Users Guide: Speech Acts
User's Guide Contents
Speech Act Analysis
The focus of speech act analysis is the what and why of words. Or put differently, what is the speaker trying to do or accomplish with his words?
Take for example Psalm 13, where David begins:
| Text (Hebrew) | Verse | Text (CBC)The Close-but-clear translation (CBC) exists to provide a window into the Hebrew text according to how we understand its syntax and word-to-phrase-level semantics. It is designed to be "close" to the Hebrew, while still being "clear." Specifically, the CBC encapsulates and reflects the following layers of analysis: grammar, lexical semantics, phrase-level semantics, and verbal semantics. It does not reflect our analysis of the discourse or of poetics. It is not intended to be used as a stand-alone translation or base text, but as a supplement to Layer-by-Layer materials to help users make full use of these resources. |
|---|---|---|
| עַד־אָ֣נָה יְ֭הוָה | 2.1 | How long, YHWH? |
| תִּשְׁכָּחֵ֣נִי נֶ֑צַח | 2.2 | Will you ignore me forever? |
| עַד־אָ֓נָה ׀ תַּסְתִּ֖יר אֶת־פָּנֶ֣יךָ מִמֶּֽנִּי׃ | 2.3 | How long will you hide your face from me? |
How then should we think about the what and why of these words?
For the what, we have a number of questions. David is asking how long his suffering will continue. Will it be forever? But for the why, David is lamenting. He is using rhetorical questions to express his pain, draw God’s attention, and get God to act. The questions here are not attempts to get information, but expressions of lament and complaint. And this is why speech act analysis is important. The what of the words might say one thing, but the why, the intention and purpose of the speaker might be something else.
In our speech act layer we try to listen very closely to both the what and the why of the words of the psalm. There are two parts to this layer: the Summary Visual and the Speech Act Analysis Chart. In the analysis chart, every sentence of the psalm is analysed in detail. Once this detailed analysis is complete, we create the summary visual to give a high level view of the psalm as a whole.
Speech Act and Translation
Speech Act analysis is very important in the context of Bible Translation. Languages do not always use the same sentence type to produce the same illocution. Therefore having a clear view of sentence type and illocution for each sentence provides essential information for translators to consider the most accurate rendition in their own language.
Speech Act Summary Visual
Once our Speech Act analysis is complete, we put everything together in our Summary Visual. For a detailed explanation of this analysis, see the Analysis Chart tab above.
| Speaker | Verses | Macro Speech Acts | Addressee | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David | v. 2 “How long will you forget me? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?” | LAMENT (vv. 2–3) |
YHWH | |||||
| v. 3 “How long will you forget me? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?” | How long will you forget me? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? |
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| v. 4 “Give my eyes light!” | PETITION (vv. 4–5) |
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| v. 5 “How long will you forget me? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?” | Give my eyes light! Supporting statements – So I don't die. – So that my enemy doesn't say: “I'm the victor!” |
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| v. 6 “I have put my trust in your loyalty. I will sing to YHWH!” | PROFESSION OF TRUST (v. 6) |
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I have put my trust in your loyalty. I will sing to YHWH! |
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This visual has 4 elements:
Macro Speech Act Sections
The central part of the visual is the division of the psalm into main speech act sections, which are based on our Macro Speech Act analysis in the chart.See Analysis Chart tab above. Each speech-act section is given a title and description, and these sections often correspond closely to the final At-A-Glance structure visual in our Overview page.
Verses (with Text)
To the left we have the list of verse numbers corresponding to each section. You can hover over the box to view the text of that verse.
Speaker/Addressee
On the left side we have the speaker column, which shows you who is speaking at any point in the psalm. On the right is the addressee column, showing who the audience is throughout. This is based on our participant analysis layer. For speech act analysis it is very important to keep the speaker and addressee in view, because if the speaker changes, a whole new analysis must be made of that speaker’s intentions.
Emotion Colors
The sections are also colored according to our Emotional Analysis, blue for positive and red for negative, darker for active and more intense, and lighter for passive and less intense.
For a guided walkthrough of the Summary Visual of Psalm 13, see the explainer video above.
Speech Act Analysis Chart
The speech act table has six main sections:
Let’s go through these sections one at a time, using the speech act analysis of Psalm 13 as our example.
