Speech Acts Definition of speech acts

Speech ActsDefinition of speech acts • A speech act is a functional unit in communication (Cohen, A.D.) • It’s an act that a speaker performs when making an utterance(def. from LinguaLink website) According to Austin’s theory of speech acts (1962), utterances have three kinds of meaning. • Propositional/locutionary: literal meaning of an utterance • Illocutionary meaning: particular intention in making the utterance • Perlocutionary force: production of a particular effect in the addressee

Speech Acts Model

Speech Act Classification 1- DECLARATIONS: speech acts that change the world via an utterance. The speaker has to have a specific role, in a specific context, in order to perform a declaration appropiately. • “I now pronounce you husband and wife” (Priest) • “You’re out” (referee)

2- REPRESENTATIVES: speech acts that state what the speaker believes to be the case or not. Statements of fact, assertions, conclusions, descriptions, etc. • “The Earth is flat.” • “Chomsky didn’t write about peanuts”.

3- EXPRESSIVES: speechactsthatstatewhatthe speaker feels. They express psychological states and can be statements of pleasure, pain, likes, dislikes, joy, or sorrow. • “I’m really sorry!” • “Congratulations!”

4- DIRECTIVES: speechactsusedtogetsomeoneelseto do sth. They express what the speaker wants. They are: commands, orders, requests, suggestions. They can be positive or negative. • “Gimme a cup of coffee. Make it black”. • “Don’t touch that”. • “Could you lend me a pen, please?”

5- COMMISSIVES: speechactsusedbyspeakerstocommitthemselvestosomefutureaction. They are: promises, threats, refusals, pledges, etc. • “ I’ll be back”. • “We are going to get it right next time.” • “We won’t do that”.

DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH ACTS • DIRECT: when there’s a direct relationship between the structure (declarative, interrogative, imperative) and its communicative function (statement, question, commnad/request.) • INDIRECT: Indirect relation between the structure and function.

Example of indirect speech acts: • “Move out of the way!” – (the only direct command.) • “Do you have to stand in front of the T.V?”(A question functioning as an indirect command) • “You’re standing in front of the T.V!”.( a declarative functioning as an indirect request)

IMPLICATURE

I. Definition • The term “Implicature” accounts for what a speaker can imply, suggest or mean, as distinct from what the speaker literally says. (Grice,1975) • Implicature is one of the ways that one proposition can be conveyed by a speaker uttering or under appropriate.

II. Types of implicature 1. Conversational implicature: => derives from the cooperative principle of conversation and a number of maxims expected to be followed by participants in a speech event. Example: A: Would you prefer coffee or tea? B:I like coffee.

1.2. Generalized implicature • Definition: - is a conversational implicature that is inferable without reference to a special context. ( no special knowledge is required to figure out the additional meaning) => It means that a generalized conversational implicature is one which does not depend on particular features of the context, but is instead typically associated with the proposition expressed.

Generalized implicature Example 1: A: Did you send a message to Tu and Thu? B: I sent a message to Tu. Example 2: The leader asked a staff:- How do you feel about Nam these days?- He usually goes out late at night with someone who has a husband.- That’s so bad ... Do you know who that woman is?- Yes. She is his wife.

1.3. Scalar implicature • Certain information is always communicated by choosing a word which expressed one value from a scale of value => The basic of scalar implicature is that when any form in a scale is asserted, the negative of all forms higher on the scale is implicated • This is particularly obvious in terms for expressing quantity

Scalar implicature Example: • The teacher, all of us have flu, so we are absent from school. Um, actually, some of us has flu, the other takes care of the illness person • Bill has got some of Chomsky’s papers => Bill hasn’t got all of Chomsky’s papers • There will be five of us for dinner tonight • I like Mary. She is intelligent and good-hearted

1.4. Particularized implicatures Definition: A particularized conversational implicature occurs when a conversation takes place in a very specific context in which locally recognized inferences are assumed.

Particularized implicatures Example: - Where is my book? - Your young sister is drawing something. =>The action “draw” of young sister would ordinarily not convey anything about her book, so implicature in this case depends on the context as well as the utterance itself.

2.Conventionalimplicature: - not based on the cooperative principle or the maxims. - not have to occur in conversation - not depend on special contexts for their interpretation. - associated with specific words and result in additional conveyed meanings when those words are used.

*Some words are expressions for conventional implicature: -“but”: “A but B” will be based on the relationship between A and B and an implicature of contrast between the information in A and B. Example: Mary is crying but she is happy. =>”Mary is crying” is contrast to “she is happy”

-“even”: implicature of contrast of “contrary to expectation” Example: David even helped the old woman to go home. =>David is not expected to help the old woman but he did.

-“yet”: the present situation is expected to be different, perhaps the opposite, at a later time. Example: Mum has not gone home yet. =>negation of this sentence is “Mum went home”. So “mum went home” is expected to be true later.

Conclusion • Accidentally or intentionally, the statement can create many implicatures and impacts on many people. At the same time, the troubles in conversation and the cases "one pulls one way, the other pulls the other way” occur.

Speech Acts Definition of speech acts