Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics.pdf

Dictionary of language and linguistics 1108Every speech act is comprised of several sub-acts performed simultaneously (cf. thediagram above for an overview of the terminological differences between Austin andSearle).Searle distinguishes among (a) utterance acts ( also locution): the articulation oflinguistic elements in a particular grammatical order; (b) propositional acts (proposition): the formulation of the content of an utterance through reference (i.e.reference to an object in the extralinguistic world) and predication (attribution ofparticular characteristics), e.g. this mushroom (=reference) is poisonous (= predication);(c) illocutionary act: the indication of the way the proposition is to be related to the wordand of the communicative function of the speech act as, for example, an assertion, anascertainment of fact, or a warning. In rare cases the illocutionary function is explicitlyexpressed by a performative verb in the first person singular present tense indicative (Ihereby warn, maintain, promise…). Where this is not the case (as in all nonproblematizedcommunicative situations) other means, such as intonation, accent,sentence mood, adverbs, particles, or verb mood, are illocutionary indicators. In thesecases one speaks of ‘primary performative’ acts. If the literally indicated illocution isdifferent from the actually performed illocution, one speaks of ‘indirect’ speech acts.Illocutionary acts may have effects that are not conventionally associated with them; ifthese are intended by the speaker, they are called ‘perlocutionary effects,’ and the speakerhas simultaneously carried out a (d) perlocutionary act ( perlocution).According to Searle, for an illocutionary act to be successfully performed, four kindsof conditions—apart from general input and output conditions (conditions for normalspeaking and understanding)—must be characteristically fulfilled. The specificexpression of each of these four conditions is decisive for the classification of speechacts: (a) propositional content conditions, (b) preparatory conditions, (c) sincerityconditions, (d) essential conditions. In this scheme, (d) has the format of a constitutiverule, while (a)—(c) correspond to regulative rules. In formulating ‘felicity conditions’(which assure the successful performance of speech acts) as rules for using pertinentillocutionary indicators, Searle also speaks of the ‘principle of expressibility,’ whichalone allows the (basically pragmatic) analysis of speech acts to be equated with the(semantic) analysis of expressions. It should be noted that the relationship between thetwo is debated. Accordingly, one can distinguish between two diverging lines of thought:a speech act theory that is more semantically oriented (that is concerned with the analysisof expressions that characterize speech acts) and a pragmatically oriented speech acttheory (that takes communication processes as its starting point).ReferencesAustin, J.L. 1962. How to do things with words. Oxford.Bach, K. and R.Harnish. 1979. Linguistic communication and speech acts. Cambridge, MA.Ballmer, T. and W.Brennenstuhl. 1981. Speech act classification. Berlin.Burkhardt, A. (ed.) 1990. Speech acts, meaning and intentions: critical approaches to thephilosophy of J.R. Searle. Berlin and New York.Clark, H.H. and T.B.Carlson. 1982. Hearers and speech acts. Language 58. 332–73.Cole, P. and J.L.Morgan (eds) 1975. Syntax and semantics, vol. 3: Speech acts. New York.