Name.
: Rosalina Kacaribu
NPM. : 18120097
Group. :C
Summary of chapter 9
SPEECH ACTS
We use language for many purposes. We tell others what we know or think we know, we express our
feelings, ask questions, make requests, protest, criticize, insult, apologize, promise, thank, say hello and
goodbye. Language seems to have as many different functions as there are occasions for using language,
but for all the apparent diversity the basic uses of language are rather limited. In this chapter we
recognize seven different kinds of utterances, or speech acts, classified according to their general
purpose—though a single utterance may have overlapping purposes.
9.1 The form of sentences and the purpose of utterances
Sentences are traditionally designated declarative if they tell something, interrogative if they ask, or
imperative if they request action, but this classification is based on the forms of sentences. Actual
utterances can have various functions that are independent of form. As we all know, a person can ask a
question without truly seeking information (“Did you really like that silly book?”)—the so-called
rhetorical question—and can make a statement that is intended as a request (“It’s very warm in here
with that window closed”) or produce a command that is not meant to elicit action from the addressee
(“Have a good time”).
Statements typically have subject, verb and then perhaps an object, a complement and/or an adverbial
phrase, as we saw in Chapter 4.
1a A window broke.
1b Tom broke a window.
1c Denise put marmalade on her toast.
The different types of questions are distinguished on the basis of the marker(s) present.
1 One kind of question has the word order of a statement but is spoken
with a rising tune instead of a falling one.
3a This is a joke?
3b You’re leaving now?
3c The Rangers won?
2. A more common sort of question is made with inversion—putting an operator in first place. An
operator (a form of be or have or one of the modal verbs can/could, will/would, shall/should,
may/might, must, ought, dare or need), which follows the subject in a statement, precedes the
statement in a question.
4a Is this a joke?
4b Are you leaving now?
4c Did the Rangers win?
3. A similar but different way of asking the same thing is to make a statement and attach a tag question,
as shown below. The tag question has an operator which matches the verb of the statement and a
pronoun which matches the subject.
5a This is a joke, isn’t it?
5b You’re leaving now, aren’t you?
5c You aren’t leaving now, are you?
5d The Rangers won, didn’t they?
4. The next type of question has inverted word order but it cannot be answered simply “Yes” or “No.”
The marker is the word or.
7a Would you like coffee or tea?
7b Is your son in the Army or the Navy?
5 The next questions have a question word (or ‘WH-word’) but are also marked by rising intonation.
8a You’re leaving when? When are you leaving?
8b She left it where? Where did she leave it?
8c They couldn’t find what?
8d Who couldn’t find it?
6 Questions that have a question word and do not have a rising intonation
(at least not on the question word) ask for new information, not forrepetition or confirmation.
9a Who found the money?
9b How many people came?
9c Why are you leaving?
The remaining four kinds of utterances form a sort of paradigm. Verdictives are utterances in which the
speaker comments on theprevious deeds of the addressee or their present result; these include accusing
and blaming, congratulating and praising. Expressives occur when speakers tell of their own past deeds
and present feelings, conveyedin apologies, boasts and lamentations. Directives and commissives are
prospective in orientation. In a directive the speaker tries to influence the actions of the addressee.
Directives include commands, requests, and suggestions, a distinction reflecting mainly the degree of
influence the speaker has over the addressee. Commissives, finally, are utterances in which the speaker
binds himself to perform (or refrain from doing) some act at a later time.
Predicates used in these speech acts and/or in utterances that report them can be further described
according to their relative ‘strength,’ politeness, antecedents and consequences. Direct speech acts
contain a first-person pronoun and a predicate that specifies what the utterance is; an indirect speech
act lacks these. For each of these kinds of utterance certain conditions must be present in speaker,
addressee, and various circumstances for the utterance to be felicitous.
