Speech act
When using a language, we not only make propositional statements about objects, entities, and states of affairs and so on, but we also fulfill functions such as requesting, denying, introducing, apologizing, etc. Those we called as speech act. A speech act is an utterance that serves a function in communication. A speech act might contain just one word, as in "Sorry!" to perform an apology, or several words or sentences: "I’m sorry I forgot your birthday. I just let it slip my mind." Speech acts include real-life interactions and require not only knowledge of the language but also appropriate use of that language within a given culture.
Here are some examples of speech acts we use or hear every day:
Greeting: "Hi, Eric. How are things going?"
Request: "Could you pass me the mashed potatoes, please?"
Complaint: "I’ve already been waiting three weeks for the computer, and I was told it would be delivered within a week."
Invitation: "We’re having some people over Saturday evening and wanted to know if you’d like to join us."
Compliment: "Hey, I really like your tie!"
Refusal: "Oh, I’d love to see that movie with you but this Friday just isn’t going to work."
Identifying speech acts being performed by particular utterance can only be done if we know the context in which the utterance takes place. Speech acts are difficult to perform in a second language because learners may not know the idiomatic expressions or cultural norms in the second language or they may transfer their first language rules and conventions into the second language, assuming that such rules are universal. Because the natural tendency for language learners is to fall back on what they know to be appropriate in their first language, it is important that these learners understand exactly what they do in that first language in order to be able to recognize what is transferable to other languages. Something that works in English might not transfer in meaning when translated into the second language. For example, the following remark as uttered by a native English speaker could easily be misinterpreted by a native Chinese hearer:
Sarah: "I couldn’t agree with you more. "
Cheng: "Hmmm…." (Thinking: "She couldn’t agree with me? I thought she liked my idea!")
An example of potential misunderstanding for an American learner of Japanese would be what is said by a dinner guest in Japan to thank the host. For the invitation and the meal the guests may well apologize a number of times in addition to using an expression of gratitude (arigatou gosaimasu) -- for instance, for the intrusion into the private home (sumimasen ojama shimasu), the commotion that they are causing by getting up from the table (shitsurei shimasu), and also for the fact that they put their host out since they had to cook the meal, serve it, and will have to do the dishes once the guests have left (sumimasen). American guests might think this to be rude or inappropriate and choose to compliment the host on the wonderful food and festive atmosphere, or thank the host for inviting them, unaware of the social conventions involved in performing such a speech act in Japanese. Although such compliments or expression of thanks are also appropriate in Japanese, they are hardly enough for native speakers of Japanese -- not without a few apologies!
Locutionary act
a locutionary act is the basic linguistic action of voicing (or writing or otherwise making public) a meaningful sequence of words. It is by means of locutionary acts that one succeeds in expressing information or doing other things with words
Illocutionary act
Illocutionary act is a technical term introduced by John L. Austin in investigations concerning what he calls 'performative' and 'constative utterances'. According to Austin's original exposition in How to Do Things With Words, an illocutionary act is an act (1) for the performance of which I must make it clear to some other person that the act is performed (Austin speaks of the 'securing of uptake'), and (2) the performance of which involves the production of what Austin calls 'conventional consequences' as, e.g., rights, commitments, or obligations. For example, in order to successfully perform a promise I must make clear to my audience that the promise occurs, and undertake an obligation to do the promised thing: hence promising is an illocutionary act in the present sense. However, for certain reasons, among them insufficient knowledge of Austin's original exposition, the term 'illocutionary act' is nowadays understood in a number of other ways.
Example
I sentence you…
I promise..
I nominate..
The action that the sentence describe (nominating, promising, sentencing ) is performed by the utterance of the sentence itself.
Perlocutionary act
A perlocutionary act (or perlocutionary effect) is a speech act, as viewed at the level of its psychological consequences, such as persuading, convincing, scaring, enlightening, inspiring, or otherwise getting someone to do or realize something.
Example Locutionary act, Illocutionary act, Perlocutionary act
An utterance "Don't go into the room" (a locutionary act with distinct phonetic, syntactic and semantic features) counts as warning you not to go into the room (an illocutionary act), and if you heed my warning I have thereby succeeded in persuading you not to go into the room (a perlocutionary act).
adapted from many sources
