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HI-LING
LINGUISTICS IN THE HIGH SCHOOL
Lesson 3: Speech Acts
Definition:
Speech acts are linguistic utterances that, in addition to conveying information, can also achieve a certain effect and thereby perform an action themselves.
Key Concepts
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Speech Acts
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Performative Words
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Direct Speech Acts
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Indirect Speech Acts
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Locutionary Act
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Illocutionary Act
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Perlocutionary Act
UNIT 1: DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH ACTS
When we express ourselves linguistically, it is often to convey information or to make statements. We do this by describing conventional facts, such as: Water freezes when a temperature of max. 0°C is reached. Statements of this kind can be recognized by the fact that they can be classified as true or false. We can therefore judge the latter utterance either as true “yes, that is right”, or false “no, that is not right”. Nevertheless, we can do much more with language than just describe or claim: we can act with language. When a linguistic utterance becomes an action, we call it a speech act. Such utterances can be triggered by performative words or certain forms of expression. Performative words describe a section embedded in several word groups – in most cases within verbs. Those so-called performatives embody an action within their expression. Examples are: promise, swear, bet, warn etc. Putting these at use, with the statement I promise that I will be home before midnight! one automatically commits oneself to an action, i.e. with the announcement of the promise, the action is already accomplished. Performative statements can also be recognized by the fact that they can neither be described as true nor as false. So, if someone says to you I promise that I will be home before midnight!, you cannot reply That's not true, you don't promise me that, because the person has already promised you with their statement, regardless of whether they will keep or break their promise in the future.
Besides verbs, other word groups can also include performatives: I hereby sentence you to three years in prison. The word hereby takes on a formal and performative role and is used to declare a sentence as valid. The necessary condition is that the person speaking has the official authority and permission to perform the act of sentencing someone to a punishment. This kind of speech act is only successful if the above criterion is met. For instance, if that very judgment was to be expressed by an industrial worker to their superior, the speech act would be considered unsuccessful, due to the speaker’s lack of valid authority. On the other hand, if a judge uttered this statement at the end of a court case, the judgement would be considered valid.
Speech acts can also occur when certain forms of expression are used. This refers to expressions such as commands, wishes, questions or threats etc. The following example shows two utterances that can be classified as speech acts due to their forms of expression.
(1) Enno, leave the room!
(2) If Enno leaves the room, I will leave too.
Both examples are about a person named Enno, and it is reported in both cases that Enno might leave the room. Despite sharing common clues, the two statements have a different effect and imply different actions. While the first sentence represents a clear command, the second utterance embodies a threat. It is likely that the result of both is that Enno will leave the room. In statement (2), however, another person, namely the one uttering the threat, will leave the room together with Enno. Thus, the form of expression causes different actions and reactions.
Basically, we distinguish between direct and indirect speech acts. The former express exactly what they mean, i.e. they reflect what is to be achieved. The latter, on the other hand, carry an indirect statement in addition to the linguistic utterance. Let us consider this issue by means of an example, where (a) and (b) represent two possible speech acts, each of which could occur independently in the situation described:
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Class 4B is sitting in a classroom. It is snowing outside and Mika opens the window to let in some fresh air. In response, Toni calls out:
(a) Close the window, it's cold!
(b) Brrrr! It's so cold!
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By means of statement (a), it is directly and unmistakably expressed that Toni is freezing and therefore the window should be closed. Statement (b), on the other hand, expresses primarily that Toni feels cold. From the context, and thus as an indirect request, we understand that Toni intends with his exclamation to get Mika to close the window again. Thus, it becomes clear that indirect speech acts are also actions and can trigger an associated reaction.
Activity 1
Pair Work
Below, you can see situations with direct and indirect speech acts.
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Work alone: For each picture, think of the complementary speech act. Be aware that several solutions might be correct. Try to think of the context in which the speech acts may also appear and then think about further examples of direct/indirect speech acts and write them down.
