Indirect Speech Acts

Posted: March 26th, 2020

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Indirect Speech Acts

The act carried out by creating a remark usually produces three speech acts. These actions comprise the illocutionary, locutionary, and perlocutionary acts. The only common factor between these acts is the speaker’s intent. Regardless of the disparities, the utterances exuded by a speaker must possess a specific motive to inspire the respective speech acts. The sentence, “it is dark outside,” illustrates the core differences that exist between illocutionary, locutionary, and perlocutionary acts despite the supporting intention.

Illocutionary acts are performed when generating utterances that possess a particular force. These expressions have a specific function. As such, illocutionary acts are functions carried out by articulating the utterance (“Speech Act”). Illustrations may include ordering, promising, stating, foreseeing, threatening, and promising. For instance, the sentence, “it is dark outside,” could imply that the speaker wants the recipient to stay indoors. The act possesses an intentional expression that the recipient must perform.

Locutionary acts are common acts of expression that are derived when an individual generates an utterance. The utterances derived from such acts are literal and do not possess any implications (“Speech Act”). For instance, the statement, “it is dark outside,” is a locutionary act. In this respect, a locutionary act comprises the plain meaning of an utterance conveyed by the words that constitute the expression. Moreover, the organizational structure of the words communicates the sentence’s basic connotation to the recipient.

Lastly, perlocutionary acts comprise the impacts of the expression on the recipient. Depending on the circumstances, the recipient may choose to interpret the meaning of the utterance in his or her own way (“Speech Act”). As such, the act in question constitutes the rejoinder that the hearer exhibits in respect to the speaker’s assertion. For example, the sentence, “it is dark outside,” may be construed as a warning, an authorization, an intimidation, or an irritation based on what the recipient interprets.

Acts performed by establishing utterances generate illocutionary, locutionary, and perlocutionary speech acts. Illocutionary acts are exhibited when the speaker makes an utterance with a certain function in mind. On the other hand, locutionary acts are basic actions derived from the literal meaning of an expression. Finally, perlocutionary acts involve the effects generated from the speaker’s utterance on the recipient as well as the response towards the expression depending on their interpretation.

Works Cited

“Speech Act.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 1 Aug. 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_act. Accessed 7 Aug. 2018.