Speech Acts Literature Review
15
in Mey 2001:93 says that linguistically communication is not only based on basic unis such as symbols, words or sentences, but also the performance in
producing these units. Thus, speech acts are produced in actual language use, by people having something „in mind’.
b. Speech acts Categorization
According to Austin in Levinson 1983:236, there are three basic acts of speech acts, they are explained as follows:
1 Locutionary act
Locutionary act is the utterance of a sentence with determined sense and reference. In accordance with Austin, Cruse 2006:167 says that locutionary act
is the production of an utterance, with a particular intended structure, meaning, and reference. Furthermore, Yule 1996:48 states that the locutionary act is the
basic act of utterance which produces a meaningful linguistic expression. Similar to Yule, Cutting 2002:16 states locution is what is said by the speaker or the
form of words uttered. The act of saying those words is called locutionary act. Peccei 1999:44 says that it is the actual word forms used by speaker. In other
words, locutionary act is the speaker ’s meaningful utterance.
2 Illocutionary act
Illocutionary act is the act of making a statement, an offer, a promise, or etc. in uttering a sentence with intended force. According to Yule 1996:48, the
illocutionary act is performed via the communicative force of an utterance. People say something to make a statement, an offer, an explanation for some
communicative purposes. Cruse 2006:167 states that illocutionary act is the act
16
performed by speaker in saying something in appropriate intention and context. In accordance with Yule, Cutting 2002:16 states that illocutionary act is the action,
the function of the words, or the specific purpose of what speaker has in mind. Peccei 1999:44 says that it is what speaker is doing by uttering the words.
3 Perlocutionary act
Perlocutionary act is the effect of the speaker’s utterance on the listener. In
addition, Cutting 2002:16 states that perlocutionary act is the results of the speaker’s words or it is what is done by uttering the words. In accordance with
Cutting, Cruse 2006:168 says that it is a speech act which depends on the production of specific effect. Furthermore, Yule 1996:48 states the
perlocutionary act is the intended effect of an utterance, on the assumption that listeners will recognize the speaker
s’ intended meaning. Peccei 1999:44 says that perlocution is the real result of illocution. It is the impact on the listener or the
listener’s reaction. The example of the three basic acts from Austin above can be seen in
Peccei 1999:44 on the utterance “Give me some cash”. The locutionary act is the
speaker meaningful utterance. It implies that the speaker demands the listener to hand over some money to the himher. The illocutionary act of the utterance is the
speaker intended force or purpose. It shows that the speaker is doing an act of requesting, for listener to give himher money. The perlocutionary act is the effect
from the speaker’s utterance. The effect will be the listener’s action which she he
gives some cash to the speaker.
17
On the other hand, Searle in Peccei 1999:51 categorizes speech acts based on the relationship between the words and the world and on who is
responsible to make that relation work. The five categories of speech acts by Searle are shown below:
1 Representatives
Speaker represents eternal reality by making their words fit the world as they believe it to be. Yule 1996:53 says that it is the kind of speech acts that
states what speaker believes to be the case or not. The same view is shared by Cutting 2002:17, he states it is the act in which the words state what the speaker
believes to be the case. In addition, Levinson 1983:240 says that it commits the speaker to the truth of expressed propositions such as asserting, concluding,
describing, claiming, and insisting. The examples are as follows. a
The earth is flat. b
It was a warm sunny day. c
Chomsky did not write about peanuts. Yule 1996:53
2 Commissives
Speaker commits himherself to future act which makes the world fit their words. In addition, Levinson 1983:240 says that it is the act which commits the
speaker to some future course of action. In accordance with Levinson, Cutting 2002:17 says that commissive is the act that commits the speaker to future
action, such as promising, offering, threatening, refusing, and vowing. Yule 1996:54 says that it is the kind of speech act that speakers use to commit
themselves to some future action that can be performed by the speaker alone or by the speaker as a member of a group. The examples are as follows.
18
a We will not do that.
b I am going to get it right next time.
c I will be back.
