,
refuses, offering)
• e.g. Maybe I can do that
tomorrow.
• Don‟t worry, I‟ll be there.
Expressives
• Expressive is a speech act that
expresses on the speaker's
attitudes and emotions towards
the proposition (thanking,
apologizing)
• e.g. I am very disappointed.
• What a great day!!!
• Oh my, that‟s terrible.
Declarations
• Declarative is a speech act that changes
the reality in accord with the proposition
of the declaration(excommunicating,
declaring war)

• e.g. Class dismissed (students get up and

leave) .
• I now pronounce you husband and wife.
 Indirect Speech Acts
• For many reasons, perhaps because we
are abiding by the politeness principle,
for example, and we don‟t wish to
impose – we may ask for something to
be done indirectly. „Can you pass the
salt?‟ is not really a question, but a
directive; and answer of „yes‟, without
an attempt to pass it would be totally
inappropriate and would violate the
maximum of relevance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZysR
Mu1J8oo
 Article Draft
Title
Students‟ name
Abstract
Point I = Introduction (week 11)
Point I I = Literature review (week 12)
Point III = Method (week 12)
Point IV = Finding and Discussion (week 13)
Point V = Conclusion and Reference (week 13)
Print out = week 14