PRAGMATICS (Speech Acts)

We have referred to the ‘context’ of a sentence or discourse, and the importance of context in interpreting language. The general study of how context influence the way sentences convey information is called Pragmatics.

            Pragmatics is as complex a subject as syntax or semantics. The term pragmatics comes from the field Semiotics, or the study of signs. Linguistic signs are one kind of sign. Within semiotics, syntax means ‘the way signs are arranged’, semantics means ‘what signs mean or signify’, and pragmatics means ‘the relationship between signs and their users’.

            Pragmatics has to do with people’s use of language in contexts, so it is a part of what we have been calling linguistic performance.

Speech Acts

You can do things with speech. You can make promises, lay bets, issue warnings, christen boats, offer congratulations or swear on oath. By saying I warn you that there is a sheepdog in the wardrobe, you not only say something, you warn someone. Verbs like bet, promise, warn and so on are performative verbs. Using them in a sentence does something extra over and above the statement. There are hundreds of performative verbs in every language. The following sentences illustrate their usage:

2. I bet you five dollars . Lendl wins.

                I challenge you to a match.

    I fine you $100 for possession of marijuana.

    I move that we adjourn.

    I promise to improve.

    I resign.

In all these sentences the speaker is the subject (that is, they are in the ‘first person’) who by uttering the sentence is accomplishing some additional action, such as promising, resigning, or chalelnging. Also, all these sentences are affirmative, declarative, and in the present tense. They are typical performative sentences.

            An informal test to see whether a sentence a sentence contains a performative verb is to begin it with the words I hereby... Only performative sentences sound right when begun this way. Compare I hereby apologize to you with the somewhat strange I hereby know you. The first is generally taken as an act of apologizing. In all the examples in 2, insertion of hereby would be acceptable.

            Actually, every utterance is some kind of speech act. Even when there is no explicit performative verb, as in It is raining, we recognize an implicit performance of stating. On the other hand, Is it raining? is a performance of questioning, just as  Leave! is a performance of ordering. In all these instances we could use, if we chose, an actual performative verb; I state that it is raining; I ask if it is raining; I order you to leave.

            The study of how we do things with sentences is the study of speech acts. In studying speech acts, we are acutely aware of the importance of the context of the utterance. In some circumstances There is a sheepdog in the wardrobe is a waning, but the same sentence may be a promise or even a mere statement of fact, depending on circumstances.We call this purpose – a warning, a prmoise, a threat, or whatever – the illocutionary force of a speech act.

            Speech act theory aims to tell us when we appear to ask questions but are really giving orders, or when we say one thing with special (sarcastic) intonation and mean the opposite. Thus, at the dinner table, the question Can you pass the salt? mean the order Pass the salt! It is not a request for information, and yes is an inappropriate response.

            Because the illocutionary force of a speech act depends on the context of the utterance, speech act theory is a part of pragmatics.