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The Daily Insight

What are the different types of speech acts?

Author

Christopher Pierce

Updated on April 23, 2026

The three types of speech acts are Locution, Illocution, and Perlocution. A Locutionary Speech Act occurs when the speaker performs an utterance (locution), which has a meaning in the traditional sense. An Illocutionary Speech Act is the performance of the act of saying something with a specific intention.

What are the types of Perlocutionary act?

Examples of perlocutionary acts include persuading, convincing, scaring, enlightening, inspiring, or otherwise affecting the interlocutor.

What is Illocutionary act?

Definition of ‘illocutionary act’ Illocutionary acts are linguistic acts in which one can be said to do something – like stating, denying or asking. Statements which appear on the face of it to be endowed with cognitive meaning turn out to be used in fact to perform expressive or directive illocutionary acts.

Speech Acts Speech acts are verbal actions that accomplish something: we greet, insult, compliment, plead, flirt, supply information, and get work done. Types of Speech Acts Representatives: assertions, statements, claims, hypotheses, descriptions, suggestions. Commissives: promises, oaths, pledges, threats, vows.

What is a business speech?

Business Speech: Every individual is familiar with the idea of a business speech that what is business speech, its purpose and its importance. When a person stands among a great number of people and starts delivering any kind of information, which may be or may not be useful for the audience, but mostly it is valuable, is called a speech.

What is speech act in English grammar?

2. Speech act- is an utterance that a speaker makes to achieve an intended effect. Some of the functions which are carried out using speech acts are offering an apology, greeting, request, complaint, invitation, compliment, or refusal. A speech act might contain just one word or several words or sentences.

What is the example of locutionary speech act?

Example: “I am hungry.” • expresses hunger • requests for something to eat 5. There are three types of speech act: 1. A locutionary speech act occurs when the speaker performs an utterance (locution), which has a meaning in the traditional sense. 2.