Speech Acts Theory
•Speech acts: they are the actions performed in saying something.
•Speech acts theory: it is a theory which analyses what we do with words, not only the
content but also the effect of what we say.
All sentences are speech acts, whatever we say and whatever we write.
It analyses language according to 3 levels:
•Locutionary level: literal meaning, what is said.
•Illocutionary level (force): comunicative intention, what is meant by the speaker, my
intention.
•Perlocutionary level (effect): pragmatic effect, the intended effect to be produced by the
utterance on the receiver.