3 Directives
Speaker directs a listener to perform some future act which will make the world fit the speaker’s words. In accordance with Searle, Yule 1996:54 says that
directive is the kind of speech acts which a speaker uses to get someone else to do something. In other words, it expresses what a speaker wants. The same view is
also shared by Levinson 1983:240 who says that directives are the acts performed by the speaker to get the listener to do something. The examples of
directive act are requesting, questioning, ordering, suggesting, and commanding. In addition, Cruse 2006:168 says that directives are the acts which are used to
order someone to act in a certain way. The examples are as follows. a
Gimme a cup of coffee. Make it black. b
Coul you lend me a pen, please? c
Don’t touch that. Yule 1996:54
4 Expressives
Expressive is the act that represents the speaker ’s feeling by making
hisher words represent hisher inner psychological world. It refers to the listener or other aspects of the world. In accordance with Searle, Griffiths 2006:152
states that expressives are used to express a psychological state about a presupposed proposition. The proposition concerns with something which had
been done by the listener or the object that being the topic. Levinson 1983:240 says that it expresses a psychological state such as thanking, apologizing,
welcoming, and congratulating. In addition, Yule 1996:53 says that it is the kind
19
of speech act that states what the speakers feel. It expresses a psychological state of pleasure, pain, likes, dislikes, joy, or sorrow. It may be caused by something
the speaker does or listener does, but it is about the speaker’s experience. The examples are presented as follows.
a I am really sorry
b Congratulations
c It hurts
5 Declarations
Declaration is the act of uttering the words that change the world. It requires the speaker to have authority to perform this act. According to Levinson
1983:240, declaration act is the act which affects immediate changes on the institutional state of affair such as christening, declaring a war, and firing from
employment. In addition, Cruse 2006:169 says that it is the act which produces a change of some sort in the world. Furthermore, Yule 1996:53 says it is the kind
of speech act that changes the world via utterances. These are the examples of declarations.
a Priest: I now pronounce you husband and wife.
b Referee: You are out
c Jury Foreman: We find the defender guilty.
c. Felicity Conditions
Cutting 2002:18 states that speech acts need certain circumstances in order to make them performed appropriately and successfully. These conditions
are called felicity conditions. Yule 1996:50 states that in every day context, there exist pre-conditions on speech acts, they are general conditions and content
conditions. General conditions are the conditions where participants understand
20
the language being used and they are not acting or being nonsensical. Content conditions are related to the contents of an utterance. For instance, if the utterance
is a promise and warning both contents must be about future event. Searle in Geis 1995:6 categorizes the felicity conditions into four types.
They are preparatory conditions, sincerity conditions, propositional content conditions, and essential conditions. It is an example of the felicity conditions of
request. The propositional content condition of request is the future action of the listener. The preparatory condition of the request
is the listener’s ability to do the action and the speaker believes that the listener is able to do it. In occasion, it is
not clear for both speaker and listener that listener will do the action requested. The sincerity condition of the request is that the listener is willing to do the action
requested. The essential condition is the attempt of the listener to do the action. d.
Type of Speech Acts Based on How They Are Delivered There are other ways in analyzing speech acts by distinguishing the types
of speech acts on the basis of their structure. Those are direct and indirect speech acts.
According to Yule 1996:54, whenever there is a direct relationship between a structure and a function, it is called direct speech act. In addition,
Searle in Cutting 2002:19 says that speakers who use direct speech acts want to communicate the literal meaning of the words expressed. It means that there is a
direct relationship between form and function. An example of direct speech act is contained in the utterance
“it is cold outside”. In this case, the speech act belongs
21
to the representative act of describing, since it describes the current condition outside the place is winter and snowy.
Meanwhile, indirect speech acts occur when there are indirect relationships between the form and function Yule, 1996:55. Furthermore, Searle in Peccei
1999:55 says that indirect speech acts are speech acts which are performed indirectly through performance of another speech acts, even though the surface
form looks like particular direct speech acts. In this case, the felicity condition is obviously violated. At the same time, one or more real felicity condition of the
underlying act has been questioned or mentioned by the locution to give a hint as a true illocutionary force.