Method:Speech Act Analysis

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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).)


Steps

1. Speech Act Table

Copy and paste this speech act table template.

Sentence type refers to the sentence mood: declarative, imperative, or interrogative. There should be only one sentence type per sentence.

Illocution type (general) refers to five different sentence “actions.” The categories are from J. R. Searle (1960’s–70’s), who proposed five different types of illocutionary speech acts:

  • Assertive - represents facts (e.g. stating, explaining, or reporting).
  • Commissive - commits the speaker to doing something (e.g. promising, vowing, swearing, threatening, offering, or refusing).
  • Directive - tries to persuade the addressee to do something (e.g. commanding, decreeing, requesting, or begging).
  • Declaratory - do something simply by saying it; change reality (hereby. . .) (e.g. pronouncing a couple married; “We the jury find the defendant guilty”).
  • Expressive - express emotion/attitude about the proposition (e.g. thanking, congratulating, apologising, consoling, lamenting, praising, or greeting).

As with sentence type, there should be only one illocution type provided (even if you can think of other, secondary ones).

Speech acts can be direct or indirect. Direct speech acts require less inference on the part of the addressee. The utterance, “Pass me the salt” is a direct speech act, since its sentence type (imperative) matches its illocution type (directive). The utterance, “Can you pass me the salt?” on the other hand, is an indirect speech act, since its sentence type (interrogative) does not match its illocution type (directive). Indirect speech acts can take many forms (e.g. rhetorical questions) and can function in many different ways (e.g. increase politeness), and require careful attention in interpretation and translation. If there is a “mismatch” between the sentence type and the illouction type, highlight them both in yellow.

Illocution type (specific) refers to a second, more precise, illocution that paraphrases the biblical text and makes its illocutionary force explicit. These categories are not limited to only five.

Finally, summarise the main speech act sections of the psalm. Use the Speech Act Summary template here.

Appendix: Austin’s Categories

J. L. Austin (1950’s) (How to Do Things with Words) is considered the pioneer of speech act analysis, and he believed that language is fundamentally performative. According to Austin (see Vanhoozer, 86, for page numbers), there are three parts of the whole speech act:

Locutionary act – “is roughly equivalent to ‘meaning’ in the traditional sense.” This is what the sentence means at the propositional level. Illocutionary act – “what we do in saying something.” This is what the sentence accomplishes. This accomplishment––what the speaker does with their words––is contextual. Perlocutionary act – “what we bring about or achieve by saying something, such as convincing, persuading.” This is the intended result of the speech on the addressee.

For Austin, most utterances have all three dimensions. For example, in a restaurant, a patron says, “My soup is cold.” The locutionary act of the speaker is to communicate a locution, i.e. the propositional content that the soup has a low temperature. However, the speech act does more than state a proposition, since the illocutionary act of the speaker is to complain that the soup is cold. The corresponding (intended) perlocutionary act is to convince the addressee [i.e. the restaurant server] to do something, namely, to bring a new bowl of hot soup.

Bibliography

Exegeticaltools.com--Annoted bibliography Austin, J. L. How to Do Things with Words. Edited by J. O. Urmson and Marina Sbisa. 2nd ed. Oxford: OUP, 1975.

  • Beekman, John, John Callow, and Michael Kopesec. The Semantic Structure of Written Communication. 5th rev. Dallas: SIL, 1981.

Brown, Jeannine. Scripture as Communication: Introducing Biblical Hermeneutics. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007. See esp. "Introduction: Scripture as Communicative Act." Crim, Keith R. “Hebrew Direct Discourse as a Translation Problem.” The Bible Translator 24.3 (1973): 311–16. (DOI) Searle, J. R. Speech Acts: An Essay in the Philosophy of Language. Cambridge: CUP, 1969.

___. Expression and Meaning: Studies in the Theory of Speech Acts. Cambridge: CUP, 1979. Vanderveken, Daniel. Meaning and Speech Acts. Vol 1: Principles of Language Use. Cambridge: CUP, 1990. Pp. 166–219. Vanhoozer, Kevin. “The Semantics of Biblical Literature: Truth and Scripture’s Diverse Literary Forms.” Chapter 2 in Hermeneutics, Authority, and Canon. Edited by D.A. Carson and John D. Woodbridge. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2005.


Complete the following steps for your psalm:

  1. Copy the