Speech-Act-Theory-言语行为理论.pptx

Speech Act Theory,keris,Introduction,Speech act theory is a major theory of both language philosophy and pragmatics. It was originally put forward by ordinary language philosophy John L.Austin and John R. Searle in the early fifties of the last century. The essence of this theory mainly concerns that language is often used to “do things”,to perform acts and to emphasize real language usage in actual situation.It challenges the“truth-value” statement and opens a new area of linguistics-pragmatics.This theory explains the nature of linguistic communication.The core of the communication is to deal with language,things and action.,Constatives VS Performatives,Constatives are statements that either state or describe,and they have the property of being either true or false.,Performatives,by contrast,have no truth-value; they are used to do something.,Constative utterance （言有所述） The earth is round. /We are having class.,Performative utterance（言有所为） I promise to give you ten dollars.,Felicity conditions,A.(i)There must be a conventional procedure having a conventional effect. (ii)The circumstances and persons must be appropriate,as specified in the procedure. B.The procedure muse be executed(i) correctly and(ii) completely. C.(i)The persons must have the requisite thoughts ,feelings and intentions, as specified in the procedure, and (ii) if consequent conduct is specified,the relevant parties must so do.,Explicit performatives VS Implicit performatives,First person subject, simple present tense, indicative mood, active voice, performative verbs,I promise I will attend your wedding. I promise Ill be there. I admit I was foolish.,without performative verbs,I will attend your wedding. How about some tea? Sit down.,A performative verb is a verb that explicitly conveys the kind of speech act being performedsuch as promise, invite, apologize, predict, vow, request, warn, insist, and forbid.,Collapse of the dichotomy,Problems: Containing a performative verb does not necessarily make the utterance itself performative. I promised to her that I would help her. Every act of saying is doing. -Direct speech act -Indirect speech act Will you go or not? / Im asking you if you will go or not. Hes dishonest. /Im telling you that he is dishonest. An utterance with a performative verb may not be the type of act suggested by the verb A kidnapper: I advise you to give me all in your pocket.,Reformulation of Speech Act Theory,Locutionary act（以言指事）: the act of verbally saying something. Illocutionary act （以言行事）: the intended act behind saying something. Perlocutionary act （以言成事）: the intended effect/happening of an illocutionary act.,Utterance acts, propositional acts,Illocutionary acts, Perlocutionary acts,Classifying illocutionary acts,Austin: verdictives 裁决类 exercitives 行使职权类 commisives 承诺类 expositives 阐述类 behavitives 表态行为类,Searle: representatives 阐述类 directives 指令类 commisives 承诺类 expressives 表达类 declarations 宣告类,Direct speech act VS Indirect speech act,If there is a direct match between a sentence type and an illocutionary force, we have a direct speech act.,I promise I will attend your wedding. I order you to listen to the news. I admit I was foolish.,If there is no direct relationship between a sentence type and an illocutionary force. we are faced with an indirect speech act.,Can you pass the salt? Can you turn off the light?,Neglect of Context,Speech act theory emphasizes the words meaning in conversation, but it neglects the social and cultural backgrounds A:It is hot here? B:OK, I will turn on the fan. A: Xiao Wang is not an honest man. B:It is hot here. M: Do you have supper? N: Yes, How about you?,Problems of Indirect Speech Act,Indirect speech act emphasizes the hearer,whereas the illocutionary act pays more attention to the speaker.However,they have many overlapping meanings.For example: A:Do you know the meaning of these words? B:Dont you have a dictionary? B