Outline
Speech Act TheoryIntroduction to Semantics
November 4, 2004
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader
http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Outline
Outline
Speech has functionsMotivations for Speech Act Theory
Beyond truth
PerformativesConstraints on performatives
Parts of Speech Acts
Indirect speech actsPoliteness is indirect
Face
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Speech has functions Beyond truth Performatives Parts of Speech Acts Indirect speech acts Face
How to be a good host in Japan
(1) NanikaSomething
nomidrink
ni narimasubecome
ka?Question marker.
What would you like to drink?
(2) KoohiiCoffee
kaor
koochablack tea
woobject-marker
nomidrink
ni narimasubecome
ka?Question marker.Are you drinking coffee or black tea?
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Speech has functions Beyond truth Performatives Parts of Speech Acts Indirect speech acts Face
Motivations for Speech Act Theory
Exceptions to the rule
I Speaker’s contribute more information than just “what issaid”
I To account for additional information Grice and othersdeveloped the idea of conversational implicatures
I Gricean Maxims can give a principled account of additionalmeaning
I We now assume that hearers interpret utterances based on theassumption that speakers are following Gricean Maxim’s whenthey form their utterances
I Yet many utterances don’t seem to follow Gricean Maxim’s!I In particular speakers seem to communicate many things in an
indirect way, without obvious additional meaning
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Speech has functions Beyond truth Performatives Parts of Speech Acts Indirect speech acts Face
Motivations for Speech Act Theory
Utterances that break maxims
The following utterances break Gricean Maxims
(3) Do you have a watch?
(4) Mag ik jou iets vragen?
(5) Wilt u misschien de deur openlaten?
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Speech has functions Beyond truth Performatives Parts of Speech Acts Indirect speech acts Face
Motivations for Speech Act Theory
What is speech act theory
Crystal
A theory where the effect of an utterance is analyzed in relationshipto the speaker and listener’s behavior
I Speech Act Theory can help us analyze utterances that seemto break Gricean maxims
I Speech Act Theory can also help us examine utterances fromthe perspective of their function, rather than their form
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Speech has functions Beyond truth Performatives Parts of Speech Acts Indirect speech acts Face
Motivations for Speech Act Theory
Austin: How to do things with words
Sentence types have conventional relationships to certain types ofspeech acts:
I declarative: The class finishes at 6 pm → assertions(statements)
I interrogative: Does this class finish at 6 pm? → questions
I imperatives: Stop teaching immediately! → orders
I optative: I wish this class would be over! → wishes
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Speech has functions Beyond truth Performatives Parts of Speech Acts Indirect speech acts Face
Motivations for Speech Act Theory
Austin was a response to earlier views of language
1. that the basic sentence type in language is declarative (i.e. astatement or an assertion)
2. that the principal uses of language is to describe states ofaffairs (by using statements)
3. that the meaning of utterances can be described in terms oftheir truth or falsity
(from Searle : 223)
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Speech has functions Beyond truth Performatives Parts of Speech Acts Indirect speech acts Face
Austins first observation: Utterances have many functions
(6) We zouden vanavond pizza kunnen eten.
(7) De woonkamer moet gestofzuigd worden.
(8) Sorry!
(9) Wat raar!
(10) Je zal maar de lotto winnen!
(11) Zeker weten!
I These sentences cannot be said to be true or false.
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Speech has functions Beyond truth Performatives Parts of Speech Acts Indirect speech acts Face
Austin’s second observation: Certain sentences withdeclarative form are not used to make statements
(12) Bij deze verklaar ik Noorwegen de oorlog.
I Declarative sentence-type, but it isn’t being used to sayanything about the truth-value of some statement
I Austin called this type of speech act type a performative
I Only certain people have the ability to declare war
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Speech has functions Beyond truth Performatives Parts of Speech Acts Indirect speech acts Face
Words can do things
I Performatives change the way the world is
I Performatives can’t be true or false, they can only befelicitous or infelicitous, i.e you can’t marry people unless youare a minister, etc.
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Speech has functions Beyond truth Performatives Parts of Speech Acts Indirect speech acts Face
In what domains are performatives common?
I Church baptizing, confirming, marrying, funerals,pause exorcism
I Universities conferring degrees
I Court sentencing, swearing oaths to tell the truth
I Gambling placing a bet, raising stakes in poker
I Sports cautioning or sending of players, calling strikes, balls,outs (in baseball)
(Modified from Andrew Moore’s Website)
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Speech has functions Beyond truth Performatives Parts of Speech Acts Indirect speech acts Face
Constraints on performatives
Felicity conditions
I Need a known procedure with conventional effects, withcertain words or certain people having the right
I The particular persons (speakers) and circumstance must beappropriate for the particular procedure...
I the procedure must be executed correctly by all participants
I and completely
(from Saeed : 224)
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Speech has functions Beyond truth Performatives Parts of Speech Acts Indirect speech acts Face
Constraints on performatives
Right context
Ronald Reagan, 11 August 1984
My fellow Americans, I’m pleased to tell you today that I’ve signedlegislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in fiveminutes.
