The locutionary act is the act of making an expressive meaning, extending the spoken language preceded by silence and then followed by silence or a change of speaker – also known as a locution or utterance act.
Locutionary acts can be discussed in two parts: utterance acts and propositional acts.
An utterance act is a language that comprises of the verbal employment of units of expression such as words and sentences, where-as Propositional acts are clear and expressive with a specific definable point, as opposed to mere utterance acts, which may be meaningless sounds.
Examples of Locutionary Acts
- I warn you to stop smoking – It constitutes an expressed locutionary act because its propositional content predicates a future act – to stop smoking of the hearer – you
- The dog is on the floor – Declarative sentence form that denotes a statement
- Do you want some coffee? – Interrogative sentence form used to ask questions
- Close the door – Imperative sentence form used to give direction
- It is cold here
What is Illocutionary act?
In simple terms an action taken by a speaker for speaking certain words, for example actions that is promising or threatening
Illocutionary acts of language in which a person is said to be doing something – such as stating, denying or asking.
In an illocutionary act, it is not just the act of saying something but the act of saying something for the purpose of:
- Stating an opinion, confirming or denying something
- Making a prediction, a promise, request
- Issuing an order or a decision
- Giving an advice or permission
Examples of Illocutionary Acts
- I will see you later – we could find three different assumptions of its meaning – prediction, promise and a warning
- I promise you to pay back – is an illocutionary act as it is communicating
- There is too much homework in this subject – opinion
- I will do my homework later – promise
- Go do your homework – order
What is Perlocutionary Act?
A perlocutionary act of naming an action or state of mind brought about, or as a result, to say something. It is also known as a perlocutionary effect.
A perlocutionary act is the result of listening to the hearer when the speaker intends to follow what he is saying.
The examples of perlocutionary acts which includes persuading, convincing, scaring, enlightening, inspiring, or otherwise affecting the interlocutor.
Examples of Perlocutionary Acts
- Would you mind closing the window
- Look out for a tiger in a jungle
- I want you to remain with me
- I don’t want to be seen with him anymore
- I want to convince myself of getting married
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