Stelmann (1982) defines linguistic communication as to speak and convey a message within context, with certain intentions, and with the receiver’s acknowledge of the message being delivered and its motives.
A speech act can be also viewed as a performing act because when we say something it bears a communicative force. J. R. Searle (1969) holds the view that when we speak a language, it implies we are performing speech acts, acts such as making statements, issuing commands, asking questions or making promises.
Speech Act Theory
In our daily verbal or written communication, the meaning of our words are influenced by the speaker, the listener and the context or situation the utterance is applied.
J. L. Austin (1962) attempt to elaborate how meaning and action are
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The illocutionary speech act is an invitation to the customer to make a purchase. The perlocutionary act is its effect on the customer, who might agree or refuse to buy baguette.
Direct Speech Act vs Indirect Speech Act
A speech act can be defined as a direct speech act when the sentence type match with the intention of the speaker.
The speech act of a customer towards the salesperson of “How much does it cost?” is a direct speech act if it is being said with the intention of asking a question about the price he/she needs to pay in order to acquire that product or service.
Direct speech acts imply its literal meaning. People usually issue an order when they are commanding or make promises when they are trying to guarantee something, and they perform their speech act to achieve their intention; for instance, “Go to sleep now!” (Command) or “I will marry you when I make a fortune” (Promise).
An indirect speech act is a speech act in which its meaning depends on the situation being uttered rather than on sentence type. (Denham & Lobeck,