Halyna D. Malyk Speech Acts and Events
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- Introduction
- Speech Act Verbs
Words and deeds are quite indifferent modes of the divine energy. Words are also actions, and actions are a kind of words (Emerson). Ну що б, здавалося, слова… Слова та голос – більш нічого. А серце б’ється-ожива, Як їх почує!.. (Т.Шевченко) А слово – струм. А слово – зброя. А віще слово – вічове. (Л.Костенко) Навіщо ж декламація? Все значно і важче, і складніше. І бува, така пласка глупота однозначна себе ховає за гучні слова. (Л.Костенко) Словом сильним, мов трубою, Міліони зве з собою… (І.Франко) “Слова, слова, слова!” – на них мій гість мовляє, - Я ангел помсти, вчинків, а не слів… (Л.Українка) І я забула їх, не пригадаю й слова з тих наших довгих, запальних розмов, а тільки барва їх, мелодія раптова тепер, як і тоді, мені бунтує кров. (Л.Українка) Ой ви, слова, страшна, двусічна зброє… (Л.Українка) Мої слова не зброя, а ридання. (Л.Українка) Проти діла соромного Виступає слово праве – Ох, страшне оте змагання, Хоч воно і не криваве! (Л.Українка) Contents
Передмова Здатність та вміння спілкуватися іноземною мовою передбачає не тільки засвоєння певної суми знань з фонетики та граматики, але й вміння моделювати висловлювання згідно певних соціолінгвістичних конвенцій для досягнення певної мети. Правильна мовленнєва стратегія виступає передумовою успішної комунікативної дії, основним елементом якої є акт мовлення (АМ). Вивченню АМ, який є елементарною одиницею спілкування, присвячена велика кількість наукових робіт. Його досліджували філософи і лінгвісти, психологи й антропологи, соціологи й спеціалісти з комп'ютерного моделювання процесу комунікації. Інтерес до АМ зумовлюється роллю, яку він відіграє в природній мові. Розуміння АМ важливе для студентів, майбутній фах яких пов'язаний з інформаційною діяльністю в різноманітних сферах. Теоретичні основи АМ послужать фактором розвитку професійної соціолінгвістичної компетенції майбутніх фахівців. Аналіз АМ, який виступає як результат взаємодії між особистостями, дозволяє враховувати інтенції та особливості учасників комунікації. Осмислення АМ та іх інтерпретація необхідні при вивченні масової комунікації та дослідженні поведінки окремого індивіда в психоаналізі. Засобами теорії АМ, зокрема аналізом перформативів, які надають експіцитності висловлюванням, визначають суб'єктивність. Правильна побудова та розуміння АМ, вивчення умов його успішності набуває надзвичайної актуальності у зв'язку зі становленням публічного політичного дискурсу. Знання теорії АМ важливе при дослідженні комунікації в організаціях, комп'ютерному моделюванні діалогу та нейролінгвістичному програмуванні. У комунікативній взаємодії важливу роль відіграють актомовленнєві дієслова, оскільки їхня первинна функція полягає в інтерпретації, а не здійсненні АМ. Щоб адекватно діяти в англомовних суспільствах, необхідно розуміти інтерпретацію вказаних дієслів, за допомогою яких інтерпретатори приписують третій особі певні суб'єктивні оцінки. Мета даних методичних вказівок - допомогти студентам освоїти найосновніші положення теорії мовленнєвих актів.