I Fails in terms of felicity conditions
I Does it fail in terms of sincerity conditions?
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Speech has functions Beyond truth Performatives Parts of Speech Acts Indirect speech acts Face
Constraints on performatives
Explicit and implicit performatives
I Sometimes the use of specific words signals the speech act
I Searle: IFID’s “Illocutionary Force Indicating Devices”
I Words such as declare name hereby
I Hereby test (Bij deze test?)
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Speech has functions Beyond truth Performatives Parts of Speech Acts Indirect speech acts Face
Constraints on performatives
Performative hypothesis (Gazdar 1979)
I Extended notion of performativesI every time you say something you perform a speech actI even banal sentences are speech acts
(13) I hereby inform you that I have graded your homework.
(14) I graded your homework
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Speech has functions Beyond truth Performatives Parts of Speech Acts Indirect speech acts Face
Constraints on performatives
Other types of speech acts
I Representatives speaker asserts a proposition to be trueusing verbs such as affirm, believe, conclude, deny, report
I Directives speaker tries to make the hearer do something,ask, beg, challenge, commmand, dare, invite, insist, request
I Commissives speaker commits themselves to a future courseof action, promiss, pledge, swear, vow, guarantee
I Expressives speaker expresses an attitude to or about a stateof affairs apologize, appreciate, congratulate, deplore, detest,regret, thank, welcom
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Speech has functions Beyond truth Performatives Parts of Speech Acts Indirect speech acts Face
Three parts of a speech act
1. Locutionary act -communicative act
2. Illocutionary act -speakers intention
3. Perlocutionary act -the effect that the speech act has on thecontext participants world
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Speech has functions Beyond truth Performatives Parts of Speech Acts Indirect speech acts Face
Mona Verwenyoghurt
(15) Tims vriendin: Willen jullie fruit ofverwenyoghurt van Tim?
Meisjes: (allebei) Fruit!Ben je doof of zo? Dat is toch...
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Speech has functions Beyond truth Performatives Parts of Speech Acts Indirect speech acts Face
Politeness: avoid the wrong perlocutionary effect
(16) NanikaSomething
nomidrink
ni narimasubecome
ka?Question marker.
What would you like to drink?
(17) KoohiiCoffee
kaor
koochablack tea
woobject-marker
nomidrink
ni narimasubecome
ka?Question marker.Are you drinking coffee or black tea?
I The first form has the perlocutionary effect of the guestrefusing a drink
I Cultures may differ as to the perlocutionary effect thatotherwise translation equivalents may have
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Speech has functions Beyond truth Performatives Parts of Speech Acts Indirect speech acts Face
Politeness is indirect
Indirect speech acts for politeness
I Indirect speech acts have intended meanings that are differentfrom their literal meanings
I Hearers recognize their real meaning based on the context
(18) It’s cold in hereI want you to turn up the heat or close the door.
(19) Would you mind helping me carry some of my stuff?Help me carry some of my stuff.
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Speech has functions Beyond truth Performatives Parts of Speech Acts Indirect speech acts Face
The concept of face
Brown and Levinson
(face is) the public self image that every member of society wantsto claim for himself (1978:66)
I Positive face individuals desire to be liked, approved of,admired, etc.
I Negative face individuals desire to be independent, avoidhaving others tell them what to do
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Speech has functions Beyond truth Performatives Parts of Speech Acts Indirect speech acts Face
The concept of face
I Threats to positive face expressions of disapproval,disagreements, accusations, interruptions
I Threats to negative face orders, requests, suggestions,advice
I Self threats to positive face apologies or confessions
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Speech has functions Beyond truth Performatives Parts of Speech Acts Indirect speech acts Face
Threats
(20) Jan, Kom ’ns.Order, threatens negative face, addressee is not masterof his own actions
(21) Je weet niet waar je het over hebt. Expression of dis-approval, a correction, threatens positive face, individuallooks bad in front of others
I Individuals try to avoid threatening each other’s face in socialinteraction
I this is seen as the root cause of politeness strategies
I orders, request, disapprovals, etc., are all expressed moreindirectly
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Speech has functions Beyond truth Performatives Parts of Speech Acts Indirect speech acts Face
Face and Politeness Phenomena in Japanese
I Matsumoto claims that Brown and Levinson’s definition isn’table to account for Politeness in Japanese
I The concept of face is oriented to the individual
I Japanese society is more group oriented, and politenessstrategies depend on acknowledging or showing one’s role in agiven group
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Speech has functions Beyond truth Performatives Parts of Speech Acts Indirect speech acts Face
Matsumoto: interdependence
(22) Doozo yoroshiku onegaishimasuPlease be good askI ask you to please treat me well.
(23) Musume o doozo yoroshiku onegaishimasuDaughter OBJ please be good askPlease treat my daughter well.
(24) Shujin o doozo yoroshiku onegaishimasuHusband OBJ please be good askPlease treat my husband well.
