Chapter 10: Speech Acts

and Types of Clause

 Speech Acts and Types of Clause
Philosophers use the term speech acts for things you can do with sentences of your language – things like making
statements, asking questions, issuing commands, or uttering exclamations. The term has been widely adopted by
linguists. We’ve already noted that the terms ‘speaker’ and ‘utterance’ have extended uses covering writing and
signing as well as speech and the same applies to ‘speech act’: the acts of making statements, asking questions,
issuing commands and uttering exclamations can of course be performed by writing or signing as well as by
speaking.

The syntax of English distinguishes a set of clause types that are characteristically (not invariably) used to perform
different kinds of speech acts.
The major types are the five illustrated below:
• We have to distinguish carefully between C L A U S E T Y P E (a
syntactic concept) and S P E E C H A C T (a pragmatic concept): we
should not confuse imperatives with directives, or interrogatives
with questions, and so on. Clause type is the major factor
determining what kind of speech act will be performed, but it is
not the only one.
1. Classify the following according to clause type, and say what kind of speech act they would most likely
be used to perform.

i Please turn the light on.

ii I advise you to accept their offer.

iii I advised her to accept their offer.

iv Can you close that door please.

v You’re leaving already?

vi Where shall I put my coat?

vii What a senseless waste of human life it was.

viii Have a nice day.

ix Aren’t we lucky!

x Allow me to congratulate you.

The Form of Open Interrogatives

Open interrogatives are marked by the presence of one (or more) of the
interrogative words :
2. Form open interrogatives from the following declaratives, replacing the underlined phrase with a
corresponding interrogative phrase such as who, what, when, etc.

i She said something to them.

iii He sold his car to someone.

vii You first suspected he was the murderer at some time.

viii Things have changed for you in some way since last year.
In which of the following examples could who be replaced with whom in a formal style?
 Interrogatives and Questions
CLOSED vs. OPEN
Closed interrogative  closed question
Open interrogative  TYPICALLY open question (take for example: “What gear are you in?”)

ANSWER vs. RESPONSE

A response is whatever someone says as a result of being asked some question.
I might ask: Is Sue here?, and you might say I’m not sure, or Who wants to know?, or Jill told me not to tell you, or You’re
kidding!.
Those would be responses, but not answers. The question has only two answers: Yes and No

POLAR QUESTIONS vs. ALTERNATIVE QUESTIONS

In a polar question the answers are Yes and No.
An alternative question contains a coordination of elements linked by or, and the answers derive from the separate
coordinated elements.

INTERROGATIVE TAGS
The most usual construction has a reversed polarity tag: the polarity of the tag is the reverse of that
of the first clause:
3. Attach the most natural-sounding reversed polarity tags to the following
declaratives.

i You don’t know where to put it. You don’t know where to put it, do you?
ii She believes everything you say.
iii Everyone thought it was impossible.
v There is no future for us.
vi I guess all’s well that ends well.
vii You’ve got kids yourself.
viii Nobody really cares about the environment.
x I don’t suppose you’d like to go to a movie.
The following clauses are given without any final punctuation mark to avoid prejudicing things, so they
don’t conform to normal written English.

For each one,say whether it is (a) an open interrogative; (b) an exclamative; or (c) ambiguous between
open interrogative and exclamative. If your answer is (a) or (b), explain what grammatical factors make
the clause unambiguous. If your answer is (c), comment on the difference in meaning.
Chapter 15:Coordination
Please prepare the following exercises from the book at the end
of Chapter 15: ex. 6, 7 , 10, 14
Chapter 11: Subordinate
clauses
 e.g., I don’t think that those
Declarative
people had been invited

e.g., I’m unsure whether /He

Closed interrogative
asked me if..
Content clause
e.g., It’s obvious why she
Open interrogative
resigned

e.g., I remember what a

Exclamative
mess it was.
Tensed clauses

Dependents
e.g., More people came than
Comparative clause
had been invited
Tenseless clauses

e.g., He wasn’t among the

Relative clause
people who had been invited

Subordination
Instructions: Read each sentence carefully and identify the type of clause
that is highlighted. (content clause, comparative clause, or relative clause)

Example: The book, which I read yesterday, was very interesting. (Relative)
1.He ate the pizza which was covered in pepperoni and cheese.
2.I know that you are telling the truth.
3.The movie was better than I expected it to be.
4.The students, who had studied hard, did well on the test.
5.She didn't want to go to the party, which was a shame.
 e.g., I don’t think that those
Declarative
people had been invited

e.g., I’m unsure whether

Closed interrogative
/He asked me if..

e.g., It’s obvious why she

Open interrogative
resigned

e.g., I remember what a

Exclamative
mess it was.