Text
Here the text is presented simply with the verse number, the Hebrew, and our CBCThe Close-but-clear translation (CBC) exists to provide a window into the Hebrew text according to how we understand its syntax and word-to-phrase-level semantics. It is designed to be "close" to the Hebrew, while still being "clear." Specifically, the CBC encapsulates and reflects the following layers of analysis: grammar, lexical semantics, phrase-level semantics, and verbal semantics. It does not reflect our analysis of the discourse or of poetics. It is not intended to be used as a stand-alone translation or base text, but as a supplement to Layer-by-Layer materials to help users make full use of these resources. translation.
Sentence Type
The sentence type is the “what” of the words. There are three main sentence types (sometimes called “moods”) with three different functions in communication:
- Declarative: A statement.
- Imperative: A command or wish.
- Interrogative: A question.
All three sentence types appear in Psalm 13:
| 6.1 | וַאֲנִ֤י ׀ בְּחַסְדְּךָ֣ בָטַחְתִּי֮ | But I have put my trust in your loyalty. | Declarative |
| 4.1 | הַבִּ֣יטָֽה עֲ֭נֵנִי יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהָ֑י | Consider! Answer me, YHWH my God! | Imperative |
| 2.3 | עַד־אָ֓נָה ׀ תַּסְתִּ֖יר אֶת־פָּנֶ֣יךָ מִמֶּֽנִּי׃ | How long will you hide your face from me? | Interrogative |
Illocution Type
The illocution is the “why” of the words - what the speaker is trying to “do” with the words. There are five general illocution types (assertive, commissive, directive, declaratory, and expressive), which take on more precise and specific illocutions in a given context. These are represented in the chart in two columns: Illocution type (general) and Illocution type (specific).
| Illocution type (general) | Illocution type (specific) |
|---|---|
| Assertive: represent facts | Stating, explaining, reporting, narrating… |
| Commissive: commit the speaker to doing something | Promising, vowing, swearing, threatening, offering, refusing… |
| Directive: tries to persuade the addressee to do something | Commanding, exhorting, decreeing, requesting, petitioning, begging… |
| Declaratory: does something simply by saying it; changes reality in the act of speaking | “I now pronounce you husband and wife” “I hereby sentence you to 10 years in prison” “I hereby appoint you minister of…” “I declare that [country] is at war with…” |
| Expressive: expresses the speaker’s emotions or attitude about the proposition | Lamenting, thanking, apologizing, comforting, complaining, praising… |
Let us consider then the illocution type for the three examples listed above.
| 6.1 | וַאֲנִ֤י ׀ בְּחַסְדְּךָ֣ בָטַחְתִּי֮ | But I have put my trust in your loyalty. | Declarative | Assertive | Professing trust in YHWH |
As shown above, the sentence type here is declarative, making a statement. The general illocution is assertive, representing facts, specifically here the fact of the speaker’s trust in YHWH’s loyalty. The specific illocution is that of professing trust in YHWH.
In other words, the what of the words is a declarative statement. The why of the words is a profession of trust in YHWH.
| 4.1 | הַבִּ֣יטָֽה עֲ֭נֵנִי יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהָ֑י | Consider! Answer me, YHWH my God! | Imperative | Directive | Asking YHWH to hear and respond |
Then we come to the second sentence type that appears in Ps 13: the imperative. Here the general illocution, the why is directive, trying to persuade the addressee (YHWH) to do something. The specific illocution in this context is that of asking or petitioning YHWH to hear and respond to the psalmist in his suffering.
| 2.3 | עַד־אָ֓נָה ׀ תַּסְתִּ֖יר אֶת־פָּנֶ֣יךָ מִמֶּֽנִּי׃ | How long will you hide your face from me? | Interrogative | Expressive | Lamenting God's seeming absence |
With the interrogative we find a more surprising illocution. Here David is not using his question to acquire information, but to express his pain and suffering, to lament. The general illocution is then listed as expressive and the specific illocution type is lamenting, in this case lamenting God’s seeming absence (hiding his face from David).
