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

2.3 
Felicity Conditions
Performatives cannot be true or false, but they can ‘go wrong’ or be 
‘unhappy’ or ‘infelicitous’. Austin states that there must be some conditions in place 
for an utterance to be performed successfully. They have to be fulfilled if the 
utterance must have the intended effect. He called these conditions as felicity 
conditions and explained them in the following principles.
1. 
‘There must exist an accepted conventional procedure having a certain
conventional effect …’(P:26) 
2. 
The procedure must be executed by all participants both i) correctly and ii)
completely (P:15)
3. 
Having certain thoughts or feelings or intentions ( P:15) 
If the feelings, thoughts and intentions do not conform to the utterance 
(performative) or no accepted procedure is followed, or the procedure was falsely or 
incompletely executed, the utterance becomes infelicitous. For example, praising or 
sympathizing with others only superficially and not whole heartedly or saying 
something exactly opposite to what one does not believe or think, like flattering 
somebody and even the utterance of promising, betting or declaring something, 
when one does not intend to do so. Saying “I name this ship Queen Elizabeth” will 
not name the ship if the speaker has no authority to do so.

---

101 
For instance, if any ordinary person reads the ‘will’ of a person (either alive 
or dead) in the presence of his relatives, the act of reading the ‘will’ will not be 
considered felicitous due to the fact that only an entrusted lawyer should read the 
‘will’ of a person either dead or alive in the presence of related persons, say, 
relatives or friends. In this case,the first condition will not be fulfilled, as there is no 
authorized speaker. Similarly, if an entrusted lawyer reads a will but there is no 
hearer/s to listen the will, it will be infelicitous, as the act will not fulfill the second 
condition due to only one sided communication (without all participants).
In the same manner if a Mother tells her child, “I promise to give you a 
chocolate if you drink a cup of milk” and if she does not have a chocolate or has no 
similar thoughts or intentions of giving chocolate, as her only purpose is to get the 
child drink the milk, the act will be infelicitous, as it violates the third condition.
In a Hindu community, the traditional marriage takes place in the presence of 
a priest. (Pujari) and other relatives. The marriage takes place only when the pujari 
chants holy mangalashatak at the end of which a bridegroom puts garland around 
the neck of a bride and in response, she does the same. The marriage cannot be 
considered authorised in the absence of (any of) the above mentioned participants 
or procedure. In the same manner, the Speech Act that does not observe the felicity 
conditions is considered as infelicitous.
Searle further expanded on the concept of felicity conditions in the following 
four conditions.