TIP OF THE DAY 59: Speech acts part 1
link to next post TIP OF THE DAY 60: Speech acts part 2 - Logos Forums
Since the forum change has been delayed, I've started adding these posts to the previous tip list. See L/V 10 Tip of the Day Note that this list has been moved to the wiki (which itself is moved to the new forum software).
TOPIC: Speech acts
QUESTION: What theory of speech acts as Logos use for its coding?
SOFTWARE: from Parks, James. Speech Acts Dataset Documentation. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2016.
The Speech Act Dataset uses a simple taxonomy of Speech-Act categories which has been rigorously established through linguistic research in the field of Pragmatics. This taxonomy is simplified in order to retain searchability. [1]
Yes, I find this definition of source unsatisfactory, so I’ve built my own based on John Searle whose work is based on that of J.L. Austin.
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Logos |
John Searle |
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Informative speech act: assertive |
An assertive speech act is one where a speaker makes an assertion or a statement, gives a description. The speaker thus provides (asserts) information to the hearer or audience.[2] |
Assertives (or Representatives) |
Commit the speaker to the truth of an expressed proposition
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Informative speech act: information question |
An information question is a specific speech act which directly states that the speaker lack a piece of information.[3] |
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Obligative speech act: directive |
A directive speech act is one where the speaker attempts to get the hearer to do something.[4] |
Directive |
Attempt to get the addressee to perform an action
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Obligative speech act: commissive |
A commissive speech act is one where the speaker commits themself to some action.[5] |
Commissive |
Commit the speaker to some future course of action
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Constitutive speech act: expressive |
An expressive speech act is one that expresses a psychological state about a state of affairs specified in the utterance. |
Expressive |
Express the speaker's psychological state or feelings about a situation
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Constitutive speech act: declarative |
A declarative speech act is one which brings about the correspondence between the content of the utterance and reality.[7] |
Declaration |
Change the state of the world in an immediate way through the utterance
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QUESTION: Roughly, what is the relationship between sentence type and speech act categories?
ANSWER: From Perplexity:
The relationship between sentence types and speech acts is complex and not always one-to-one. Here's an overview of how they relate:
1. Sentence Types:
Traditional grammar typically recognizes four main sentence types:
- Declarative
- Interrogative
- Imperative
- Exclamative
2. Speech Acts:
Searle's classification of speech acts includes five categories:
- Assertives (Representatives)
- Directives
- Commissives
- Expressives
- Declarations
The relationship between these:
1. Declarative sentences often correspond to Assertive speech acts.
- Example: "The sky is blue." (Statement of fact)
2. Interrogative sentences typically align with Directive speech acts (specifically, questions).
- Example: "What time is it?" (Request for information)
3. Imperative sentences usually function as Directive speech acts.
- Example: "Close the door." (Command)
4. Exclamative sentences often express Expressive speech acts.
- Example: "What a beautiful day!" (Expression of emotion)
5. Commissive and Declarative speech acts don't have a direct correspondence to a specific sentence type. They can be expressed using various sentence types.
However, it's crucial to note that:
- The form (sentence type) doesn't always match the function (speech act).
- Context and intonation play significant roles in determining the actual speech act.
For example:
- A declarative sentence can function as a directive: "The door is open." (Implying: Please close it)
- An interrogative can be an expressive: "Isn't this weather gorgeous?" (Expressing appreciation, not seeking information)
- An imperative can be a commissive: "Call me tomorrow." (Promise to be available)
In summary, while there are some typical correlations between sentence types and speech acts, the relationship is not fixed. The actual speech act often depends on context, intonation, and the speaker's intention, rather than just the grammatical form of the sentence.
SUMMARY of datatypes
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Reported speech |
Sentence type |
Speech acts |
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addressee:Jesus |
sentence:"Declarative Sentence" |
speechAct:"Constitutive: Declarative" |
QUESTION: How do I combine sentence type and speech act data in a search.
SOFTWARE: They can be combined in an All, Bible, Book, or Morph search.
ANSWER: Search for speech acts that are information questions and the sentence type is interrogative. The search argument is speechAct:"Informative: Information Question" INTERSECTS sentence:"Imperative Sentence”
QUESTION: Roughly, what is the relationship between verbal voice and mood and speech act categories?
ANSWER: From Perplexity:
Based on the search results and my knowledge of linguistics, here are the key points about the relationship between verbal voice, mood, and speech acts:
1. Grammatical mood and speech acts are related, but do not have a one-to-one correspondence:
- There are typically three basic clause types/moods across languages: declarative, interrogative, and imperative.
- These moods tend to correlate with three basic types of speech acts: making an assertion (declarative), posing a question (interrogative), and proposing the adoption of a goal (imperative).