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Work in pairs: compare your answers with the person next to you and exchange your ideas concerning the possible further situations in which the speech acts might occur. Ask one other about the direct or indirect speech act of your self-created examples.
Did you finish the exercise? Direct Speech Act–Indirect Speech Act Leave me alone and mind your own business! – Don't you have anything better to do? Could you please buy some? – Grandpa, there’s no more milk in the fridge! Rachel, help me hang the laundry! – The laundry won’t hang itself! The windows are very dusty, you definitely have to clean them! – The windows are so dusty, I can hardly see what’s outside! Open the window! – I can hardly breathe in here! Put your cell phone away, we're at the dinner table where phones are not allowed! – We’re at the dinner table!
UNIT 2: THE THREE SUB-ACTS
Now we know what speech acts are and how they can occur in everyday life. We learned that speech acts themselves are actions and that they entail a reaction. In this unit, we will examine the relationship between linguistic utterance of a speech act and the action it triggers. For this purpose, we use a scheme consisting of three acts, which eventually form a complete speech act. At the beginning of each speech act is the locutionary act. This act is considered representative of the fact that something is uttered at all, namely the pure linguistic utterance. We can apply this to the already discussed example (b) Brrrr! It’s so cold! The locutionary act would be Toni making this exclamation, i.e., the formation of words that is put together to make meaning .
A locutionary act cannot stand alone, but is always accompanied by an illocutionary act. This second act is often considered the most important of the three sub-acts, namely because the illocutionary act reveals the unspoken message that is understood from the context of the situation, the social environment, and the social norms related to the linguistic utterance. Sounds rather complicated, though it is not, we can assure you. If we take our example to help us understand, we can determine the following aspects regarding the context: The window is open, it is snowing outside → so it must be cold in the classroom. Toni says he is cold and we conclude that he wants to express that the window should be closed. For we know from the situational context that the window has been opened by Mika. With his exclamation, Toni not only intends to say that he is freezing, but he also indirectly asks Mika to close the window. It is precisely this indirectness, which we have already discussed in Unit 1, that is found in the illocutionary act, namely the unspoken that is communicated within an indirect statement.
The third and final sub-act is the so-called perlocutionary act. This is the result of a completed illocutionary act, i.e. the reaction upon or the result of a speech act. Looking at our example, the perlocutionary act stands for the consequence that Mika will probably close the window, due to Toni's exclamation (b) Brrrr! It's so cold!. With this result, the third part of a speech act is accomplished and the whole speech act is completed.
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If we put this into a summary, the three sub-acts can be described as follows:
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Applied to the example discussed, we can conclude with the following table:
(b) Brrrr! It’s so cold!
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Form groups of four and distribute numbers 1–4 among the participants (each person has a number). Briefly discuss what you have just read and help each other in case something is unclear.
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Afterwards, each person thinks of a new situation or speech act and breaks down the statement into the three sub-acts in writing (locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary act).
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When everyone is ready, person 1 expresses their speech act, person 2 determines its locutionary act, person 3 its illocutionary act and person 4 the corresponding perlocutionary act. Briefly discuss if you agree, otherwise outline differences and listen to all opinions. Next, person 2 expresses their example and the sub-acts shift by one. (Person 3 describes the locutionary act, person 4 the illocutionary act etc.) Continue until every person has presented their speech act.
Activity 2
Group Work
Sources
Hoffmann, L., & Searle, J. R. (2019). Was ist ein Sprechakt? In Sprachwissenschaft Ein Reader (pp. 174–193). essay, De Gruyter.
Hornberger, N. H., & McKay, S. L. (1996). Sociolinguistics and language teaching. Cambridge Univ. Press.
Levinson, S. C. (2013). Speech acts. In Pragmatics (pp. 226–278). chapter, Cambridge University Press.
Pfister, J. (2021). Texte zur Sprachphilosophie. Reclam.
Saeed, J. (2016). Functions of Language: Speech as Action. In Semantics (pp. 229–252). chapter, Wiley Blackwell.