SpeeachActTheory.docx

SpeeachActTheory.docx

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SpeeachActTheory

SpeechActTheory（SAT）

1.Introduction:

1.1Definition

Austin（1962）definedspeechactsastheactionsperformedinsayingsomething.

SpeechAct:

performedviameaningful,understandablewordsorsentences.Itreferstotheintentionorthecommunicativegoalsachievedbywordsorsentences.Whateverwesay,beitarequestorapology,solongasitperformsacertainfunctionorconveysacertainintention,isperformingthespeechact.

Austin:

thebasicunitindiscourseandintheanalysisoflanguageuse.Itcanbeacompletesentenceorphrase,orjustaword,like“Hello”,“no”,etc.

Center:

theusersorperformers,andtheiractiveroleincommunication.Speakermeaning:

itisthelanguageuserswhoplacetheirintention,viathesymbols,ontheentitiesoftheoutsideworld.

Thenumberofsentencesinanylanguageistheoreticallyunlimited,butthecommunicativegoalsachievedbythosesentencescanbecategorized.

Austin:

HowtoDoThingswithWords,Austin（1962）

Someordinarydeclarativesentencesarenotapparentlyusedwithanyintentionofmakingtrueorfalsestatements.

Eg.Ibetyousixpenceitwillraintomorrow.

Iapologize.

Isentenceyoutotenyearsofhardlabour.

Iwarnyouthattrespasserswillbeprosecuted.

Features:

1）Theyarenotusedtosaythings,describestatesofaffairs,buttodothings,tochangetheworldorreality.

2）Theycannotbeassessedtrueorfalse;NoT/Fcondition,sojudgedbyfelicitywhethervalidornot.

Felicityconditions:

theappropriateconditionsforaspeechacttoberecognizedasintended.

1.2Variousactsperformedbylanguage:

3TypesofActs

Anyspeechact,accordingtoAustin,hasthreedifferentkindsofacts:

☉Locutionaryact:

What’ssaid;Theactofsaying.Itincludesmakinglinguisticsounds,arrangingthesesoundsaccordingtothegrammarofagivenlanguage,referring,andpredicating.

☉Illocutionaryact:

WhatthespeakersaredoingwiththeirwordsTheactofdoing.Bysaying"Ipromise...,"onepromises.

☉Perlocutionaryact:

Whatisdonebyutteringthewords;Theeffectstheillocutionaryacthasontheheareroronthespeechsituationingeneral.IfmynarrationofaLakersgameboresyou,yourbeingboredwouldbetheperlocutionaryactofmy（illocutionaryactof）narrating.

Eg.A:

IthinkImightgoandhaveanotherbun.

B:

Iwasgoingtogetanotherone.

C:

Couldyougetmeatunaandsweetcornoneplease?

B:

Measwell?

Locutionary:

theformofwordsuttered,theactofsayingsth.

Illocutionary:

asserting,expressingintentionsabouttheaction,requesting

Perlocutionary:

AgetsupandbringsBandCatunaandsweetcornbuneach.

●4.言语行为

●言语行为的简单意思是“说”就是“做”﹐言语就是行为，言有所为，以言而为。

从句法或逻辑-

语义的角度看待语言，只能了解“言之所述”，如从语用学的角度看待语言，則可解决“言之所为”。

言语行为理论来源于以下的假设：

人类交际的基本单位不是句子或其他表达手段，而是完成一定的行为，例如：

“陈述”（statement）、“请求”（request）、“询问”（question）、“命令”（command）、“感谢”（thanks）、“道歉”（apology）、“祝賀”（congratulation）等。

言语行为的特点是说话人通过说一句话或多句话來执行一个或多个上面的行为，这些行为的实現还可能给听话人帶来某些后果。

●根据Austin的理论，言語行为可分为三个类型：

●１）以言述事：

用某些词语组成句子结构﹐表述某种意义。

以言述事是按字面意义理解而作出的表述。

例如:

●（23）Igotoworkat9:

00

●（24）Theprisonerescapedyesterday.

●（25）IteachEnglish.

●２）以言行事：

指说某事过程中实施某行为。

它不是语句的表述意义，而是在某一语境下，在表述的过程中实施诸如“允诺”（promise）、“警告”（warning）、“要求”（demand）、“威胁”（threatening）等行为。

例如﹕

●（26）Iwillcometomorrow.

