7. Speech acts, Felicity Conditions, Direct and Indirect Speech Acts

Question 1

Speech acts

Answer 1

The term speech act refers to an utterance and the ‘total situation in which the utterance is issued’

Question 2

Performatives

Answer 2

• Do not express a state of affairs, are used to PERFORM AN ACT
• Cannot be judged true or false, but are best understood as performing an action Austin uses the term performative for instances such as the apology and promise whose utterance performs the very act that the sentence describes.
• Verbs: admit, bet, congratulate, swear, advise, claim, promise, thank, apologise, command, urge, ask, name, warn, beg, order, suggest, welcome etc.

Question 3

Locutionary act

Answer 3

What is said
The act of saying something
Making a meaningful utterance
The performance of an utterance

Question 4

Ilocutionary act

Answer 4

What is meant
Act performed in saying something with an intention to inform, order, warn
Why and how we use the particular sentence

Question 5

Perlocutionary act

Answer 5

Act performed by saying something

Question 6

Felicity conditions

Answer 6

Circumstantial conditions that allow speakers to make a successful speech act

Question 7

Direct speech act

Answer 7

When there is a direct relationship between the structure and the communicative function of the utterance.

Question 8

Indirect speech act

Answer 8

There’s mismatch between the linguistic form and the illucutionary force. The illucotionary force is different from the force canonically associated with that form. Usually used in rejections