Remember:
 Pragmatics
is
the
study
of
the
relationships between linguistic forms and
the USERS of those forms.
 In the three-part distinction (syntaxsemantics-pragmatics)
only
pragmatics
allows humans into the analysis.
 i.e., pragmatics is the study of speaker
meaning as distinct from word meaning or
sentence meaning.
SPEECH ACTS
 In
attempting to express themselves,
people do not only produce utterances
containing grammatical structures and
words, they PERFORM ACTIONS via those
utterances.
 If you work in a situation where a boss
has a great deal of power, then his
utterance of the expression:
“You’re fired!”
is more than just a statement.
It can actually be used to perform the act
of ending your employment!
Words not only say, they do!





“You’re so delicious.”
compliment
“You’re welcome.”
“You’re crazy!”
acknowledgement of thanks
surprise
“I’ll do it.”
“I’m sorry.”
promise
apology
SPEECH ACTS
 Speech
acts express the speaker’s
communicative intention in saying what
he is saying.
 The speaker normally expects that
his/her communicative intention will be
recognized by the hearer.
 Both speaker and hearer are helped in
this process by the circumstances
surrounding the utterance.
 These circumstances, including other
utterances, are called speech event.
(1) “This tea is really cold!”
 On
a wintry day, the speaker reaches for
a cup of tea, believing that it has been
freshly made, takes a sip and says (1)
complaint
 Changing
the circumstances to a really hot
summer’s day with the speaker being given
a glass of iced tea by the hearer, taking
a sip and saying (1)
praise
(2)
“I’ve just made some coffee”
1) Locutionary act (what the speaker says):
(2) is a meaningful well-formed utterance
2) Illocutionary act/force (what the speaker does when
uttering a sentence):
We produce utterances with some kind of function in
mind, for some communicative purposes. (2) can be a
statement, an offer, an explanation, etc.
N.B. Illocutions are acts defined by social conventions
3) Perlocutionary act/effect (the creation – intentional or
not – of some effect in the hearer):
Saying (2) we want the hearer to account for a
wonderful smell or to get him/her to drink some.
(Austin 1962)
(3) “I’ll see you later”

(3) a.
“I predict that …”
prediction

(3) b.
“I promise you that …”
promise

(3) c.
“I warn you that …”
warning
Same sentence, different illocutionary force
“Do I hear a noise?”
The sentence above may be used:
1. by a teacher as a reprimand
2. by somebody listening to a violinist
practicing on his/her instrument as an insult
3. by somebody caught in the deafening roar
of an airplane taking off as an ironic
statement
4. as a genuine request of information
Examples of felicitous illocutionary acts
Examples of infelicitous illocutionary acts
SPEECH ACTS
CLASSIFICATION (1)
 1.
REPRESENTATIVES (or ASSERTIVES):
“The sky is blue.”
“Pavese didn’t write about peanuts.”
“It was a warm sunny day.”





Representatives state what the speaker believes
to be the case or not.
They are:
Statements of fact
Assertions
Conclusions
Descriptions
SPEECH ACTS
CLASSIFICATION (1)











Would the main purpose of making the following
assertions normally be simply to describe some existing
state of affairs in the world?
(1)
No
(2)
No
(3)
No
(4)
No
(5)
No
"There is a wasp in your left ear"
(to warn the hearer of the danger of being stung)
"Someone has broken the space-bar on my typewriter"
(to complain about the danger)
"This gun is loaded"
(as a warning during a robbery)
"You are a fool"
(to insult the hearer, to tease a friend)
"I love you"
(to please or reassure the hearer)
SPEECH ACTS
CLASSIFICATION (2)
 2.
DIRECTIVES:
“Give me a cup of coffee. Make it black.”
“Could you lend me a pen, please?”
“Don’t touch that.”
“You must do it!”
“Shall we go to the cinema tonight?”
DIRECTIVES are those kinds of speech acts
that speakers use to get someone else to
do something.
 They are commands, orders, requests,
suggestions.
An example from a very funny movie:
Put the candle back! (Young Frankenstein, 1974)
SPEECH ACTS
CLASSIFICATION (3)
 3.
COMMISSIVES:
“I’ll be back.”
“I’m going to get it right next time.”
“We will not do that.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll do it for you.”
COMMISSIVES are
those kinds of speech
acts that speakers use to commit
themselves to some future action.
 They are promises, threats, refusals,
pledges.
An example from a very famous movie:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygQv
B6OjHOU&feature=related
I
must break you!
(Rocky IV, 1985)
Apology: an indirect commissive
 An
act of saying sorry (CALD)
SPEECH ACTS
CLASSIFICATION (4)
 4.
EXPRESSIVES:
“I’m really sorry!”
“Congratulations!”
“Oh, yes, great!”
EXPRESSIVES state what the speaker feels.
 They
express some psychological state
such as pleasure, pain, likes, dislikes, joy
or sorrow.
 They
are about the speaker’s experience.
SPEECH ACTS
CLASSIFICATION (4)
 COMPLAINT:
an expressive speech act that can be expressed directly
or indirectly (when someone says that something is wrong or not
satisfactory)
Complaints across Cultures
Research has shown that the realization of complaints varies across
speakers from different cultures. For example, when complaining to
a professor about an unfair grade, Americans expressed a direct
complaint (‘I think … in my opinion, maybe the grade was a little
low'), while Koreans learners of English preferred a criticism over an
explicit complaint (‘…. You don't recognize my point') (Murply & Neu,
1996). In another study of different situations expressing
complaints, Germans showed a preference for requests for repair,
justifications, and criticism than Americans who tended to avoid
these strategies (DeCapua, 1998).
Have fun! 
(Young Frankenstein, 1974)
SPEECH ACTS
CLASSIFICATION (5)

