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Types of Speech Act

This document discusses speech acts and their classification. It defines speech acts as utterances used to achieve intended effects like apologies, greetings, or requests. There are three types of acts in every utterance: locutionary acts are the utterance itself, illocutionary acts are the social function or purpose, and perlocutionary acts are the resulting effects based on context. John Searle later classified illocutionary acts into five categories - assertives that express beliefs, directives that try to make others act, commissives that commit the speaker to future acts, expressives that share feelings, and declarations that bring about external changes.

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Hanna Christelle Caragay
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60 views

Types of Speech Act

This document discusses speech acts and their classification. It defines speech acts as utterances used to achieve intended effects like apologies, greetings, or requests. There are three types of acts in every utterance: locutionary acts are the utterance itself, illocutionary acts are the social function or purpose, and perlocutionary acts are the resulting effects based on context. John Searle later classified illocutionary acts into five categories - assertives that express beliefs, directives that try to make others act, commissives that commit the speaker to future acts, expressives that share feelings, and declarations that bring about external changes.

Uploaded by

Hanna Christelle Caragay
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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TYPES OF

SPEECH ACT
DEFINITION OF
SPEECH ACTS
It 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 apology,
greeting, request, complaint, invitation,
compliment, or refusal.
A speech act might contain just
one word or several words or
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.
THREE TYPES OF
SPEECH ACT
According to J.L Austin (1962), a
philosopher of language and the
developer of the speech act Theory,
there are three types of acts in every
utterance, given the right
circumstances or context.
LOCUTIONARY ACT
It is the actual of uttering.

“Please do the dishes.”


ILLOCUTIONAR
Y ACT
It 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.
PERLOCUTIONAR
Y ACT
It 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.
PERFORMATIVE
S
These are statements which enable the speaker to
perform something 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.
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 acts 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 so 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 declarations are blessing, firing,
baptizing, bidding, passing a sentence, 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.

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