CLAUSE TYPES AND

SPEECH ACTS

INDEX
1)Introduction

2)Theoretical part

3)Practical part

4)Conclusion

5)Bibliography

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 1) Introduction

This essay describes different aspects of the speech acts which deserve to be
mentioned. These are: a) the correspondences of the clause types with the
speech acts; b) the illocutionary speech types; and d) the difference between a
direct and indirect speech act.

2) Theoretical part

CLAUSE TYPES AND SPEECH ACTS

There are four clause types:

¨1) Declarative clauses are typically associated with statements.

She speaks three languages.

They are from Russia.

2) Interrogative clauses are typically associated with questions.

How old are you?

What it is your favorite film?

3) Imperative clauses are typically associated with directives (commands,

orders, etc.).

Don´t come to see me.

Come here, please.

4) Exclamative clauses are typically exclamations.

What a beautiful house you have!

How ugly he is! ¨

(Carter & McCarty, 2006: 531)

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The correlation between clause types and speech acts is not absolute. In the
next section other possible correspondences will be discussed.

Declarative questions may also function as questions, request, commands

or offers:

¨A: You want it today?

B: Yes, as quickly as possible.

[fixing an appointment]
A: You couldn’t make it twelve o´clock.
B: Yeah, twelve would be fine. (request)¨

(Carter & McCarty, 2006: 533-534)

¨You sit there. (command)

I´ll hold that for you. (offer)¨

(Carter & McCarty, 2006: 682)

¨Interrogative clauses can also perform other speech acts.

E.g. Could you explain that again please? (request)

Will you be quiet! (command)

[speaker is recounting a long and problematic journey]

Oh God, was I exhausted by the time I got home! (exclamation)

Was I embarrassed when I realized what had happened! (intensified

statement)¨

(Carter & McCarty, 2006: 682-683)

According to Carter & McCarty(2006: 293; Huddleston & Pullum, (2005: 171;
see also URL 1)
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¨Imperative clauses: their typical function is to give directives. These
commonly function as commands but other specific types of speech acts may
also be expressed by imperatives.

Don't come to class late. (order/command)

Please pass the salt. (request)

Sell now while prices are high. (advice)

Come in. (permission)¨

Shake well before using. (instruction).

Have some more coffee. (offer)

Feel free to contact me. (invitation)

Have a great week-end. (wish)¨

The next sub-section will deal with exclamative clauses.

¨Exclamative clauses consists of phrases with what and how. They usually
express a reaction of surprise or shock or the experience of a strong impression
on the part of the speaker.

What unpleasant people work in this restaurant!

What talent she had!

How I wished I could have been there!

How clever you are! ¨

(See Carter & McCarty, (2006: 543-544 ) and Huddleston & Pullum ( 2005:
168-169)

3) Practical part

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 ILLOCUTIONARY SPEECH ACTS

¨Illocutionary Act: Is the speaker’s intention. An utterance either verbal or

written with the purpose in mind to fulfill an intention or accomplish an
action. Performing an Illocutionary act means issuing an utterance that carries
an illocutionary force/point. Examples of illocutionary forces would be
accusing, promising, naming, ordering.¨

(See URL 4)

The classification of illocutionary speech acts is the following one:

-Assertive/representative = speech acts that express what the speaker

believes to be true or not; associated with acts such as: concluding, denying,
exclaiming etc.
I saw your neighbour yesterday. (informing)

I think is going to rain tomorrow. (predicting)

-Directives = the speaker intends to get someone else to do something, e.g.

requests, orders, advice, etc.

Don´t leave the house. (forbidding)

Can I borrow your book? (request)

-Commissives = the speaker commit himself to a future action, e.g. promises ,

offers , threats, etc.

I’ll buy you a car for your birthday. (promise)

I´ll help you to cross the street. (offer)

-Expressives = speech acts that express what the speaker feels, e.g.
congratulations, excuses and thanks.
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I apologize for what I did to you. (apology)

I like your photos very much. (praising)

-Declarations = the speech act is performed by the words of the sentences

themselves. The performative verbs occur with a first person subject and
present simple form. E.g. declaring a war, nominating a candidate.

I fire you because you are an incompetent. (firing from employment)

I declare the conference opened. (declaring)

(See Huang (2007: 106-107) and Carter & McCarty (2006: 680)

The difference between a direct speech act and an indirect speech act will
be explained in the next section.

¨If there is a direct match between a sentence type and an illocutionary force,
we have a direct speech act.

On the other hand, if there is no direct relationship between a sentence type

and an illocutionary force, we are faced with an indirect speech act.

One of the most common types of indirect speech acts in English has the form
of interrogative, which is not typically used to ask a question (we don't expect
only an answer, we expect an action).

Examples:

1) Can you pass the salt? “Interrogative is used to make a request >
indirect speech act
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 2) “Pass the salt! “ Imperative is used to make a request > direct speech
act ¨
(Huang, 2007: 110-111; see also URL 2)

4) Conclusion

The English grammar distinguishes four main clause types that are used to
perform different kinds of speech acts. The speech acts have a characteristic
correlation with clause types, but is not absolute. The illocutionary act is the
intention that we have in mind when we produce an utterance; there are direct
and indirect illocutionary acts.

Bibliography

Huang, Y. (2007). Pragmatics. N.Y: Oxford University Press

Huddleston, R & Pullum, G. ( 2005) A Student´s Introduction to English

Grammar. N.Y: Cambridge University Press

Carter, R. and McCarthy, M. (2006). Cambridge Grammar of English. N.Y:

Cambridge University Press

URL 1 Clause types. Retrieved from

http://languagetools.info/grammarpedia/clausetype.htm on the 17th November
2011

URL 2 Speech act theory. Retrieved from

http://www.scritube.com/limba/engleza/philosophy/SPEECH-ACT-
THEORY62763.php on the 29 th November

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URL 3 Speech act. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_act on
the 17th November 2011

URL 4 Speech acts. Retrieved from http://www.words-in-

world.de/mediapool/36/361457/data/Pragmatics_SS_2010_/Presentation_sessi
on_9.pdf
on the 19th November 2011

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