A Cognitive-Linguistic Approach To The Illocutionary Force In Speech Acts

There is a close relationship between cognitive linguistics and pragmatics. Cognitive linguistics is pragmatics-oriented both theoretically and methodologically. Theoretically speaking, cognitive linguistics emphasizes the functions of language. Methodologically speaking, cognitive linguistics is a kind of usage-based model (Wen Xu&Chen Zhian,2005). This offers a possibility for the connective study of cognitive linguistics and pragmatics. The theories and methodologies of cognitive linguistics can be borrowed to solve the problems in pragmatics. The subject of this study is speech acts.There are several problems in Speech Act Theory:①That to say something is to do something is regarded as the soul of Speech Act Theory. However, no study has given a satisfactory answer as to why to say something is to do something.②Three kinds of action have been abstracted by Austin from a speech act, namely locutionary act, illocutionary act and perlocutionary act. However, illocutionary act has always been the focus of researches in this field. The importance of perlocutionary act has been ignored.③No clear definition has been given to illocutionary force.? The importance of social-cultural elements has been ignored. The scope of the context is too narrow which limits the study material within single sentences. The speech acts expressed by language units beyond sentence level are ignored.Based on Talmy’s (2000) theory of force-dynamics, this thesis establishes a model of illocutionary force-dynamics, which aims to offer an effective way to solve the problems mentioned above. The findings of the research are as the following:1) Under the framework of illocutionary force-dynamics, a new definition has been given to illocutionary force: illocutionary force is one which is employed by the speaker in language interactions to overcome the inner force tendency of the hearer (including the state of the mind, the emotions, the action tendency, and the habits, etc.), and which produces the consequential change upon the state of the hearer (including the thoughts, feelings, and actions, etc). Illocutionary force contains two parts, namely Fl and F2. Fl is the communication intention of the speaker, and F2is the social-cultural elements. The hearer is the agonist, and the speaker is the antagonist. The consequential change of the state of the hearer, caused by the speaker’s overcoming the hearer’s inner force tendency, is the perlocutionary act.2) The single sentences employed in traditional Speech Act Theory are only the typical members in the category of speech acts. The language units above the sentence level, which have the function of doing things, can be regarded as the peripheral members in the category of speech acts.3) Social-cultural elements play an important role in illocutionary force-dynamics. On the one hand, it helps to give a clearer picture about the constituents as well as the working mechanism of illocutionary force. On the other hand, it helps to make a more detailed account about the variety of perlocutionary acts in different contexts. Furthermore, the social-cultural elements make the pragmatic features of illocutionary force-dynamics prominent.4) Illocutionary force, like physical force, owns the property of gradability. Based on the study of language gradation by Martin&White (2008), this thesis presents four modes of gradable speech acts expressions, namely isolation, infusion, repetition, and others.5) Degrees of illocutionary force can find motivations in the field of cognitive linguistics. The theory of scale image schema, prototype theory, the theory of iconicity, and the theory of metaphor are employed to explain the gradability of illocutionary force.6) Perlocutionary act is regarded as a scale image schema. It helps the speaker to evaluate the degrees of illocutionary force so as to make adjustments for intended communications.In this sense, the degree of illocutionary force is a matter of felicity in verbal communication.7) The three issues, namely illocutionary force, perlocutionary act and that to say something is to do something, are not separated ones, instead, they are an intrinsically connected one in which illocutionary force is the core. Under the framework of Talmy’s force-dynamics, perlocutionary act plays an important role in explaining the constituents, working mechanisms and functions of illocutionary force. The intrinsic connection of these three issues helps to answer why to say something is to do something.The model of illocutionary force-dynamics is a supplement to Talmy’s force-dynamics, which extends the study scope of force-dynamics from semantic field to pragmatic field. This research proves that there is a possibility for cognitive linguistics and pragmatics to borrow theories and methodologies from each other to improve their own developments. The theories and methodologies in cognitive linguistics offer a new research angle for cognitive-pragmatics, which in return may extend the study of cognitive linguistics.