locutori

Locutori is the plural of locutore, a term used in linguistics, semiotics, and narratology to designate the speaking subject behind an utterance. The locutore is the source of speech in a given discourse and may correspond to a real person, a fictional character, a voice attributed to an author, or an abstract or impersonal voice. The concept helps distinguish who is “speaking” from who is being spoken to or who produced the text.

In pragmatics and discourse analysis, the locutore is considered the entity responsible for the locution itself—the act of producing words and the linguistic choices that accompany it. The locutore’s identity, stance, and perspective can influence interpretation, even when the facts of the world described are fixed. The locutore can be explicit (named in the text) or implicit (a voice inferred from context or literary technique).

In narrative theory, the locutore may be the narrator or the perceived voice that tells the story, and authors can shift locutors to create different voices or levels of reliability. The distinction between locutore, author, and audience is a common focus when analyzing point of view and voice in texts.

Related terms include locuteur in French and, more generally, the English term speaker or narrator. In everyday Italian, parlante or narratore are often used, but locutore remains a technical label in linguistic and literary analysis.