5. DECLARATIONS:
“I now pronounce you man and wife.”
priest
“You’re out!”
referee
“We find the defendant guilty.”

jury
“I sentence you to six months in prison.”
judge in a courtroom
N.B. DECLARATIONS change the world via words
if the speaker has a special institutional role.
Let’s have a look at the following SPEECH EVENT:













John:
Mary:
J.:
M.:
J.:
M.:
J.:
M.
J.:
M.
J.:
M.:
J.:
Oh, Mary, I’m glad you’re here.
What’s up?
I can’t get my computer to work.
Is it broken?
I don’t think so.
What’s it doing?
I don’t know. I’m useless with computers.
What kind is it?
It’s a Mac.
Yeah.
Do you have a minute?
Sure.
Oh, great.
SPEECH EVENT
A
request may not be made by means of a
single speech act suddenly uttered:
 “Could
you, please, check my computer?”
 “Mary, will you help me, please?”
 Requesting
is typically a speech event as
illustrated in the above conversation.
 The extended interaction may be called a
requesting without a … central speech act
of request!
SPEECH ACTS – SUMMARY (Searle 1975)
1) Representatives (or Assertives) > statements of
fact, assertions, conclusions,
descriptions.
2) Directives > commands, orders, requests,
suggestions.
3) Commissives > promises, threats, refusals,
pledges.
4) Expressives > express pleasure, pain, likes,
dislikes, joy or sorrow.
5) Declarations > change the world via words if
the speaker has a special institutional role.
Take the following sentence:
“There’s a piece of fish on the table”
 This
sentence could be uttered to…
A. … complain to a waiter in a
restaurant that the table has not been
cleared properly
B. … to warn one’s husband or wife not
to let the cat in the kitchen
C. … to assure one’s husband or wife
that his/her lunch has not been
forgotten
(1) Exercise with keys:





1. Give information
3. give an order
5. make a promise
2. obtain information
4. express an opinion
6. make a suggestion
A. “Why did you do that?”
2 (directive)
B. “ I’ve lived here for a numbers of years.”
1 (representative)
C. “That’s exactly what I think.”
4 (expressive)
D. “If I were you, I’d asked him myself.”
6 (directive)
E. “I’ll write to you as soon as I can.”
5 (commissive)
(2) Exercise with keys:





1. Give information
3. give an order
5. make a promise
2. obtain information
4. express an opinion
6. make a suggestion
F. “Sit down and listen to us.”
3 (directive)
G. “It’s on the corner by the traffic light.”
1 (representative)
H. “Could you tell me what this says?”
2 (directive)
I. “Why don’t you lie down and try to sleep?”
6 (directive)
J. “I’ll do whatever you say.”
5 (commissive)
(3) Exercise with keys:





1. Give information
3. give an order
5. make a promise
2. obtain information
4. express an opinion
6. make a suggestion
L. “It’s not as tasty as I’d hoped it would be.”
4 (expressive)
M. “Shall we go to the cinema tonight?”
6 (directive)
N. “The work was done by Elaine and me.”
1 (representative)
O. “I think they’re doing a wonderful job.”
4 (expressive)
P. “You must not accept it.”
3 (directive)