SPEECH ACTS

Saying as Doing

See R. Nofsinger, Everyday Conversation, Sage, 1991

 AN ORDINARY VERBAL
EXCHANGE

Would you like half

of my lobster?
It’s huge.

No, thanks. I’m full.

 SPEECH ACT THEORY

Let’s explore what went on between

Bill and John in the exchange above.
And let’s not forget Mary.
According to Speech Act Theory,
A number of things happened
Bill said something (“Would you like half of my
lobster?”) to John

Bill spoke a meaningful utterance in a language

What Bill said asked a question (syntax)

What Bill said had some meaning associated with the

words in the utterance, e.g., “you” referred to John;
“lobster” referred to the food on Bill’s plate
According to Speech Act Theory
 More things happened
– Bill offered John some of his lobster
– John rejected the offer
– John gave a reason for rejecting the offer
– John expressed his gratitude for the offer
– Bill’s offer had the effect (perlocutionary act)
of John’s feeling like Bill likes him
– Bill’s offer had the effect of Mary’s feeling left
out
According to Speech Act Theory

•Bill’s utterance contained a number of propositions.

•Bill felt relieved that John turned down his offer,

because he really wanted the whole lobster

And more--would you like to speculate on what else

went on in this exchange?
 HOW DO RECIPIENTS OF AN
UTTERANCE KNOW WHAT SPEECH ACT
THE SPEAKER IS DOING?

 They know what the rules are for a

particular speech act
– constitutive rules
– regulative rules
 They know the context of the utterance
– cultural
– social
– personal
– physical Speech Act Families
Constitutive Rules

Constitutive rules define an event. For instance, each

piece in a chess game is allowed to move in certain
ways and to capture in certain ways as defined by the
rules of the game of chess.

This type of rule is what is being called a constitutive

rule.

The rules make the event mean a certain thing or

count as a certain thing, e.g., putting a basketball through
the hoop counts as a score, one point, two points, three
points, depending on where the shot is taken from.
MORE ON
CONSTITUTIVE RULES
Can you think of other examples?
Conventional Foundations (Conditions)
Constitute Speech Acts (constitutive rules)

For an utterance to work properly as a particular speech

act, certain characteristics must be present in the
communicative situation, such as the occurrence of
particular beliefs and intentions.

That the speaker and hearer are using the same language,
they can hear one another. For a promise, e.g., that the
speaker says something about the speaker’s future behavior,
that the hearer can infer that the speaker believes he/she is
able to perform the behavior, and more.
Regulative Rules
Rules that constrain when and where we may do a particular
act. Greetings, e.g., should be done when people first make
contact (not in the middle of the conversation).

Initial greetings should be returned (answered).

Regulative rules are social norms.

Imagination
 Let’s explore via speculation some possible
contexts for this conversational excerpt.

 Please offer some possible scenarios

Speech Act Families
 Commissives
 Directives
 Assertives
 Expressives
 Declarations
 Commissives

A commissive is an utterance that commits the speaker to

some future behavior.

For example, a promise commits the speaker to future

behavior, as does an offer, making a vow, taking a
pledge, giving a guarantee.
Directives
 The purpose of a directive is to get the
recipient to do something.
 Examples of directives are:
– requests
– commands
– suggestions
– giving permission
Assertives
 The purpose of assertives is to display the
speaker’s belief in the propositional content
of the utterance.
– E.g., Bill has displayed his belief in the
proposition, “This [sandwich] is huge.”
 Assertives include:
– statements, descriptions, assertions, predictions,
speculations
Expressives
 Expressions of the speaker’s psychological
state about something (an event, an object, a
behavior, or whatever) that has to do with
either the speaker or the recipient.
– E.g., compliments, apologies, welcomes, and
thanks
Declarations
 When a properly authorized speaker performs a
declaration under the proper conditions (as defined
not only by pragmatic language conventions, but
also by the rules of the particular institution
involved), such a “successful performance
guarantees that the propositional content
corresponds to the world” (Searle, 1979, p. 17).
– E.g., “You’re fired” uttered by the boss to an
employee--the employee is thereby fired