2. Speech Act Theory J.L. Austin
2. Speech Act Theory J. L. Austin
II Speech Act Theory As pointed out by the British philosopher Austin in 1962, sentences are not always uttered just to say things, but rather, they are used to do things Based on this assumption, Austin advanced the Speech Act Theory, which is now generally viewed as one of the basic theories of pragmatics
II Speech Act Theory • As pointed out by the British philosopher Austin in 1962, sentences are not always uttered just to say things, but rather, they are used to do things. Based on this assumption, Austin advanced the Speech Act Theory, which is now generally viewed as one of the basic theories of pragmatics
II Speech Act Theory All linquistic activities are related to speech acts. Therefore, to speak a language is to perform a set of speech acts, such as statement, command, inguiry and commitment That is to say, we are performing various kinds of acts when we are speaking
II Speech Act Theory • All linguistic activities are related to speech acts. Therefore, to speak a language is to perform a set of speech acts, such as statement, command, inquiry and commitment. • That is to say, we are performing various kinds of acts when we are speaking
Before the speech act theory was advanced. it was believed that the business of a statement is either to describe or to state. It must be either t ru e f al s
Before the speech act theory was advanced, it was believed that the business of a statement is either to describe or to state. It must be either t r u e o r f a l s e
Austin made the primary distinction between two types of utterances. constative and p e r f o r m a t i ve
Austin made the primary distinction between two types of utterances: constative and p e r f o r m a t i v e