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deep understanding, but also the closest interpretation of what the utterances actually imply.
2.2.3. Perlocutionary Acts
According to Yule 1996:48, we surely do not produce utterances with a function without intending it to have an effect. This is the third dimension which is
called as perlocutionary act. Perlocutionary act deals with the fact that people utter something to cause somebody to sense the effect as intended by the speakers.
For instance: “The food is horribly spicy My mouth is burnt” The statement above, when uttered by the speaker, might cause other people
around the speaker to bring him a glass of cold water. This is what we call as perlocutionary effect, which is the effect on the listeners as intended by the speakers.
When we utter something and the utterance has an effect to the listener, one of which causes them to react upon the utterance by doing something, it means that
the utterance has a perlocutionary effect to the listener.
2.3. Speech Events
To perform a speech act means that we do it under a certain circumstance. All speech acts are mostly connected to the circumstance when the speech is spoken.
This is what we call as a speech event. Speech event is the circumstance or the condition at the time one produces speech act. Speech events are strongly necessary
to be considered when analysing speech act simply because it influences how one interprets the speech act.
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For example: Z: The light is on
The statement above can be interpreted differently, depending on the condition when it is spoken. When it is spoken by people who are ready to have
some sleep, then it might imply that they are requesting for the light to be turned off. Meanwhile, when the sentence is spoken after hours of blackout, it could show the
gladness of the speaker that the light is finally on. Yule 1996:57 states that becoming aware of speech event is important since
it will help us arrive at some outcome when interacting via language. The speech event can also be categorised as the kinds of impression when an utterance is spoken.
For instance: “I thoroughly dislike that song” The statement above is categorised as the speech event of complaining. It is
not necessarily hard to decode what it actually means and signifies. However, Yule 1996:57 then states that sometimes other utterances can be spoken in order to lead
up to some outcome, without focusing the utterances on the central aspect of particular speech events.
Anna : I am glad we have a chance to meet today, Davin. Davin : Me too. What’s up anyway?
Anna : Oh, uhm, the iPhone that I bought last month can’t function well. Davin : Did it ever fall?
Anna : It did, once. But it didn’t show any damage at that time. Davin : Then why do you think it can’t function now?
Anna : I’ve got no idea. I really don’t understand about gadgets.
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Davin : What type of iPhone do you own? Anna : It’s iPhone 5s. Do you have some leisure time?
Davin : Sure thing Anna : Oh, thanks a lot.
In the conversation above, Anna is indirectly asking Davin to help her fix her broken phone. We can see that there is actually no words that signify request from
Anna. By asking, “Do you have some leisure time?”, Anna essentially has used pre- request statement, allowing Davin to say that he is busy or he cannot help Anna at
the moment. In this context,Davin saying “Sure thing” is taken as an acknowledgment that he does not only have some leisure time, but is also willing to
help Anna even though there is no direct request from her.
2.4. Speaker
