ANSWER KEY Semantics: a coursebook

Unit 22 Study Guide and Exercises

Directions: After you have read Unit 22 you should be able to tackle the following questions to
test your understanding of the main ideas raised in the unit.

1. You should understand these terms and concepts from this unit:

declarative sentence perlocutionary act (perlocution)

interrogative sentence illocutionary act (illocution)
imperative sentence phonic act
propositional act

2. What basic kinds of acts are typically performed by the utterance of declarative, interrogative,
and imperative sentences, respectively?

Declarative: act of assertion; interrogative: act of asking; imperative: act of

ordering
3. For each of the following situations, identify both the sentence type of the utterance and the
act carried out by the utterance (from among asserting, asking, or ordering). One or two
potential acts is/are given per utterance; others are possible.

a. Father to his son: "The car is dirty."

Declarative; act of asking the son to wash the car

b. Irate citizen to the city council: "Is it right to allow skateboarding on our
sidewalks?"
Interrogative; act of asserting that skateboarding on the streets bad

c. Mother to small child: "Look at the mess you just made!"

Imperative; act of asserting that the act was wrong (or ordering that
the mess be cleaned up)

d. Student to a friend on a windy day: "Some of my papers have blown away."

Declarative; act of asking the hearer to pick up the papers

e. Photographer to a client: "Stand right there and say cheese!"

Imperative; act of ordering the hearer to stand there
f. Student to a teacher: "What is the correct answer to question 2?"
Interrogative; act of asking the teacher for an answer

g. Student to a teacher: "I had trouble with question 2."

Declarative; act of asking the teacher for help

h. Teacher to a student: "Question 2 has not yet been answered."

Declarative; act of ordering the student to answer

4. What basic principle is exemplified by data like that in question 3 above?

It is not possible to always match sentence types with the speech acts they
perform.

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© James R. Hurford, Brendan Heasley and Michael B. Smith 2007
ANSWER KEY Semantics: a coursebook

5. Make sure you understand the difference between perlocutionary and illocutionary acts.

Perlocutionary act: the act carried out by a speaker's utterance of causing a

certain effect on the hearer and others. It is generally not always intended by
the speaker, nor is it under the speaker's control.

Illocutionary act: the act carried out by a speaker's utterance viewed in terms
of the utterance's significance within a conventional system of social
interaction. It is generally intended by the speaker and under the speaker's
control.

6. Identify some of the possible perlocutionary effects of each utterance given in question 3
above. Must such effects necessarily follow with the utterance of the sentences involved, or are
they accidental? Then do the same for the following additional utterances.

Answers will vary; one possible perlocutionary effect is given per item.
Perlocutionary effects do not necessarily follow when the utterance is made.

3a: The son washes the car.

3b: The city council bans skateboarding on sidewalks.
3c: The small child cleans up the mess.
3d: The friend helps the student gather up the papers.
3e. The client says "Cheese!"
3f: The teacher answers the student.
3g: The teacher answers the student.
3h: The student refuses to answer the question.

a. Policeman to a loiterer: "I'm afraid you'll have to move on."

The loiterer refuses to move on.
b. Parent to a child: "It's time for bed now."
The child throws a tantrum.
c. Teacher to a student: "You're going to flunk math."
The student gets upset.
d. Doctor to a patient: "You have only 3 minutes to live."
The patient faints.
e. Auto mechanic to car owner: "I'll have to replace the engine."
The car owner gasps.
f. Auto mechanic to car owner: "There's nothing wrong with your car, so there'll
be no charge."
The car owner is astounded and thanks the mechanic for his help.
g. Sales clerk to customer: "This coat costs $900."
The customer refuses to buy the coat.
h. Official to contest winner: "You just won $5,000,000!"
The winner faints.

7. Identify the illocutionary act performed by uttering each of the following (you may want to
consult the list given in this unit): One suggested answer is given; others are possible

a. "Could you pass the salt?" (Would "Yes" be an appropriate answer?) asking
b. "I'm afraid the cake didn't turn out too well." apologizing
c. "What a despicable movie!" deploring
d. "I've had enough to drink for now." declining
e. "But there are too many books to read in this class!" protesting
f. "You have written a beautiful critique of the problem." praising

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© James R. Hurford, Brendan Heasley and Michael B. Smith 2007
ANSWER KEY Semantics: a coursebook

g. "I don't see any way out of this trap, Darth Vader." surrendering
h. "Hi, how are things going?" greeting

8. Now go back to question 6 and state the illocution of each utterance there, then go back to
question 7 and suggest a few possible perlocutions for each utterance there. One or two
possible answers are given per utterance.

Illocutions for question 6:

6a: ordering
6b: ordering, suggesting
6c: asserting
6d: asserting
6e: asserting
6f: asserting
6g: asserting
6h: asserting

Perlocutions for question 7:

7a: The hearer passes the salt.
7b: The hearer assures the speaker the cake is all right.
7c: The hearer agrees with the speaker.
7d: The hearer does not offer the speaker any more to drink.
7e: The hearer (probably the teacher) explains why so many books were
assigned.
7f: The hearer is pleased with the praise.
7g: Darth Vader takes the speaker prisoner.
7h: The hearer says that things are going well.

9. Which of the following pairs of illocutions seem to be appropriate sequences? For those which
are appropriate, make up a pair of utterances which exemplify them.

Appropriate illocutionary sequences are given in boldface, followed by a pair of

examples.

a. offering - declining
A: "Would you like a drink?"
B: "No, thanks."

b. praising - thanking
A: "You have written a beautiful paper."
B: "Thanks very much."

c. congratulation - toasting
A: "Congratulations on getting the promotion."
B: "Let's drink a toast to celebrate."

d. congratulation - declining
e. accosting - condoling
f. accusing - admitting
A: "Did you break the vase?"
B: "Yes, I'm afraid I did."

g. leavetaking - mocking
h. deploring - agreeing

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ANSWER KEY Semantics: a coursebook

A: "I can't believe that they haven't mowed their lawn in years!"
B: "I agree that they ought to get it mowed right away."

10. Classify the following acts as either illocutionary (I) or perlocutionary (P).

a. persuading someone (P) f. irritating someone (P)

b. bothering someone (P) g. pleasing someone (P)
c. apologizing to someone (I) h. protesting to someone (I)
d. upsetting someone (P) i. helping someone (P)
e. accosting someone (I) j. impressing someone (P)

11. Why do linguistic semanticists concentrate on illocutionary acts rather than perlocutionary
acts?

We concentrate on illocutionary acts because they are under speaker control

and are generally always very clear-cut. Perlocutionary acts are not fully under
speaker control and are not aways predictable.

www.cambridge.org/hurford
© James R. Hurford, Brendan Heasley and Michael B. Smith 2007