On Perlocutionary Act.docVIP

On Perlocutionary Act 　　Abstract 　　This article focuses on the neglected field in speech acts theory – perlocutionary act. Through the analysis of the nature of language， we can see the importance of it and the characteristics of it. At last， this essay tries to raise the relatively complete definition of perlocutionary act. 　　Key words： Perlocutionary act； Characteristics； Definition 　　INTRODUCTION 　　In 1950s， the speech acts started to become the subject of language philosophers. Austin is the founder of the Speech Act Theory， and he isolates three basic senses in which in saying something one are doing something， and hence three kinds of acts that are simultaneously performed： 　　i） locutionary act： the utterence of a sentence with determinate sense and reference 　　ii） illocutionary act： the making of a statement， offer， promise， etc. in uttering a sentence， by virtue of the conventional force associated with it 　　iii） perlocutionary act： the bringing about of effects on the audience by means of uttering the sentences， such effects being special to the circumstances of utterence 　　In the process of raising this theory， Austin especially emphasized on the importance of the purpose of speakers. So most linguists attached great importance to the illocutionary act. Thomas （1995， p. 51） even stated that“Today the term ‘speech act’ is used to mean the same as‘illocutionary act’ – in fact， you will find the terms speech act， illocutionary act， illocutionary force， pragmatic force or even just force， all used to mean the same thing”. At the same time， the research of perlocutionary act is gradually neglected. In fact， perlocutionry act is also very important in pragmatic study. In this essay， I will talk about some shallow opinions on the perlocutionary act. 　　1 . AUSTIN’S STATEMENT ON PERLOCUTIONARY ACTS 　　Indeed， Austin made the emphasis on the purpose of speakers， yet this cannot represent that he considered the speech act and illocutionary force as the same