Content clause
Read each sentence carefully and identify the type of content clause that is highlighted. Write "D"
for declarative, "CI" for closed interrogative, "OI" for open interrogative, or "E" for exclamative in
the space provided.

Example: I didn't realize that she was a doctor. (Answer: D)

1.Tell me what time it is.

2.I wonder why the sky is blue.
3.It's amazing that we get to see this beautiful sunset.
4. They asked me what we would eat today.
5.I can't believe how quickly the time has passed.
6.I didn't know that he was such a good singer.
7. I know where the car is parked
8.It's important to remember that everyone has different opinions.
9.I can’t tell whether he’s telling the truth or not.
10. Tell her what a beautiful day it is today.
 e.g., That they passed
Subject
didn’t surprise me

e.g., It didn’t surprise me

Extraposed subject
that they passed

Internal complement of e.g., I realize that you

verb feel insulted
Function : complement
e.g., You can’t ignore the
Complement of noun
fact that he was here

Complement of e.g., I’m so glad that you

Declarative
adjective could come

Complement of You can go provided that

preposition you’re careful.
Identify the function of the underlined declarative content clauses

1. It doesn’t comfort me that the movie is a big hit.

2. That Prof. Meunier loves chocolate is well known to everyone.
3. My belief that hard work pays off keeps me motivated.
4. She believed that he was innocent despite all the evidence against him.
5. I am certain that she will ace the exam.
6. I will lend you the money, provided that you pay me back by the end of the month.
7. Her concern that the project might fail was justified.
8. I am happy that you finally made it.
 e.g., That I need help is
Obligatory (subject)
clear

Inadmissible *I left before THAT he

Subordinator ‘that’
(after some prepositions) arrived

Optional e.g., I know(that) it’s

(rest of the time) genuine

Declarative
Is ‘that’ obligatory, inadmissible, or optional?

1. That you are stupid is clear.

2.He insisted that he had done nothing wrong.

3.I left before that he arrived.

4.That he is intelligent is obvious.

5. It's obvious that she's upset about something.

 I’m unsure whether
he accepted the offer
Closed interrogatives
She asked me if I’d
chair the meeting

I can’t say which

candidate spoke first
Open interrogatives

Interrogative
It’s obvious why she
resigned
Are the underlined clauses open or closed interrogative?

1. I don’t know whether the restaurant is open on Sundays.

2. I hope he can tell me how much this costs.

3. I wonder where she is right now.

4. We need to decide whether we should cancel the meeting.

5. I would like to know if you intend to participate in the debate.

6. She is trying to figure out why is he is so upset.

 e.g., What caused the delay
Subject
remains unclear

e.g., It remains unclear

Extraposed subject
what caused the delay

Internal complement of e.g., I discovered where

verb they keep the key
Complement
e.g., The question whether
Complement of noun
it’s legal was ignored

e.g., I’m not sure what we

Complement of adjective
can do about it

e.g., That depends on how

Complement of preposition
much time we have

e.g., He’ll complain,

Closed whether we meet during

Interrogative
the week or at the weekend
Supplement: adjunct
e.g., He’ll mess things up,
Open
whatever you ask him to do
 Identify the function of the underlined interrogative content clauses

1. It's unclear whether the new policy will have any real impact on the economy.
2. Whether we should move to a bigger house is something we need to discuss.
3. The issue whether they should sell the company was the main topic of discussion at
the board meeting.
4. She is still unsure about what she wants to do after graduating from college.
5. He confirmed whether the meeting was still scheduled for Thursday.
6. She doesn't know if she can attend the conference next month.
7. I’m not sure how comfortable the new couch is going to be.
8. What the weather will be like tomorrow is anyone's guess.
 e.g., What a bargain it was
Subject
hadn’t struck me yet

e.g., It’s incredible how

Extraposed subject
much he wanted to charge

Internal complement of e.g., I’d forgotten what a

Function : complement
verb fine speaker she is

Complement of e.g., She was surprised at

preposition how pale he looked.

Exclamative
e.g., She was surprised
Complement of adjective
how pale he looked.
Please also prepare exercise 1 in CH 11 in the book.