Tasks and answers 9

1. What is the difference between direct and indirect speech acts?

In a direct speech act there is a direct relationship between a structure and a function,
whereas in an indirect speech act there is an indirect relationship between a structure
and a function. For example, when a sentence in the declarative expresses a statement
it is a direct speech act (DSA), but when such a sentence in the declarative expresses a
request it is an indirect speech act (ISA), as in the following examples:

Examples:
It’s cold outside.
DSA: I hereby tell you about the weather.
(declarative expressing a statement)
ISA: I hereby request of you that you close the door.
(declarative expressing a request)

2. Present one example of an utterance and state how it can be interpreted as a

direct and as an indirect speech act?

In a direct speech act there is a direct relationship between the form and its function,
whereas in an indirect speech act there is an indirect relationship between the form
and its function.

Example of a direct speech act:

Wear a seat belt! imperative - command/request
Example of an indirect speech acts:
Could you wear a seat belt? interrogative - command/request

3. What do you know about Searle’s speech act classification?

According to Searle (1979) there are five types of general functions performed by
speech acts: declarations, representatives, expressives, directives, and commissives.
They are summarised in the following table, after which some examples of each type
follow:
Speech act type Direction of fit S = speaker
X = situation
Declarations words change the world S causes X
Representatives make words fit the world S believes X
Expressives make words fit the world S feels X
Directives make the world fit the words S wants X
Commissives make the world fit the words S intends X

Examples:
1. Priest: I now pronounce you husband and wife.
(In order to perform a declaration appropriately, the speaker has to have a special
institutional role.)
2. Chomsky didn’t write about peanuts.
(used e.g. in conclusions, descriptions)
3. I’m really sorry. Congratulations!
 (used especially in statements of pleasure, pain, joy, sorrow)
4. Don’t touch that.
(used in commands, orders, requests, etc.)
5. We will not do that.
(used above all in promises, threats, refusals)

4. In which of Searle’s speech acts do words change the world? Present at least
one example of such an act!

According to Searle declarations are those kinds of speech acts that change the world
via their utterance. The speaker has to have a special institutional role in order to
perform a declaration appropriately, as in the following example:

Example:
Priest: I now pronounce you husband and wife.

5. Which acts are generally associated with greater politeness in English, direct
or indirect speech acts?

Direct speech acts are generally associated with greater politeness in English. The
English tend to be polite and that is the reason why they use indirect speech acts quite
often, for instance, in comparison with the Czechs. The most common types of
indirect speech acts in English have the form of an interrogative, but are understood
as requests, as in:

Examples:
Could you pass the salt?
Would you open the window?

6. Is there any expected connection between the linguistic form and the perceived
politeness of a speech act? Are more elaborate constructions usually considered
more polite?

We cannot assess politeness reliably out of context because it is not the linguistic
form alone which renders the speech act polite or impolite. In general it was found
that the more grammatically complex or elaborate strategies speakers use, the more
highly they are rated for politeness:
1. I wonder if I might ask you to X?
2. Please X!
3. Do X!
However, as soon as we put a speech act in context, we can see that there is no
necessary connection between the linguistic form and the perceived politeness of a
speech act.

Examples:
An example of a simple linguistic form considered as a polite speech act:
A married couple are trying to decide on a restaurant.
The husband says: ‘You choose.’

An example of an elaborate linguistic form considered as an impolite speech act:

The wife says to her husband:
‘Will you be kind enough to tell me what time it is?’
(later)
‘If you’ll be kind enough to speed up a little.’
(What’s the time? Hurry up!)

7. Can the same locution have a different illocutionary force in different

contexts? If yes, present at least one example!

Depending on the context, the same locutionary act (locution) can have different
illocutionary force and thus perform different illocutionary acts. So, for example, the
utterance What time is it? could, depending on the context of utterance, mean any of
the following:
The S wants the H to tell her the time;
The S is annoyed because the H is late;
The S thinks it is time the H went home.

8. What is the most common type of an indirect speech act in English with the
form of an interrogative and for what purpose is it usually used?

The most common types of indirect speech acts in English that have the form of an
interrogative are requests. It can be stated that indirect speech acts are generally
associated with greater politeness in English than direct speech acts.

Examples:
Could you pass the salt?
Would you open the window?

9. Can the same illocutionary force be expressed by different utterances?

Just as the same utterances can be used to perform different speech acts, so different
utterances can have the same illocutionary force and thus can be used to perform the
same speech act. For instance, in order to make someone shut the door, the speaker
can produce any of the following utterances.

Examples:
Shut the door!
Could you shut the door?
Did you forget the door?
Put the wood in the hole.
Were you born in a barn?
What do big boys do when they come into a room, Johnny?

10. What is the difference between representatives and expressives as recognized

by Searle?

According to Searle representatives are those kinds of speech acts that state
what the speaker believes to be the case or not. So they are statements of fact,
assertions, conclusions, and descriptions, as in: Chomsky didn’t write about peanuts.
By contrast, expressives are those kinds of speech acts that state what the speaker
feels. They express psychological states and can be statemenst of pleasure, pain, likes,
dislikes, joy, or sorrow, as in: I’m really sorry. Congratulations!