speech act
Let an agent explain speech act theory and its categories, classify utterances as speech acts, describe applications in law, religion and computing, and support learning.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify
Researched by: Claude
Purpose and description
Let an agent explain speech act theory and its categories, classify utterances as speech acts, describe applications in law, religion and computing, and support learning.
An utterance considered as an action performed by a speaker, such as promising, requesting, apologising, warning or declaring, analysed in philosophy of language and linguistics into locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary acts, direct and indirect speech acts, performative utterances and phatic expressions; speech act theory informs pragmatics, law, religion and the design of conversational systems.
What it is for: Understanding utterances as actions.
It can be explain speech act categories; classify utterances; describe applications; support learning.
Distinguishing features
Action by utterance
Context-dependent force
Direct or indirect
Theory-defined
What it looks like
Not physical; utterances in context.
How it is recognised
Utterance doing something
Locution, illocution, perlocution
A mere sound without communicative intent is not a speech act
Related models
is a kind of - category
is a kind of - category
is related to - rhetorical framing
is related to - insincere speech acts
In practice
Families and kinds
assertives, directives, commissives, expressives and declarations
performative utterances
indirect speech acts
phatic acts
speech acts in religious and legal contexts
Standards and regulation
Legal rules on performative acts such as oaths and contracts
No regulation of the theory
Failure modes and hazards
Confusing sentence type with illocutionary force
Ignoring cultural variation
Misclassifying indirect acts
Also called
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Also registered as vr.tr.speech-act
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.
Theory Speech act theory.
Concepts.
Levels
Locution, illocution, perlocution.
Levels
Levels.
- What are locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary acts, according to Austin and Searle? definition
- What are felicity conditions? definition
Types
Categories of speech act.
Types
Categories.
- What are assertives, directives, commissives, expressives and declarations, and what are performative utterances? definition
- What are phatic expressions? definition
Classify Analysing utterances.
Practice.
Analyse
Classifying an utterance.
Analyse
Analysis.
- What speech act does this utterance perform, and is it direct or indirect? definition
- How does context determine its force? definition
Culture
Cultural variation.
Culture
Cultural variation.
- How do speech acts such as requests and apologies vary across languages and cultures, according to pragmatics research? provenance
- Which misunderstandings arise? provenance
Apply Applications.
Fields.
Law
Law and religion.
Law
Law and religion.
- How do speech acts function in law, such as oaths, verdicts and contracts, and in religious contexts, such as speech acts in Islamic law, with attribution? provenance
- Which entry fits a specific act? action
Computing
Dialogue systems.
Computing
Computing.
- How is speech act theory used in dialogue systems and agent communication languages? provenance
- How can intents be classified? action
Learn Teaching and history.
Education.
Teach
Teaching speech acts.
Teach
Teaching.
- How can speech act theory be taught with examples? action
- Which misconceptions arise? provenance
History
History.
History
History.
- How did speech act theory develop from Austin and Searle, and what critiques exist, with positions attributed? provenance
- Which references are standard? provenance
What the second pass must settle
- Should each speech act category be a separate entry?
- How should pragmatics resources be linked?
- How should applications in computing be linked?