Method:Speech Act Analysis

• Grammar
• Semantics
  • Lexical Semantics
  • Phrase-Level Semantics
  • Verbal Semantics
  • Story Behind the Psalm
• Exegetical Issues
• Discourse
  • Participant Analysis
  • Macrosyntax
  • Speech Act Analysis
  • Emotional Analysis
• Poetics
  • Poetic Structure
  • Poetic Features
• Synthesis
  • Verse-by-Verse Notes
  • Translation and Performance Notes
• Close-but-Clear
• Videos
  • Overview
  • Top 3 Exegetical Issues
  • Top 3 Poetic Features
• Post to wiki
• Style Guide

Introduction

Speech Act Theory assumes that language does something, and it builds on the recognition that there is more to communication than the exchange of propositions. Take, for example, the statement, “I’m tired.” The speaker of this sentence likely intends to convey more than an assertion (i.e. a truth claim). Depending on the situation, the speaker may be doing something else: declining an offer (perhaps to go for a bike ride), complaining (perhaps because the bike ride has gone on too long), agreeing (when a fellow biker comments on post-ride fatigue), or many others.

Speech act analysis is particularly important when communicating cross-culturally, since “speech acts are realized from culture to culture in different ways [which] may result in communication difficulties that range from the humorous to the serious.” (Susan M. Gass, “Introduction,” Speech Acts Across Cultures: Challenges to Communication in a Second Language, Studies on Language Acquisition 11, ed. Peter Jordens (New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1996), 1.) What to one culture, for instance, is a polite yet succinct turndown of an offer, might be a blunt, rude dismissal to another culture. (Ibid.) Because understanding and translating the Bible is a cross-cultural endeavor, it is important to consider both how biblical language “acts” and how the target language performs the same action. (The Bible itself speaks of the active nature of God’s word (cf. Heb 4:12–13; Gen 1:3).)

Example: Psalm 6

When we come to Psalm 6

Steps