illocutionary force
What speech does
Illocutionary force is what a speaker accomplishes in saying something—the action performed through speech.
The same words can carry different forces: I'll be there might be a promise, a prediction, or a threat depending on context.
Philosophers of language distinguish this from what's literally said (locution) and what effects follow (perlocution).
The concept explains why Can you pass the salt? functions as a request, not a question about ability.
- felicity conditionsPrerequisites for successful performatives
- assertionConfident statement of fact
- intentionPlanned purpose for acting
- commandAuthoritative instruction given
- promiseCommitment to act
Austin · declaration · refusal · presupposition · request · pragmatics · apology · invitation · warning · intonation · meaning · vow · insistence · directive · tone · threat · legal contracts · pronouncement
- language philosophylinguistic analysis, Wittgenstein, Austin, family resemblance, private language
- pragmaticspresupposition, context, inference, pragmatics, relevance
- inferenceinference, logical inference, entailment, syllogism, deduction
- speech actsspeaking, talking, uttering, pronouncement, utterance
illocutionary forceliteral meaning
Exact, non-figurative interpretation
word meaning · denotation · reference · sense · surface meaning