Illokutionær

Illokutionær is a term used in linguistics, philosophy of language, and pragmatics to describe the action performed by the act of uttering a sentence. An illokutionary act is what the speaker intends to accomplish in saying something, such as making a statement, giving an order, making a promise, expressing a feeling, or issuing a warning. This is distinguished from the locutionary act (the actual words spoken and their conventional meaning) and the perlocutionary effects (the listener’s responses or consequences that follow).

Historical background and theory: The concept originated with J. L. Austin in How to Do Things with Words (1962), who introduced the idea that speaking is an action. The notion was further developed by John R. Searle, who refined the framework and introduced the idea of illocutionary force—how strongly the speaker performs the act—and a common categorization of illocutionary acts into groups such as representatives, directives, commissives, expressives, and declarations. These categories describe the primary function of the illocutionary act within a given context.

Examples and usage: Illokutionary acts include promising, ordering, apologizing, congratulating, and warning. The same sentence can carry different illocutionary forces depending on context, tone, and social norms. For instance, “Can you pass the salt?” functionally serves as a request rather than a mere inquiry, depending on the situation and intonation. In cross-cultural communication and language teaching, distinguishing illokutionary force helps explain how messages are interpreted and acted upon.

See also: Speech act theory, performative, pragmatics.