peech-Act Theory

What is Speech Act?

• In linguistics, a speech act is an utterance defined in
terms of a speaker’s intention and the effect it has on a
listener.
• It is the action that the speaker hopes to provoke in his
or her audience.
Proponent
• Introduced in 1975 
• Oxford philosopher J.L. Austin  in "How to Do Things With
Words“
• Developed by American philosopher J.R. Searle. 
• Considers three levels or components of utterances:
Locutionary acts
Illocutionary acts 
Perlocutionary
Locutionary Act 
• the actual words uttered
• Two types:
Utterance Acts
Proposition Acts
Illocutionary Act
• the force or intention behind the words
• According to Searle (1979) there are five general classification to
classify the functions or illocutionary of speech acts;
-Assertives
-Directives
-Commisives
-Expressives
-Declaratives
• Assertives:
They commit the speaker to something being the case.
The different kinds are: suggesting, putting forward,
swearing, boasting, concluding.
Ex. “No one paints better than me.”
• Directives:
Makes the addressee perform an action, The different
kinds are: ordering, requesting, inviting, advising,
begging.
Ex. “May I borrow your pen?”
• Commisives:
Commits the speaker to do something in the future. The different kinds are:
promising, planning, vowing, betting, and opposing.
Ex. “I am going to Cebu tomorrow”
• Expressives:
Expresses how a speaker feels in a certain situation. The different kinds are:
thanking, apologizing, welcoming, and deploring.
Ex. “I am sorry for disappointing you.”
• Declarations:
Changes the state of the world in an immediate way. The different kinds are:
Blessing, firing, bidding, passing a sentence, and excommunicating.
Ex. “You are fired!”
Perlocutionary Act
• Have an effect on the feelings, thoughts or actions of either the
speaker or the listener.

Example:
If someone shouts 'fire' and by that act causes people to exit a
building which they believe to be on fire, they have performed
the perlocutionary act of convincing other people to exit the
building.
 Speech Act

Locutionary Perlocutionary

Illocutionary