illocutionary

Illocutionary is an adjective used in linguistics to describe aspects of speech acts that concern the speaker’s intended function in communication. In speech act theory, an illocutionary act is the performance of an utterance as a whole, such as promising, ordering, warning, apologizing, or congratulating. This is distinct from the locutionary act (the utterance’s literal meaning) and the perlocutionary act (the effect on the listener).

Origin and theory: The term originates with J. L. Austin, who argued that utterances perform actions beyond conveying information. In his framework, the illocutionary force is the speaker’s intention in saying something, governed by conventional force and context. Illocutionary acts may be explicit, as in performative utterances such as “I apologize,” where the spoken sentence itself constitutes the action. Other utterances may carry illocutionary force without performing the action as such, relying on social conventions to accomplish the intended effect.

Classification and examples: John Searle later offered a widely cited taxonomy of illocutionary acts, grouping them into representatives (describing how things are), directives (orders, requests), commissives (promises, threats), expressives (congratulations, apologies), and declarations (appointing, firing). For example, “I promise to come” is a commissive; “Close the door” is a directive; “It’s raining” is a representative; “Thank you” is an expressive; “I now pronounce you married” is a declaration. The boundaries between categories are fluid, and illocutionary force can be explicit or implicit, context-dependent and sometimes culturally variable.