Illocutionary Connectives: Linking Speech Acts

Understanding Illocutionary Connectives

Illocutionary connectives are linguistic devices that establish relationships between speech acts. They go beyond simple sentence conjunctions, indicating how one utterance’s intended meaning (illocutionary force) relates to another.

Key Concepts

These connectives signal various relationships, such as:

• Causality: Indicating a cause-and-effect relationship between speech acts.
• Concession: Signaling a contrast or unexpected relationship.
• Conditionality: Marking a conditional relationship between utterances.
• Purpose: Showing the goal or intention of a preceding speech act.

Deep Dive: Types and Functions

Illocutionary connectives help disambiguate the speaker’s intent. For example, ‘therefore’ might link a premise (speech act 1) to a conclusion (speech act 2), clarifying the logical progression.

Consider ‘although’. It connects two utterances where the second provides a contrasting point to the first, highlighting unexpected outcomes.

Applications in Communication

They are crucial for:

• Argumentation: Structuring claims and evidence.
• Narration: Ordering events logically.
• Explanation: Clarifying reasons and consequences.
• Persuasion: Building a case effectively.

Challenges and Misconceptions

A common misconception is that illocutionary connectives are purely syntactic. However, their primary function is pragmatic, relating to the speaker’s intent and the context of utterance. Misinterpreting these connectives can lead to misunderstandings.

FAQs

What is an illocutionary act?

An illocutionary act is the intended meaning or function of an utterance, such as promising, requesting, or warning.

How do connectives differ from conjunctions?

While some words function as both, illocutionary connectives specifically link the pragmatic force of speech acts, not just their grammatical structure.