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

Some definitions :
a) 
Indirect Speech Acts are speech acts in which the speaker performs more
than one illocutionary act at the same time. (Haverkate 1984:75) 
b) 
Utterances which use a surface statement to ask a question or a surface
question to issue a request are called Indirect Speech Acts (Jurasfsky
2003:732) 
In Indirect Speech Acts, the speaker communicates to the hearer more than 
he actually says by way of relying on their mutually shared background information, 
both linguistic and nonlinguistic, together with the general powers of rationality and 
inference on part of the hearer” (John R. Searle, 2001:177).
In connection with Indirect Speech Acts, Searle introduces the notions of 
‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ illocutionary acts. Searle begins by making a distinction 
between primary and secondary illocutionary acts. A primary illocutionary act is not 
literal rather it is what the speaker means to communicate. The secondary 
illocutionary act is the literal meaning of the utterance. He thus asserts that an 

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Indirect Speech Act has a literal meaning and an inferred meaning. They can also 
have more than one meaning or illocutionary force. 
For example: 
X :
We should leave for the show or else we’ll be late. 
Y :
I am not ready yet. 
The primary illocutionary act is Y’s rejection of X’s suggestion and the 
secondary illocutionary act is Y’s statement that she is not ready to leave. By 
dividing the illocutionary act into two sub-parts, Searle is able to explain how we can 
understand two meanings from the same utterance while at the same time knowing 
which of the correct meaning to respond to. 
In Indirect Speech Acts the hearer must deduce the illocutionary point from 
his or her specific knowledge of the context or circumstances of utterance as 
speakers often do not express explicitly their illocutionary point. Thus, Indirect 
Speech Acts communicate something more than what they literally say via 
implicature, since one act is performed by way of another. Implicitness should be 
exploited to fathom indirectness. 
Levinson, in this connection, remarks that of ‘most usages (of requests) are 
indirect’ (1983:264). He also points out that ‘imperatives are rarely used to 
command or request (275). For example, in a satirical play ‘The Boy ComesHome’ 
by A.A. Milne, Uncle James repeats the words ‘Ten o’clock’ thrice. The intention 
behind this repetition is not telling the exact time of the day but to express his anger 
regarding Philips having his breakfast too late. The other examples of the speaker 
saying one thing and intending another are, rhetorical questions, circumlocutions, 
euphemisms, 
ironical 
statements, 
metonymic 
expressions, exaggerations, 
understatements etc.
Indirect Speech Acts are generally associated with greater politeness in 
English than Direct Speech Acts. Searle observes: Politeness is the most prominent 
motivation for indirectness in request and certain forms naturally tend to become the 
conventionally polite ways of making indirect requests.

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According to the co-operative principle, communication is meaningful and 
effective if it’s four maxims namely- maxims of quality, quantity, relevance and 
manner are fulfilled satisfactorily. If one or all of them are violated, Indirect Speech 
Acts are generated. Indirect Speech Acts are indirectly cooperative. They depend on 
us being able to pick up the relevant clues from intonational and thematic force 
together with the context of utterance in order to arrive at a correct interpretation of 
the speaker’s meaning. (1998:169)