Definition of Speech

Act
 A speech act is an utterance that a
speaker makes to achieve an intended effect.
Some of the functions which are carried out
using speech acts are offering an
a p o l o g y, g r e e t i n g , r e q u e s t , c o m p l a i n t , i n v i t a t i o n ,
compliment,or refusal. A speech act might
contain just one word or several words
sentences. For example "Thanks" and "Thank
you for always being there for me. I really
appreciate it" both show appreciation
regardless of the length of the statement.
A Searle's Classification of Speech Act

As a response to Austin's Speech Act Theory, John

Searle (1976),a professor from the University of
California,Berkeley, classified illocutionary act into five
distinct categories.
Assertive

A type of illocutionary act in which the speaker

expresses belief about the truth of a
proposition. Some examples of an assertive act are
suggesting, putting forward, swearing boasting,and
concluding
Example:

No one makes better pancakes than I do.

 Directive

A type of illocutionary act in which the speaker tries to

make the addressee perform an action. Some examples
of a directive act are asking,ordering, requesting, inviting,
advising,and begging.
Example:

Please close the door.

Commissive

A type of illocutionary act which commits the speaker to

doing something in the future. Examples of a commissive
act are promising,planning,vowing,and betting.
Example:

From now on, I will participate in our group

activity.
Expressive

A type of illocutionary act in which the speaker expresses

his/her feelings or emotional reactions. Some examples of an
expressive act are thanking, apologizing, welcoming,and
deploring
Example:

I am sorry for not helping out in our group

projects and letting you do all the work.
Declaration

A type of illocutionary act which brings a change in the

external situation. Simply put, declarations bring into
existence or cause the state of affairs which they refer to.
Some examples of diclarations are blessing firing,
baptizing, bidding, passing a sentences and
excommunicating
 Example:

You are fired!

By saying that someone is fired,an employer causes or

brings about the person's unemployment, thus changing
his external situation.
Always keep in mind that speech acts
include concrete life interactions that
require the appropriate use of language
within a given culture. Communicative
competence (i.e..,the ability to use
linguistic knowledge to effectively
communicate with others)is essential for a
speaker to be able to use and understand
speech acts,Idioms and other nuances in a
certain language might be lost or
misunderstood by someone who does not
fully grasp the language yet.
Three Types of Speech Act

According to S.L. Austin (1962),a philosopher of language and the

developer of the Speech Act Theory,there are Three Types of Speech Acts
in every utterance,given the right circumstances or context.
 These are:
• Locutionary act is the actual act of uttering.
"Please do the dishes"
•Illocutionary act is the
social function of what is
said.
By uttering the locution "Please do the dishes", the
speaker requests the addressee to wash the
dishes.
•Perlocutionary act is
the resulting act of what is
said. This effect is based
on the particular context in
which the speech act was
mentioned.
"Please do the dishes" would lead to the
addressee washing the dishes.
There are also indirect speech act which occur when
there is no direct connection between the form of the
utterance and the intended meaning. They are
different in force (i.e.., intention) from the inferred
speech act.
 For example,read the following
utterance.

"Can you pass the rice?"

Inferred speech act:Do you have the ability to hand over

the rice?
Indirect speech: Please pass the rice
So while the utterance literally asks the addressee if
he or she has the ability to hand a plate of rice, it
actually indirectly requests the addressee to pass the
rice to the speaker.
 Performatives
Austin also introduced the concept of performative
utterances: statements which enable the speaker to
perform some thing just by stating it. In this manner, verbs
that execute the speech act that they intend to effect are
called performatives. A performative utterance said by the
right person under the right circumstances results in a
change in the world. Note that certain conditions have to
be met when making a performative utterance.
For example,the phrase "I now
announce you husband and wife",
when uttered by an authorized
person such as a judge will have the
actual effect of binding a couple in
marriage. However,if the same
statement is uttered to the same
couple in the same place by
someone who is not authorized to
marry them-as in the case of the
accompanying picture, a robot - then
there is no effect whatsoever
because a condition was not met.