I in Japanese culture interdependence is a positive thingI respectful impositions (demands for help) enhances the image
of the addresseeGuest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Speech has functions Beyond truth Performatives Parts of Speech Acts Indirect speech acts Face
Deference: exalt addressee, humble self
(25) Annoo, tsumaranai mono desu gaThis is nothing much, but please accept it.
(26) Okuchi ni awanai kamoshiremasen ga, ...You probably won’t like it but...
(27) It’s not much, it’s just a little thing I picked up for asong in a bargain basement sale in Macy’s last week, Ithought maybe you could use it.
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Operationalizing Speech Act Theory Applications of Speech Act Theory Machine Translation
Part II
Dialogue Coding in NLP
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Operationalizing Speech Act Theory Applications of Speech Act Theory Machine Translation
Outline
Operationalizing Speech Act Theory
Applications of Speech Act TheoryHCRC Map TaskVerbmobile
Machine Translation
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Operationalizing Speech Act Theory Applications of Speech Act Theory Machine Translation
Speech Act Theory has many practical applications
1. Definition from Searle: Illocutionary Act “thespeakerintention”, i.e. intention think of speech acts asmini-intentions!
2. Performative hypothesisSpeech acts fur Alle!! All utterances are speech acts
3. IFID:er (i.e. Illocutionary (read:intention) Force IndicatingDevice) these are the surface cues as to what speech act isbeing performed
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Operationalizing Speech Act Theory Applications of Speech Act Theory Machine Translation
How to make a code
I linguistically motivated
I functioning, reliable, useable!
I test it by tagging a lot of corpora with itI Need to find recognizable patterns
I Find expression internal and external signs of a certain speechact
I Handcoded, or automatically generated (Samuel et al 1996) ora combination
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Operationalizing Speech Act Theory Applications of Speech Act Theory Machine Translation
HCRC Map Task
Giver map
Figure: NorwayGuest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Operationalizing Speech Act Theory Applications of Speech Act Theory Machine Translation
HCRC Map Task
Follower map
Figure: NorwayGuest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Operationalizing Speech Act Theory Applications of Speech Act Theory Machine Translation
HCRC Map Task
Map Task
(28) G: Where the dead tree is onthe other side of the stream theres farmed land.
F: I have to jump a stream.
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Operationalizing Speech Act Theory Applications of Speech Act Theory Machine Translation
HCRC Map Task
Another Map Task Example
(29) F: Im in between the remote village and the pyramid.G: Do you have the west lake,
down to your left?:Query-YesNoF: No.:Reply-NoG: So youre at a point thats probably two or three
inches away from both the top edge, andthe left-hand side edge.Is that correct?: Query-YesNo
F: No, not at the moment.: Reply-No
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Operationalizing Speech Act Theory Applications of Speech Act Theory Machine Translation
Verbmobile
Verbmobile project
Alexandersson et al. (1997), Dialogue Phases
I HELLO greetings
I OPENING theme is introduced (determining a date to meet)
I NEGOTIATION discussion of possible dates until one thatworks for both participants is found
I CLOSING task finished, at this point there is often arepetition of what has been decided.
I GOODBYE goodbyes
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Operationalizing Speech Act Theory Applications of Speech Act Theory Machine Translation
Machine Translation (1)
I We want to translate intentions, not words
(30) Would Thursday at 4 pm be good for you?
(31) I suggest 4 pm Thursday
(32) 4 pm Thursday would be good for me.
I ALL of them : suggestions for a time to meet
I Schmitz and Quantz:This is our translation goal!
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Operationalizing Speech Act Theory Applications of Speech Act Theory Machine Translation
Machine Translation (2)
I Same word gets different translations in different speech acts
I This despite the fact that the domain (topic) is limited in e.g.Verbmobile
I recognition of speech acts helps solve some of these problems
(33) A: Danke schon!B: Bitte.
(34) Konnen Sie Bitte leiser sprechen?
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Operationalizing Speech Act Theory Applications of Speech Act Theory Machine Translation
Machine Translation (3)
(35) Und Fernsehen macht vielliecht doch aggressiv(www.heise.de)And television might make people aggressive.
(36) Konnen Sie veilleicht einen Vorschlage machen.Could you make a suggestion?
(37) Passt Ihnen vielleicht Dienstag oder Mittwoch vormittag?Do Tuesday or Wednesday morning suit you?
I vielleicht should be translated as possibly in most cases, butin a speech act of request or a suggestion it should not betranslated because it doesn’t not contribute modal meaning
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory
Operationalizing Speech Act Theory Applications of Speech Act Theory Machine Translation
Summary
I Actual language use doesn’t always choose the most efficientform (despite what Gricean Pragmatics would predict)
I Social conventions such as politeness play a role in how wechoose to express ourselves
I Speech Act Theory gives us the tools to analyze a wider rangeof functions of language than theories based ontruth-conditional content.
I Speech Act Theory has practical applications in work done ini.e. Machine Translation.
Guest Lecturer: Jennifer Spenader http://www.odur.let.rug.nl/spenader/
Speech Act Theory