Indirect Speech Acts
The key idea we have been exploring is the relationship between sentence type (the what) and illocution type (the why). This brings us to the important ideas of direct and indirect speech acts. Direct speech acts occur when the illocution matches the sentence type. Each of the three sentence types has a default illocution:
| Sentence type | Default communicative function (illocution) | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Declarative | Assertive (statement, claim, etc.) | "The sky is blue." |
| Imperative | Directive (command, request, etc.) | "Go to your room!" |
| Interrogative | Directive (question) | "What's your name?" |
The first two examples in our discussion are both direct speech acts.
| 6.1 | וַאֲנִ֤י ׀ בְּחַסְדְּךָ֣ בָטַחְתִּי֮ | But I have put my trust in your loyalty. | Declarative | Assertive | Professing trust in YHWH |
| 4.1 | הַבִּ֣יטָֽה עֲ֭נֵנִי יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהָ֑י | Consider! Answer me, YHWH my God! | Imperative | Directive | Asking YHWH to hear and respond |
The third example is an indirect speech act. In our charts indirect speech acts are written in bold orange text.
| 2.3 | עַד־אָ֓נָה ׀ תַּסְתִּ֖יר אֶת־פָּנֶ֣יךָ מִמֶּֽנִּי׃ | How long will you hide your face from me? | Interrogative | Expressive | Lamenting God's seeming absence |
Here the sentence type is interrogative and the illocution is expressive. If we look back at the Default communicative function (illocution) for each interrogatives, we find directive, not expressive, as the default. In other words, the default function of questions is directive, to receive information from the addressee. However, here, the question has an expressive function, creating rhetorical questions. Here David is not actually expecting an answer or trying to acquire information, but he is using the sentence type of a question to express his pain and suffering.
There are many different kinds of indirect speech acts, and they require careful attention in reading and understanding the Psalms.
Macro Speech Acts
Up to this point the chart has focused on the text sentence by sentence. In the macro speech act column we begin to chunk the text into larger units and identify the illocution of multiple verses, major sections, and if possible the psalm as a whole.
Some psalms will have only one column for macro speech act, as for example with Psalm 19 . Here the psalm is grouped into four main sections, with four macro speech acts:
vv. 2-5b Describing the sky as a poet that communicates God’s honor to everyone.
vv. 5c-7 Describing the sun a a bridegroom-warrior from whose heat nothing is hidden.
vv. 8-11 Praising the qualities and benefits of YHWH’s instruction…
vv. 12-15 Praying to be made morally blameless.
These main macro speech act sections form the basis of the summary visual.
For some psalms it is possible to have multiple macro speech act columns, building up to higher and higher levels and even to the psalm as a whole. Take for example Psalm 100 , which has 4 macro speech act columns building up to one final summary of the psalm as a whole, with the overall illocution of leading Israel in the performance of a thanksgiving ceremony.
Intended Perlocution
The next section moves from illocution to perlocution. These two important terms can be compared as follows:
- 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 aim to bring about or achieve by saying something, such as convincing, persuading.” This is the intended result of the speech on feelings, thoughts, or actions of the addressee.
In other words, perlocution is the specific result intended by the speaker (not necessarily the actual result). We divide this into the three columns of think, feel, and do.
So for example in the final section of Ps 19, where the Psalmist is praying to be made morally blameless, we find the following perlocution:
(The table below is left/right scrollable)
| Verse | Text (Hebrew) | Text (CBC) The Close-but-clear translation (CBC) exists to provide a window into the Hebrew text according to how we understand its syntax and word-to-phrase-level semantics. It is designed to be "close" to the Hebrew, while still being "clear." Specifically, the CBC encapsulates and reflects the following layers of analysis: grammar, lexical semantics, phrase-level semantics, and verbal semantics. It does not reflect our analysis of the discourse or of poetics. It is not intended to be used as a stand-alone translation or base text, but as a supplement to Layer-by-Layer materials to help users make full use of these resources. | Sentence type | Illocution (general) | Illocution with context | Macro speech act | Intended perlocution (Think) | Intended perlocution (Feel) | Intended perlocution (Do) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12.1 | גַּֽם־עַ֭בְדְּךָ נִזְהָ֣ר בָּהֶ֑ם | Furthermore, your servant is warned by them. | Declarative | Assertive | Describing the effect that YHWH's rules have on YHWH's servant; i.e., they expose his sin and thereby "warn him" | Praying to be made morally blameless | YHWH will find the words and thoughts of the psalmist to be a pleasing sacrifice | YHWH will be pleased at the words and thoughts of the psalmist | YHWH will clear the psalmist from the guilt of hidden sins and protect him from the influence of presumptuous sins |
Notes
Explanatory notes are added when necessary.