LESSON 3: TYPES OF SPEECH ACT addressee perform an action by way of
commanding, requesting, begging, inviting,
Speech Acts are actions done by saying them. The pleading, or insisting.
listener must first determine the type of act being Example: Take me to that place.
performed before he can determine which way a
speech act is to be interpreted. These speech acts 3. Commissive – a type of illocutionary act
are categorized as follows: which commits the speaker to future actions
such as promising, planning, vowing, and
Locutionary Acts betting.
Locutionary acts are, according to Susana Example: I will take you to school every day
Nuccetell and from Gary Seay (from Philosophy of starting tomorrow.
Language: The Central Topics) 2007, “the mere act
of producing some linguistic sounds or marks with a 4. Expressive – a type of illocutionary act in
certain meaning and reference.". Locutionary act which the speaker expresses his/her
refers to any utterances that may contain feelings or emotional reactions. Some
statements or words about objects. It may be a examples of expressive acts are thanking,
word, or even a phrase that has a meaning. apologizing, welcoming, and deploring.
For example: Example: I am so sorry for not wearing the
“It is raining.” complete uniform today.
“My teacher is wearing a red dress today.”
“I love dogs.” 5. Declarative – a type of illocutionary act
which brings a change in an external
Illocutionary Acts situation. Simply put, declarations bring into
Illocutionary act is the acting part of the speech act. existence, or cause the state of affairs which
It carries a directive for the audience. It may be a they refer to. Some examples of
command, an apology, an expression of declarations are blessing, firing, baptizing,
thankfulness or just an answer to a question for the and bidding.
information of other people in the communication Example: You are fired!
process.
Perlocutionary Acts
There are two kinds of illocutionary acts. The first is Perlocutionary act is the third aspect of
called constantive, or making something true or speech acts. It is a speech act that
false by saying it. This is commonly done by produces an effect, intended or not,
someone in authority like a judge or an official. achieved in an addressee by a speaker’s
Examples: utterance. Perlocutionary act can bring
I name this dog Chubby. about a consequence to the audience. They
You are free to leave. have an effect to the listener in feelings,
You are not my friend anymore. thoughts, or actions such as changing
The meeting is adjourned. someone’s mind. Unlike illocutionary act,
perlocutionary act can project a sense of
The second is doing something by just saying it. It fear in the audience.
is also called performative.
Examples: Consider the following utterance, “By the
I nominate Lancer for president. way, I have a CD of Debussy. Would you
I accept the challenge. like to borrow it?” Its illocutionary function is
I promise to take care of you as long as I live. an offer, while its intended perlocutionary
I challenge you to prove me wrong. effect might be to impress the listener, or to
You are invited to my birthday celebration. show a friendly attitude, or to encourage
interest in a particular type of music.
Illocutionary acts can be categorized into
common families of speech acts. The following is
John Searle’s categories of illocutionary acts. Each
has its own illocutionary purpose.
1. Assertive – a type of illocutionary act in
which the speaker expresses belief about
the truth of a proposition like boasting,
suggesting, asserting, concluding, and
swearing
Example: I am still the best student in class.
2. Directive – a type of illocutionary act in
which the speaker tries to make the
