Vladimir Ž. Jovanović
DISCOURSE
ANALYSIS
Lecture 3
Speech Acts
, 1. SPEECH ACTS
At one point in the development of
the study of language, linguists came
to understand that with certain
sentences or utterances that are not
questions or negations, but are
classed as statements, we do not
only state a fact or describe
something this way or another (T or
F).
, 1. SPEECH ACTS
The American linguist J. Austin in 1962 with his
immensely influential book How to do things
with words came up with a different treatment
of such “statement-like” segments of language
and classed them into three groups:
1. constatives - not meant to give new
information.
2. ethical propositions - meant to evoke
emotions or specify the desired behaviour.
3. performatives - meant to “do” or perform a
certain action.
, 1. SPEECH ACTS
Performatives are conventional
utterances that do not state anything
and that cannot be qualified as true or
false.
With such utterances we perform the
actual action, usually using performative
verbs: name, baptize, object, declare,
plead, congratulate, apologize, approve,
censure, promise, thank, order.
DISCOURSE
ANALYSIS
Lecture 3
Speech Acts
, 1. SPEECH ACTS
At one point in the development of
the study of language, linguists came
to understand that with certain
sentences or utterances that are not
questions or negations, but are
classed as statements, we do not
only state a fact or describe
something this way or another (T or
F).
, 1. SPEECH ACTS
The American linguist J. Austin in 1962 with his
immensely influential book How to do things
with words came up with a different treatment
of such “statement-like” segments of language
and classed them into three groups:
1. constatives - not meant to give new
information.
2. ethical propositions - meant to evoke
emotions or specify the desired behaviour.
3. performatives - meant to “do” or perform a
certain action.
, 1. SPEECH ACTS
Performatives are conventional
utterances that do not state anything
and that cannot be qualified as true or
false.
With such utterances we perform the
actual action, usually using performative
verbs: name, baptize, object, declare,
plead, congratulate, apologize, approve,
censure, promise, thank, order.