●在说“Iwillcometomorrow”的时候，我在作出允诺。

如換了一个语境：

我在检查对方的工作时責备对方做得不好，限令其迅速改进。

这时“Iwillcometomorrow”就是向对方发出一个警告：

我明天还要再来的﹐小心我再找出你們工作做不好的地方。

３）以言成事：

话说出来意味着实施一个行为，这是以言行事；如果行为实施之后产生一定的結果或影响﹐那就是以言成事行为了。

当说“Iwillcometomorrow”的时候，说话人作出了允诺，表示他要实現這个行为，让听话人安心或满意。

这种安心和满意正是“Iwillcometomorrow”这个允诺产生的成事效果。

Whichkindofactisthemostimportantandrelevant?

1）以言述事是最基本的，说话就是以言述事行为；

2）以言行事則是最有用的，说任何话都意味着下面的行为之一在实施：

陈述（statement）﹑报告（report）﹑断言（assertion）﹑请求（request）﹑邀请（invitation）﹑建议（suggestion）﹑允诺（promise）、询问（question）﹑威胁（threatening）﹑感谢（thanks）﹑道歉（apology）等等。

以言成事行为﹐如说服（persuasion）﹑鼓舞（inspiration）﹑恫吓（threatening）﹑欺骗（deception）

3）以言成事行为﹐如说服（persuasion）﹑鼓舞（inspiration）﹑恫吓（threatening）﹑欺骗（deception）误导（misleading）﹑滿意（satisfying）等，在未取得成效之前，它们仍是一些以言行事行为。

Austin之后的另一位语言哲学家Searle认为，沒有必要区分以言行事行为和以言成事行为了：

言语行为中最主要的是以言行事行为；任何的以言行事不僅是为了行事﹐归根到底是要成事﹐即让行为产生結果。

MoreExamples:

A：

你是个马大哈！

●B1：

“马大哈”是什么意思？

（=WhatdoesXmean?

）

●B2：

你说“马大哈”是什么意思？

（=WhatdoyoumeanbyX?

）

A表达的是“责备”；B1是想知道什么叫“马大哈”；而B2则明白“马大哈”的意思，他是“质问”A说他是“马大哈”的用意。

B2的话也同时表达了对A的不满，“抗议”A罵人。

●A：

JohnboughtaMercedes.

●B：

Sowhat?

A的话可能是“提供信息”，但也可能表示“羨慕”、“嫉妒”或“不滿”；而B的话表明A说的事他早已知道，他沒有表現出对這消息感兴趣，而问A说这个消息的意图，因他意识到A的话可能是一种羨慕、嫉妒或者不滿。

Searle’sgeneralclassificationsystemsofSpeechActs

Searle’s（1976）solutiontoclassifyingspeechactswastogrouptheminthefollowingmacro-classes:

Searlefurtherdividedspeechactsintothefollowingtypes:

1.Declarations:

Thesearewordsandexpressionsthatchangetheworldbytheirveryutterance,suchasIbet,Iresign,andothersin

“IbaptizethisboyJohnSmith”,whichchangesanamelessbabyintoonewithaname,

“Iherebypronounceyoumanandwife”,whichturnstwosinglesintoamarriedcouple,and“Thiscourtsentencesyoutotenyears’imprisonment”,whichputsthepersonintoprison.（Changetheworldviautterance.）

E.g.Priest:

Inowpronounceyouhusbandandwife.

Referee:

Youareout!

2.Representatives:

Thesearetheactsinwhichthewordsstatewhatthespeakerbelievestoethecase,suchasdescribing,claiming,hypothesizing,insistingandpredicting.

Eg.Theearthisflat.

Chomskydidn’twriteaboutpeanuts.

Thefactthatgirlshavebeenoutstrippingboysacademicallyhasbeenacknowledgedforthepast12yearsorso.

Icame;Isaw;Iconquered.

3.Commissives:

Thisincludesactsinwhichthewordscommitthespeakertofutureaction,suchaspromising,offering,threatening,refusing,vowingandvolunteering（promises,threats,refusals,pledges,whatthespeakerintends,futureactions）.

