Portfolio Entry #4 : Speech Acts

Portfolio Entry #4

~ SPEECH ACTS ~

~ CONSTATIVE AND PERFORMATIVE UTTERANCES ~

Introduced by the British philosopher and linguist J. L. Austin and further developed by American philosopher J.R. Searle, the Speech Act Theory considers the degree to which utterances are said to perform locutionary acts (the act of making a meaningful utterance), illocutionary acts (to express an attitude with a certain function, meaning to interact), and/or perlocutionary acts (an action or state of mind caused by saying something). Austin offered a summary of the interrelation between these acts: "A speaker utters sentences with a particular meaning (locutionary act), and with a particular force (illocutionary act), in order to achieve a certain effect on the hearer (perlocutionary act)."¹ Austin insisted that to say something is to do something and thus distinguished two separate parts of speech: "Constatives" and "Performatives". Constatives are sentences that describe something as true or false, depending on the accuracy of the information or message they provide. On the other hand, Performatives are sentences that denote an action; they're meant to inspire actions, rather than conveying a message. In other words, a constative IS and performative DOES. Words not only bring about actions; sometimes, words themselves are actions. This is what is known as "Speech Acts". Performatives also depend on context and reception; this is known as Felicity Conditions. A Performative must be: Clear, Able to be executed, Should be understood, and should possess Authority. In other words, these conditions must be met in order for the Performative utterance to denote action. However, even if these conditions are met, there is no guarantee that the Performative will be followed; most of the time, the action of not following a clear Performative may cause a new Performative to be enacted!²

~ SOURCES ~

• ¹ (Austin, J. L. (1962). "How to Do Things With Words". Cambridge : Harvard University Press).
• ² Speech acts: Constative and performative - Colleen Glenney Boggs. TED-Ed. Last accessed: May 31st. Video available on Youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgmpbXIGpcc