FOUNDERS OF SPEECH ACT THEORY

Interest in speech act theory can be traced back to the end of the 19th century or even earlier

It is generally acknowledged that John Austin

is 'the founding father of speech act theory' and his student John R. Searle has made the most thorough and recognized systematization of this

theory of language, the basic tenet underlying which

is that to speak is to act.

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To SPEAK is

to ACT

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JOHN LANGSHAW AUSTIN,

(28 МАRCH 1911, LANCASTER — 8 FEB, 1960, OXFORD)

a British philosopher of language, is widely associated with the concept of the speech act and the idea that speech is itself a form of action.

Austin: language is not just a passive practice of describing a given reality, but a particular practice that can be used to invent and

affect realities.

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JOHN AUSTIN

His work in the 1950s provided a theoretical outline and the terminology for the modern study of speech acts developed subsequently by John R. Searle, Kent Bach, Robert M. Harnish, and William P. Alston.

In the theory of speech acts, attention has focused on the locution, illocution, and perlocution

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LOCUTION::ILLOCUTION::PERLOCUTI ON

Austin introduced the difference by means of a contrast with the three kinds of acts or aspects of acting:

the locutionary act is an act of saying something,

the illocutionary act is an act performed in saying something,

the perlocutionary act is an act performed by saying something.

Austin, however, eventually abandoned the "in saying" / "by saying" test (1975).

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LOCUTION::ILLOCUTION::PERLOCUTI ON

In uttering the locution “We’ve run out of bread" at the dinner table, one may thereby perform the illocutionary act of requesting / ordering to buy some bread, as well as the distinct locutionary act of uttering the declarative sentence about the absence of bread, and the further perlocutionary act of causing somebody to buy bread.

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Professor of Philosophy at the, University of California, Berkeley

Is noted for contributions to the philosophy of language, philosophy of mind and consciousness, on the characteristics of socially constructed versus physical realities, and on practical reason.

JOHN ROGERS SEARLE (JULY 31, 1932)

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SPEECH ACTS THEORY

Theory of meaning holds that the meaning of linguistic expressions can be explained in terms of the rules governing their use in performing various speech acts

e.g., admonishing, asserting, commanding, exclaiming, promising, questioning, requesting, warning.

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J.SEARLE& D. VANDERVEKEN WORKED OUT THE SYSTEM OF ILLOCUTIONARY LOGIC

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