IntroductionPublic life and people’s private lives consist of an array of various situations and events which “take a linguistic form” (Halliday 1978). Practically all social gatherings, official ceremonies and rites are associated with speech situations / speech events / speech acts, speech acts being minimal elements in this sequence. Offers and demands, agreements and promises, greetings and commands, warnings and refusals, curses and apologies are only a few examples of speech acts we perform daily. “It would not be an exaggeration to say that … life can be conceived as a gigantic network of speech acts” (Wierzbicka 1987:3) bridged together into speech events. Negotiations, introductions, invitations, bargainings, etc are typical complex speech events.A Triple Nature of Speech Acts The British philosopher John Austin was the first to point out that in uttering a sentence we can do things as well as say things. His fundamental insight was that an utterance can be used to perform an act and accomplish a goal. Before Austin, philosophers held that sentences were used simply to say things. According to Austin, each speech act has at least three facets to it: a locutionary act, an illocutionary act, and a perlocutionary act. A locutionary act is the act of simply uttering a sentence from a language; it is an act of producing a meaningful expression as such. It contains the speaker’s verbalized message and describes what the speaker says. It involves three components: a phonetic act of “uttering certain noises” – sounds; a phatic act of constructing a particular sentence in a particular language: uttering certain words belonging to a certain vocabulary, in a certain grammar, with a certain intonation; a rhetic act of contextualization of a certain sense and reference which are equivalent to some meaning (referring and predication). Typically, it is the act of using a referring expression and a predicating expression to express a proposition. (You should stop smoking – the referring expression is you and the predicating expression is stop smoking. An illocutionary act is what the speaker does in uttering a sentence. It indicates the speaker’s purpose in saying smth, specifying in what way s/he is using the locution. These acts include stating, requesting, questioning, promising, apologizing, appointing, answering questions, announcing an intention, making a criticism, making an identification, making predictions, issuing commands, warning, etc. The illocutionary act is sometimes called the illocutionary force of the utterance. A perlocutionary act produces sequential effects on the feelings, thoughts, or actions of hearers. The following demonstrates the distinct nature of each type of act:
Speech Act Functions and Subfunctions Classification of Illocutionary Acts Austin and other philosophers tried to understand how an infinite number of sentences might reflect a very finite set of functions. They concluded that since the number of things we do with words is limited, we ought to be able to assign functions to utterances. The problem with assigning functions to sentences is that speaker intent and sentence meaning are not always the same, and no utterance is completely context free in terms of meaning or function. Nevertheless, linguists and philosophers (J.R. Searle, R. Ohmann, Bach K. And Harnish R., J.D.McCawley, Vendler) have given much attention to differences among illocutionary speech acts and proposed various typologies to classify them. Though Austin was the first to delineate illocutionary acts distinguishing five general classes – verdicatives, exercitives, commissives, behabitives, expositives, – the most prominent taxonomy belongs to J.R. Searle. In his article entitled “Classification of Illocutionary acts” John Searle also pointed out that there is an endless number of illocutionary acts. There are statements, assertions, denials, requests, commands, warnings, promises, vows, offers, apologies, thanks, condolences, appointments, namings, resignations, etc. At the same time, he observed that some illocutionary acts are more closely related than others. His classification is the following (1976: 10-13): General functions of speech acts (Searle 1979)
Representatives are utterances used to describe some state of affairs. They commit the speaker (in varying degree) to smth’s being the case, to the truth of the expressed proposition. This class includes statements of facts, assertions, conclusions, descriptions, predictions, denials, admissions, notifications, etc. In using a representative, the speaker makes words fit the world (of belief). Eg.: a. It’s an interesting book. b. I don’t know Mary Smith. c. It was a nice trip. Directives are utterances used to try to get the hearer to do smth. They express what the speaker wants. The speaker attempts to make the world fit the words.This class includes acts of asking, inquiring, etc. They include two subcategories: attempts (of varying degrees) by the speaker to get the hearer to do smth. They are acts of commands, ordering, requesting, suggesting, insisting, recommending, warning, advising, etc. Eg a.Close the door. b. Give me the umbrella, please. c. You’d better come. d. Don’t do that. e. Could I borrow this newspaper? f. You must come and see it for yourself. questions are used to get the hearer to provide information. Eg. a.Where did you buy this? b. Did you finish the work yesterday? Commissives are utterances used to commit the speaker (in varying degree) to some future course of action. They express what the speaker intends. They are acts of promising, vowing, volunteering, offering, guaranteeing, pledging, betting, refusing, threatening, etc. these acts can be performed by the speaker alone, or by the speaker as a member of a group. In using a commissive, the speaker undertakes to make the world fit the words. Eg.: a. I’ll never do that again. b. I’ll come. c. I promise to come at 5. d. I swear I'll do it.
Expressives are utterances used to express the emotional/ psychological state of the speaker toward a particular state of affairs. This class includes act of apologizing, thanking, congratulating, condoling, welcoming, deploring, objecting, statements of pleasure, pain, likes, dislikes, joy, sorrow, etc. these acts can be caused by smth the speaker does or the hearer does, but they are about the speaker’s experience. In using an expressive, the speaker makes words fit the world (of feeling). Eg.: a. I’m so sorry. b. Happy New Year! c. Congratulations! d. Oh, it’s great. e. I must apologize to you.
