Tasks in Cultural Linguistics Task 1

3. Perlocutionary act: a speech act which depends on the production of a specific effect. For instance, for the verbal act of persuasion to have occurred, in Pete persuaded Liz to marry him, it is not enough for Pete to have uttered certain words – what is essential is that a previously reluctant addressee is caused to act in an appropriate way. The perlocutionary act concerns the effect an utterance may have on the addressee. Perlocution is the act by which the illocution produces a certain effect in or exerts a certain influence on the addressee. Still another way to put it is that a perlocutionary act represents a consequence or by-product of speaking, whether intentional or not. The effect of the act being performed by speaking is generally known as the perlocutionary effect.


4. Felicity Conditions
Felicity Conditions (also known as “happiness” or “appropriacy” conditions) are “conditions that must be satisfied for a speech act to be properly performed”. Felicity conditions are certain circumstances that guarantee the successful performance of speech acts, “the conditions that underlie a successful, logical, ‘felicitous’ production of different acts”.
Felicity Conditions can be divided into several types:
1. General conditions
2. Content conditions
3. Preparatory conditions
4. Sincerity conditions
5. Essential conditions
1. General conditions require the participants can understand the language being spoken, they are not play-acting (pretending) or nonsensical (absurd).
2. Content (Propositional content) conditions require that the content of the utterance must be about a future event.

For example, the content condition for a promise or warning requires that the future event will be future act of the speaker.

3. Preparatory conditions define an appropriate setting for the act, including the speaker’s intentions and qualifications.

For instance, the issuer of a command must have authority over the addressee, and the act must be both possible and not already carried out. If the preparatory conditions are not satisfied, the speech act has not been validly performed. Preparatory conditions for warning are different from those of promising.