- However, this correlation is not absolute. The same mood can be used for different speech acts, and different moods can be used for the same speech act.
2. Mood helps determine semantic type, which lends itself to certain speech acts:
- The conventional content of mood determines the semantic type of the clause.
- This semantic type naturally lends itself to serving as a particular type of speech act.
- But this correlation is defeasible and can be overridden by context.
3. Voice (active/passive) is less directly related to speech acts:
- Voice affects the syntactic structure and semantic roles in a sentence.
- It does not have as direct a relationship to speech act types as mood does.
4. Speech act theory recognizes different components beyond just mood:
- Locutionary act: The actual words uttered
- Illocutionary act: The intended meaning/action
- Perlocutionary act: The effect on the listener
5. Context and speaker intention are crucial:
- The same sentence structure can perform different speech acts depending on context.
- Understanding speaker intention is key to identifying the speech act being performed.
6. There are debates about the exact nature of these relationships:
- Some argue for a closer tie between grammatical form and speech act type.
- Others emphasize the role of context and intention over grammatical form.
In summary, while there are tendencies for certain moods to correlate with certain speech acts, the relationship is complex and context-dependent. Voice plays a less direct role in determining speech act type compared to mood.[9]
QUESTION: How do I combine Reported Speech data and speech acts in a search?
SOFTWARE: They can be combined in an All, Bible, Book, or Morph search.
ANSWER: Jesus commitments Himself to future actions. Search argument: speechAct:="Obligative: Commissive" INTERSECTS speaker:Jesus
QUESTION: What is a hortatory subjunctive?
SOFTWARE: the synopsis from the Smart all search:
The hortatory subjunctive is a grammatical construction used for exhortations or commands, typically in the first person plural form. It is often translated as "let us" in English. For example, one article cites the phrase "ἄγε σκοπῶμεν" from Xenophon's Cyropaedia, meaning "come let us consider". Another example provided is "διέλθωμεν εἰς τὸ πέραν" from Mark 4:35, translated as "Let us go to the other side". The hortatory subjunctive is used when the speaker is encouraging others to join in an action, as illustrated by the example "ἀγαπητοί, ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους" from 1 John 4:7, which means "Beloved, let us love one another". It's important to note that in Greek, the negative used with the hortatory subjunctive is μή.[10]
ANSWER: Parks, James. Speech Acts Dataset Documentation. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2016. provides the search argument @V??S WITHIN {Section <SpeechAct = Oblig: Direct >}[11] which is in the L9 format. Notice that the morphology coding lacks a language indicator and simply allows the Logos morphology default. Allowing the current version of Logos to convert the search argument results in term:(morph.af.h:V??s OR morph.af.a:V??s OR morph.g:V??S OR morph.l:V??S OR morph.s3.s:V+S??sE?F?Y?T?D?R) IN section:speechAct:="Obligative: Directive" In other words, the morphology has been expanded to include all languages with a Logos morphology, wrapping them within “term” so they will be colored as a single color/term in the search results.
[1] James Parks, Speech Acts Dataset Documentation (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2016).
[2] James Parks, Speech Acts Dataset Documentation (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2016).
[3] James Parks, Speech Acts Dataset Documentation (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2016).
[4] James Parks, Speech Acts Dataset Documentation (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2016).
[5] James Parks, Speech Acts Dataset Documentation (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2016).
James Parks, Speech Acts Dataset Documentation (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2016).
[7] James Parks, Speech Acts Dataset Documentation (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2016).
https://www.thoughtco.com/speech-act-theory-1691986 and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_act and https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/sentence/type.php and https://study.com/academy/lesson/speech-act-theory-definition-pragmatics.html
[9] https://academic.oup.com/book/9256/chapter-abstract/155973642?redirectedFrom=fulltext and https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/speech-acts/ and https://magdalena-kaufmann.uconn.edu/esslli09/papers/eckardt_schwager1.pdf and https://study.com/academy/lesson/speech-act-theory-definition-pragmatics.html and https://www.asc.ohio-state.edu/roberts.21/Roberts.SpeechActs.pdf and https://semantics.uchicago.edu/kennedy/classes/f09/semprag1/sadock.pdf
[10] Jeffrey A. Rydberg-Cox, Overview of Greek Syntax (Medford, MA: Perseus Digital Library, 2000). and John D. Schwandt, An Introduction to Biblical Greek: A Grammar with Exercises (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2017). and H. Daniel Zacharias, Biblical Greek Made Simple: All the Basics in One Semester (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2018), 222. and John D. Schwandt, An Introduction to Biblical Greek: A Grammar with Exercises, Revised Edition (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2020), 253.
[11] James Parks, Speech Acts Dataset Documentation (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2016).
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."