Declarations are utterances used to change the status of some entity. They bring about the correspondence between the propositional content and reality. This class includes acts of appointing, naming, resigning, baptizing, surrendering, excommunicating, arresting, etc. In using a declaration, the speaker changes the world via words. As the examples illustrate, the speaker must have a special institutional role and have authority, in a specific context, to perform a declaration appropriately. Eg.: a.. Referee: You’re out. b. I announce the meeting open. c. Priest: I now pronounce you husband and wife. d. I name this ship King Edward. Major functions of speech acts, given by Searle, can be subdivided into a number of subfunctions. For example, applying speech act research, the Council of Europe created a “notional-functional syllabus’ (van Ek 1976), identifying the following functions:
Exchange of factual information: representatives imparting / seeking factual information identify, ask, report, say, think Exchange of intellectual information: representatives stating whether you/ ask if others agree, disagree, remember, forget, consider possible/ logical/certain/uncertain/ obliged; ask or give permission; accept or decline an offer/ invitation Exchange of emotional attitudes: expressives to express your own/question others’ surprise, hope, disappointment; preference; gratitude, sympathy; intention; want; desire Exchange of moral attitudes: expressives to express or request apology/ forgiveness; approval/ disapproval; appreciation; regret; indifference Suasion: directive Suggest; request; invite; instruct; advise; warn; offer Socializing: directives /expressives greet; take leave; introduce; attract attention; propose a toast; congratulate… Halliday’s (1975, 1976) classification of functions was developed for elementary school classroom: Instrumental Regulatory Interactional Personal Heuristic Imaginative Informative There are several other well-known typologies that classify functions and subfunctions of illocutionary speech acts. Their authors are R. Ohmann, K.Bach and R.Harnish., J.D.McCawley, Vendler, Wierzbicka. Felicity Conditions From the very beginning, Austin realized that context was an essential factor in the valid performance of an illocutionary act. He noted that the circumstances and the participants must be appropriate; the act must be executed completely and correctly by all participants; the participants must have the appropriate intentions. Austin called these certain expected or appropriate circumstances felicity conditions for the performance of a speech act to be recognized as intended. For some clear cases, such utterances I declare the ceremony open or I name this ship Alexander the performance will be infelicitous (inappropriate) if the speaker is not a specific person in a special context (in these cases, a person authorized to open the ceremony or name the ship). In everyday contexts among ordinary people, there are also preconditions on speech acts. Expanding on Austin’s basic idea, Searle categorized felicity conditions. Loosely speaking, there are: general conditions on the participants, for example, that they can understand the language being used and that they are not play-acting or being nonsensical and content conditions. More technically, Searle distinguished four types: preparatory conditions, sincerity conditions, essential conditions, and propositional content conditions. Preparatory conditions Preparatory conditions are those existing antecedent to the utterance, including the speaker’s beliefs about the hearer’s capabilities and state of mind. The preparatory conditions for a promise are significantly different from those for a warning or an apology. When we promise to do something, there are two preparatory conditions: first, the event will not happen by itself, and second, the event will have a beneficial effect. When we utter a warning, there are the following preparatory conditions: it isn't clear that the hearer knows the event will occur, the speaker does think the event will occur, and the event will not have a beneficial effect. An apology requires that the speaker believe that some act has occurred that is harmful to the hearer. Sincerity conditions Sincerity conditions relate to the speaker’s state of mind. For a promise, the speaker must genuinely intend to carry out the future action, and, for a warning, the speaker genuinely believes that the future event will not have a beneficial effect. A valid apology requires that the speaker feel remorse for his act. Essential condition The essential condition requires that the utterance be recognizable as an instance of the illocutionary act in question. For example, by the act of uttering a promise, we thereby intend to create an obligation to carry out the action as promised. In other words, the utterance changes my state from non-obligation to obligation. Similarly, with a warning, under the essential condition, the utterance changes our state from non-informing of a bad future event to informing. This essential condition thus combines with a specification of what must be in the utterance content, the context, and the speaker's intentions, in order for a specific speech act to be appropriately (felicitously) performed. Propositional content conditions Propositional content conditions relate to the state of affairs predicated in the utterance. For example, for both a promise and a warning, the content of the utterance must be about a future event. A further content condition for a promise requires that the future event will be a future act of the speaker. A valid apology must predicate a past act of the speaker. The theory of felicity conditions helps to account for the relationship between specific illocutionary acts within the same category. Felicity conditions on different speech acts
Consider two different types of directives (requests and orders) and commissives (promises and threats).
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