indicate the conventions used in the text to distinguish a sentence from an utterance. give an illustration of each.
Answers
Answer:
different propositional content
The characteristics of an utterance are:
•It is spoken and can be loud or quiet
•Can be true or false
•Physical event
•May be grammatical or not
•Meaningful or meaningless
•By specific person (in particular accent)
•By specific time or on particular occasion
•A piece of language (a single phrase or even a single word)
Explain these terms and concepts and give an example of each:
Speech acts : A speech act is an utterance that constitutes some act in addition to the mere act of uttering. It serves a function in communication.. We perform speech acts when we make an apology, greeting, request, complaint, invitation, compliment, etc. A speech act might contain just one word, as in “Sorry!” or several words or sentences: “I’m sorry I forgot your birthday. I just don’t know how it happened.” Examples: Request: “Could you open the window, please?”
Performative utterance : a type of statement we make using the right words, with the right intention, and in the right context in order to perform an action. It is an utterance that peforms an act by the fact of its being uttered under certain circumstances. When a person makes a performative utterance, that person is performing an action .For example, a person can give a name to a new puppy by stating aloud, “I name this puppy ‘Rita” ; or as when you say I promise, thus performing the act of promising ; or a teacher could assign his class homework by simply stating, “I assign you pages 67-68 in Gateway 2 as homework”.
Constative utterance : Is an utterance which states, reports, or describes facts in the world. It is a statement of facts that can be judged as true or false. Constative utterances are contrasted with performative utterances, which have a similar linguistic structure but do not issue true or false statements about the world. Examples: Shakespeare died in 1956 ; The cat is on the mat. ; or the utterance “John is running,” which depends for its truth or falsity on whether it is the case that John is running
Act of assertion : To assert is to state with force. So if someone makes an assertion, they’re not just trying out an idea – they really mean it. An assertion is a speech act in which something is claimed to be true. It refers to the act of affirming or asserting or stating something. An ACT of ASSERTION is carried out when a speaker utters a declarative sentence (which can be either true or false), and undertakes a certain responsibility, or commitment, to the hearer, that a particular state ofaffairs, or situation, exists in the world.
Examples: “Jenny got an A on the test” ; or ” there is a traffic jam on Hassan I bridge In Sale at 08:00 a.m “
Performative verb : They are the type of verbs used to make performative utterances. They describe actions carried out by speakers. Examples are: promise, name, bet, agree, swear, declare, order, predict, warn, insist, declare refuse ,etc.
5. For each of the following utterances state one or two purposes that the speaker may have had in mind when uttering them.
a ‘The car is dirty.’ : to complain about the state of the car ; to request from someone to clean the car
b ‘Is it right to allow skateboarding on our sidewalks?’ : to disapprove of skateboarding; to request banning skateboarding
c ‘Look at the mess you just made!’ : to order someone to tidy up the place ; to complain about the mess
d ‘Some of the pages have been torn out.’ : to apologize to someone about the damage ; to complain about the damage.
6. Try to identify the kind(s) of acts mentioned in your answer to question 5 above (such as warning, requesting, ordering, complaining, apologizing, etc.).
See the above answers
7. Identify whether the following utterances are performative or constative. If an utterance is performative, describe the act being performed, as well as the act being described.
a ‘I order you to pay the bill.’ : performative : the speaker is performing the act of ordering the listener to pay the bill
b ‘I pronounce you man and wife.’ : performative: used in the course of a marriage ceremony. the act performed is making a couple legally married.
c ‘I promise to drop by tomorrow.’ : performative : the speaker is performing the act of promising to visit.
d ‘The minister pronounced them man and wife.’ : constative
e ‘I promised to drop by tomorrow.’ : constative : the verb should be in the present
f ‘I sweep the floor every Tuesday.’ : constative
g ‘I believe you were wrong.’ : constative
8. Identify which of the following is a performative verb and use it in a sentence as a performative. Use the hereby test to help you make your decision. Think of three additional performative verbs not listed here, and also use them performatively in a sentence.