which is that ‘you’ will leave the room. The first utterance has the illocutionary force of a prediction while the latter has the illocutionary force of an order.
The distinction between illocutionary force and propositional content is supported by the fact that their identity conditions are also different. The same
propositional content can occur with different illocutionary forces and the same illocutionary force can occur with different propositional content. By recognizing and
identifying the force of an utterance, the illocutionary act of the utterance can be delivered successfully. Hence, the role of illocutionary force in determining the types
and functions of illocutionary act is vital.
b. Illocutionary Force
On many occasions, one single utterance can potentially have quite various intentions. In identifying the certain intention that a speaker tries to deliver using his
or her utterance, the hearer needs to identify the illocutionary force of the utterance. When the hearer has recognized the illocutionary force of the utterance, the intention
can be acknowledged successfully. The study of illocutionary act is mainly focused on the illocutionary force of the
utterances. Illocutionary force is the speaker’s involvement in what is uttered Mey, 1993: 156. When a speaker performs an utterance in an appropriate context with
certain intention, he or she also performs one or more illocutionary acts Searle and Vanderveken, 1985: 1.
The illocutionary force of an utterance can be identified using seven Illocutionary Force Indicating Devices or IFID invented by Searle 1969 the mood of the verb,
punctuation, word-order, intonation contour, stress, and performative verbs. The example on how the IFID is realized in a conversation is presented below.
Him : Can I talk to Mary? Her : No, she’s not here.
Him : I’m asking you –can I talk to her? Her
: And I’m telling you –she’s not here Yule, 1996: 50
In the conversation above, each speaker has performed illocutionary act of asking and telling by drawing the illocutionary forces of ‘ask’ and ‘tell’ in each of their
utterances. Illocutionary force can be present in many forms, depending on the contexts in which the illocutionary act is performed.
c. The Types of Illocutionary Act
Searle 1975:11-17 classifies illocutionary act based on varied criteria as the following:
1 Declarative
According to Yule 1996: 53, declarative act is the type of speech act that change the world via the word. It affects immediate changes in some current state of
affairs. The speaker has to have a special institutional role, in a specific context, in order to perform a declaration appropriately such as bidding in bridge, declaring war,
excommunicating, firing from employment, and nominating a candidate. The examples of declarative act are presented below.
a Priest
: I now pronounce you husband and wife. b
Referee : You’re out
Yule, 1996: 53 The first example can constitute a declaration of marriage if the utterance is
spoken by an appropriate authority, such as a Catholic priest. On the other hand, the same sentence, if it is spoken by an eight year old kid, cannot constitute a felicitous
declarative act. The second example can also be regarded as a declaration if the utterance is spoken by a referee. It is spoken to declare that a player of the match is
out of the game. Searle and Vanderveken 1985: 205 indicate that declarative forces can be
present in many forms such as declaring, approving, endorsing, excommunicating, naming, christening, resigning, firing, abbreviating, and blessing. The language
features that indicate declarative acts are verbs such as declare, approve, endorse, excommunicate, name, christen, resign, fire, abbreviate, and bless.
2 Representative
Representative act represents some state of affairs. According to Yule 1996: 53, representative act is the type of speech act that states what the speaker believes to be
the case or not. They express the speaker’s belief. Statement of fact, assertion, conclusions, and description are some examples of the speaker representing the world
as he or she believes it. For examples: a
The earth is flat. b
It was a warm sunny day. Yule, 1996: 53
