M. A. I english P. C3 & C6 Modern Linguistics title pmd

2.1.2 Locutionary, Illocutionary and Perlocutionary Acts
Austin discusses three dimensions that constitute a Speech Act - 
Locutionary, Illocutionary and Perlocutionary. The three-fold distinction replaced the 
Constative-Performative dichotomy suggested earlier by Austin.

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90 
i. 
Locutionary : It is the act of saying something (the locution) with a certain 
meaning in the traditional sense. It has a non-ambiguous meaning and 
reference. This is the basic literal, propositional or semantic of the utterance. 
According to Austin (1962:121), a locutionary act contains “within it the 
phonetic, the phatic and the rhetic acts”. Phonetic acts are acts of 
pronouncing sounds, phatic acts are acts of uttering words or sentences in 
accordance with the phonological and syntactic rules of the language to 
which they belong, and rhetic acts are acts of uttering a sentence with sense 
and more or less definite reference. 
ii. 
Illocutionary : The Illocutionary act is the act in saying against the act of 
producing the locution. It represents the speaker’s intent. The illocutionary 
force is what an utterance counts for. Illocutionary acts are under the control 
of the speaker. 
iii. 
Perlocutionary : The Perlocutionary act refers to what one does by making 
an utterance or saying something.The speakers do not simply create an 
utterance with a function without intending it to have an effect. In other 
words, they seek to change the external world. Speech Acts have an effect 
on the feelings, thoughts or actions of either the speaker or the listener. It 
may or may not be what the speaker wants to happen but it is nevertheless 
caused by the locution. Perlocutionary acts are under the control of the 
hearer. Unlike locutionary acts, perlocutionary acts are external to the 
performance.