Eg.I’llbeback.

I’mgoingtogetitrightnexttime.

Readywhenyouare.

I’llmakehimanofferhecan’trefuse.

I’llloveyou,dear,I’llloveyou/TillChinaandAfricameet,/Andtheriverjumpsoverthemountain/Andthesalmonsinginthestreet.（Auden）

4.Directives:

Thiscategorycoversactsinwhichthewordsareaimedatmakingthehearerdosomething,suchascommanding,requesting,inviting,forbidding,suggestingandsoon.（commands,orders,requests,suggestions,getsb.todosth.）

Eg.Couldyoulendmeapenplease?

Don’ttouchthat.

Betterremainsilentandbethoughtafool,thanopenyourmouthandremoveallpossibledoubt.（AncientChineseproverb）

Donotdountoothersasyouwouldtheyshoulddountoyou.Theirtastesmaynotbethesame.（Shaw）

5.Expressives:

Thisgroupincludesactsinwhichthewordsstatewhatthespeakerfeels,suchasapologizing,praising,congratulating,deploringandregretting（statementsofpleasure,pain,likes,dislikes,joy,orsorrow,expresspsychologicalstates）.

Eg.I’mreallysorry!

Congratulations!

Awomanwithoutamanislikeafishwithoutabicycle.（Steinem）

I’vebeenpoorandI’vebeenrich—richisbetter.（Tucker）

IfI’dknownIwasgonnalivethislong,I’dhavetakenbettercareofmyself.（Blake）

FelicityConditions

Thesuccessfulperformingofaspeechactdoesnotonlydependonsayingtherightthingbutalsoonsayingtherightthingundertherightconditions.Theseconditions,whichAustinterms"felicityconditions,"includethefollowing:

1.Theremustexistanacceptedconventionalprocedure,havingacertainconventionaleffect,whichincludestheutteringofcertainwords.

2.Theparticularpersonsandcircumstancesinagivencasemustbeappropriatefortheinvocationoftheparticularprocedureinvolved.

3.Theproceduremustbeexecutedbytheparticipantscorrectly.

4.Theproceduremustbeexecutedcompletely.

Inotherwords,thefelicityconditionsarethatthecontextandrolesofparticipantsmustberecognizedbyallparties;theactionmustbecarriedoutcompletely,andthepersonsmusthavetherightintentions.Austin'stheoryislaterrefinedbySearleinhis1965book:

SpeechActs.

ForSearle,thereisageneralconditionforallspeechacts,thatthehearermusthearandunderstandthelanguage,andthatthespeakermustnotbepretendingorplayacting.Hearguesthatonecandiscoverthenecessaryandsufficientconditionsofeachspeechact.Heexemplifieshisargumentthroughadetaileddiscussionoftherulesofpromising.Theserulesfallintofourcategories:

1）Preparatorycondition

2）Sinceritycondition

3）Propositionalcontentcondition,and

4）Essentialcondition

Fordeclarationsanddirectives,therulesarethatthespeakermustbelievethatitispossibletocarryouttheaction:

a.theyareperformingtheactinthehearer’sbestinterest;

b.theyaresincereaboutwantingtodoit,andthewordscountastheact.

Example:

Explaintheneedoffelicityconditions.

Eg.Couldyougetmeatunaandsweetcornoneplease?

（request）

Austin’smodel:

Thecontextofthebunlunch:

recognizedbyallparties:

anappropriateplacetotalkaboutthebunsandaboutwantinganotherone.

Therolesofparticipantsarerecognized:

thestudentsareequalsanditisnotagreatimpositionforonetoaskanothertogetabun.

Intentions:

thepersonhastherightintentions—thespeakersmusttrustthehearerisindeedgoingtogetabunandtheypresumablyintendtoeatthebunstheyaskfor.

Searle’smodel:

Thespeakersseemtobelievethatitispossibleforhearertogetthembuns:

hehasfunctioninglegsandthebunsarenottoofaraway.Theygenuinelywantthebunstoeat;theyaresincere.Theirwordscountasarequest.Theyarenotaskingforthebunsinordertoburdenthehearerandmakeitdifficultforhimtobringallthebunsback,andthehearerisbeingofferedanoccasiontodemonstrateheissociabl