语言学Howtodothingswithwords.docx

语言学Howtodothingswithwords.docx

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语言学Howtodothingswithwords

Howtodothingswithwords

（1）

HowtoDoThingswithWords

（1）

b.Areyouserving?

c.Hello.

d.Sixpintsofstoutandapacketofpeanuts,please!

e.Givemethedryroastedones.

f.Howmuch?

Areyouserious?

Suchsentencesarenotdescriptionsandcannotbesaidtobetrueorfalse.Austin'ssecondobservationwasthateveninsentenceswiththegrammaticalformofdeclaratives,notallareusedtomakestatements.Austinidentifiedasubsetofdeclarativesthatarenotusetomaketrueorfalsestatements,suchasintheexamplesbelow:

a.Ipromisetotakeataxihome.

b.Ibetyoufivepoundsthatheget'sbreathalysed.

c.Ideclarethismeetingopen.

d.Iwarnyouthatlegalactionwillensue.

e.InamethisshipTheFlyingDutchman.

Austinclaimedofthesesentencesthattheywereinthemselvesakindofaction:

thusbyuttering:

Ipromisetotakeataxihome.aspeakermakesapromiseratherthanjustdescribingone.Thiskindofutterancehecalledperformativeutterances:

intheseexamplestheyperformtheactionnamedbythefirstverbinthesentence,andwecaninserttheadverbherebytostressthisfunction,e.g.Iherebyrequestthatyouleavemyproperty.Wecancontrastperformativeandnon-performativeverbsbythesetwofeatures.Aspeakerwouldnotforexampleexpecttheutteringof（a）belowtoconstitutetheactionofcookingacake,or（d）theactionofstartingacar.Thesesentencesdescribeactionsindependentofthelinguisticact.Accordinglytheuseofherebywiththesesentences.

a.Icookthiscake.

b.?

Iherebycookthiscake.

d.Istartthiscar.b.?

Iherebystartthiscar.

Evaluatingperformativeutterances

Austinarguedthatitisnotusefultoaskwhetherperformativeutteranceslikethoseabovearetrueornot,ratherweshouldaskwhethertheyworkornot:

dotheyconstituteasuccessfulwarning,bet,ship-namingetc.?

InAustin'sterminologyaperformativethatworksiscalledfelicitousandonethatdoesnotisinfelicitous.Forthemtowork,suchperformativeshavetosatisfythesocialconventionsforaveryobviousexample,IcannotrenameashipbywalkinguptoitindockandsayingInamethisshiptheFlyingDutchman.Lessexplicitly,therearesocialconventionsgoverningthegivingoforderstoco-workers,greetingstrangers,etc.Austin'snamefortheenablingconditionsforaperformativeisfelicityconditions.Examiningthesesocialconventionsthatsupportperformatives,itisclearthatthereisagradientbetweenperformativesthatarehighlyinstitutionalized,orevenceremonial,requiringsophisticatedandveryovertsupport,liketheexampleofajudgepronouncingsentence,throughtolessformalactslikewarning,thanking,etc.Todescribetheroleoffelicityconditions,

Austin（1975:

25-38）wroteaverygeneralschema:

HowtoDoThingswithWords

（2）

·Theremustexistanacceptedconventionalprocedurehavingacertainconventionaleffect,theproceduretoincludetheutteringofcertainwordsbycertainpersonsincertaincircumstances...

·Theparticularpersonsandcircumstancesmustbeappropriatefortheinvocationoftheparticularprocedureinvoked...

·Theproceduremustbeexecutedbyalltheparticipantscorrectly...

·...andcompletely...

Austinwentontoaddsincerityclauses:

firstlythatparticipantsmusthavetherequisitethoughts,feelingsandintentions,asspecifiedbytheprocedure,andsecondly,thatifsubsequentconductiscalledfor,theparticipantsmustsoconductthemselves.Ifthespeechactisunsuccessfulbyfailingthe

（1）or

（2）conditionsabove,thenhedescribeditasamisfire.ThusmycasuallyrenaminganyshipvisitingDublindocksisamisfirebecause

（2）aboveisnotadheredto.Iftheactisinsincerelyperformed,thenhedescribeditasanabuseofaspeechact,asforexamplesayingIbet...withnointentiontopay,orIpromise...whenIalreadyintendtobreakthepromise.Linguists,asopposedtophilosophers,havetendednottobesointerestedinthissecondtypeofinfelicity,sincetheprimaryspeechacthas,inthesecases,beensuccessfullycommunicated.

Explicitandimplicitperformatives

Lookingatexamplesofperformativeutterancesearlier,wecansaythattheyarecharacterizedbyspecialfeatures:

a.Theytendtobeginwithafirstpersonverbinaformwecoulddescribeassimplepresent:

Ibet,Iwarn,etc.

b.Thisverbbelongstoaspecialclassdescribingverbalactivitiesforexample:

promise,warn,sentence,name,bet,pronounce.

c.Generallytheirperformativenaturecanbeemphasizedbyinsertingtheadverbhereby,asdescribedearlier,thusIherebysentenceyouto....

Utteranceswiththesecharacteristicswecancallexplicitperformatives.TheimportanceofspeechacttheoryliesinthewaythatAustinandothersmanagedtoextendtheiranalysisfromtheseexplicitperformativestoo