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The Speech Act Theory. Maxims of Communication. Politeness in Pragmatics
The Speech Act Theory
The speech act theory considers language as a sort of action rather than a medium to convey and express.
J. L. Austin and John Searle
Two kinds of utterances
1. Locutionary act;
2. Illocutionary act;
3. Perlocutionary act.
- assertives (e.g., statements, descriptions, and predictions),
- directives (e.g., orders, requests, and direction giving),
- commissives (e.g., promises, oaths, and bets),
- expressives (e.g., greetings, congratulations, and thanks),
- declarations (e.g., excommunications, hirings, and declarations of war).
A: “Where are you going?”
B: “I’m going to the post office.”
A: “Are you going to work tomorrow?”
B: “I am on jury duty, but I’ll have to go to the doctor in the evening. I have asked the manager for permission”
Maxim of quality
A: “The Teheran’s in Turkey, isn’t teacher?”
B: “And London’s in America I suppose.”
Three different categories of the linguistic act
Performative utterances
Constative utterances
Maxim of relevance
A: “Where is my box of chocolates?”
B: “It is in your room.”
A: “Where’s my box of chocolates?”
B: “I don’t know mine either.”
Thank you for attention!
Maxim of Manner
A: Where was Alfred yesterday?
B: Alfred went to the store and
bought some whiskey.
A: Why was he arrested?
B: He stole the money from the bank.
Politeness maxims
The Tact maxim
Grice’s Maxims of Communication
The Generosity maxim
Could I interrupt you for a second?
If I could just clarify this then.
You relax and let me do the dishes.
You must come and have dinner with us.
Maxim of quantity
The Approbation maxim
Gideon, I know you're a genius - would you know how to solve this math problem here?
The Modesty maxim
The Agreement maxim
Oh, I'm so stupid - I didn't make a note of our lecture! Did you?
A: “Why did you come late last night?”
B: “The car was broken down”
A: I don't want my daughter to do this, I want her to do that.
B: Yes, but ma'am, I thought we resolved this already on your last visit.
The Sympathy maxim
I am sorry to hear about your father.