SH1621

John Langshaw "J. L." Austin (March 26, 1911 February 8, 1960) was a British philosopher of
language. He is remembered primarily as the developer of the theory of speech acts.
Austin pointed out that we use language to do things as well as to assert things, and that the utterance
of a statement like "I promise to do so-and-so" is best understood as doing something making a
promise rather than making an assertion about anything. Hence the name of one (1) of his bestknown works How to Do Things with Words.
Speech Act
In linguistics and the philosophy of language, it is an utterance that has performative function in
language and communication. It cannot be complete until someone receives and interprets the
utterance.
Types of Speech Act
Locution (utterance) It is the mere utterance of string of words with a
certain meaning.
Example:
Patrick: Oohh.. The basketball game.

Illocution (intention) It is the act of speaking with the intention to interact

with the receiver.
Example:
Patrick: Oohhh The basketball game.
Luke: Todays the final basketball game of your favorite
team, isnt?
(at this point, when Patrick said The basketball game., hes intention is clear that
he wanted Luke to interact with him.)
Perlocution (response) It is the act of uttering words with the intention of
affecting the behavior or manner of the receiver. It
is also the act of trying to bring about a certain
change in the addressee.
Example:
Patrick: Oohhh The basketball game, please.
Luke: Ohh yeah.. The basketball game!
(turn on the television to watch the basketball game)
(the reaction of Luke, is an example of an affected behaviour based from the utterance
of words which Patrick made)

04 Handout 1

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