Term coined by John Langshaw Austin, a British philosopher. His book was: How to do things with words. John proposed the speech act theory which has been influential in pragmatics (linguistics, the study of what words mean in particular situations)
Speech Act theory: concerned with the ways in which words can be used not only to present info but also carry out actions
Speech Act: refer to the moment in which statement occur in the communicative act with a given context.
Levels of Action:
1. Locutionary act - act of making a meaningful utterance, happens with the utterance of a sound, a word or even a phrase as a natural unit of speech.
Sense - for communication to take place
Same meaning - to both speaker and listener (shared meaning)
2. Illocutionary - Uttering a sentence with the intended meaning; not just saying something but the act of saying something with the intention of:
a. stating an opinion, confirming or denying something
b. making a prediction, a promise, request
c. issuing an order or decision
d. giving advice or permission
There’s too much homework in this subject (opinion)
I’ll do my homework later ( promise)
Go! Do your homework! ( order)
3. Perlocutionary - Action that result from saying something
Effect: sought from either the speaker, the listener or both
Response: not necessarily by physics or verbal and is elicited by inspiring or insulting; persuading or convincing; deterring or scaring
I was born a Norwegian
I will live a Norwegian life
Texting and driving kills - you, your family, & other people
