Speech act is a technical term in linguistics and the philosophy of language. The contemporary use of the term goes back to J. L. Austin's discovery of performative utterances and his theory of locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts. Speech acts are commonly taken to include such acts as promising, ordering, greeting, warning, inviting and congratulating.
Read more about Speech Act: Locutionary, Illocutionary and Perlocutionary Acts, Illocutionary Acts, Indirect Speech Acts, History, In Language Development, In Computer Science
Famous quotes containing the words speech and/or act:
“Language is legislation, speech is its code. We do not see the power which is in speech because we forget that all speech is a classification, and that all classifications are oppressive.”
—Roland Barthes (1915–1980)
“Holly: Oh, Brad, I’d do my act in clown alley or the horse stop for you. I’d do anything if it was just for you.
Brad: Pigeon, look. Out under the sky you know how I feel about you. But under the Big Top one performer’s just like another to me.”
—Fredric M. Frank (1911–1977)