语言学Howtodothingswithwordsword精品.docx
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语言学Howtodothingswithwordsword精品
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.TheimportanceofspeechacttheoryliesinthewaythatAustinandothersmanagedtoextendtheiranalysisfromtheseexplicitperformativestootherutterances.Thefirst