In
linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
and
philosophy of language
Philosophy of language refers to the philosophical study of the nature of language. It investigates the relationship between language, language users, and the world. Investigations may include inquiry into the nature of Meaning (philosophy), me ...
, an
utterance
In spoken language analysis, an utterance is a continuous piece of speech, by one person, before or after which there is silence on the part of the person. In the case of oral language, spoken languages, it is generally, but not always, bounded ...
is felicitous if it is
pragmatically well-formed. An utterance can be infelicitous because it is self-contradictory, trivial, irrelevant, or because it is somehow inappropriate for the context of utterance. Researchers in
semantics
Semantics is the study of linguistic Meaning (philosophy), meaning. It examines what meaning is, how words get their meaning, and how the meaning of a complex expression depends on its parts. Part of this process involves the distinction betwee ...
and pragmatics use felicity judgments much as
syntacticians use
grammaticality
In linguistics, grammaticality is determined by the conformity to language usage as derived by the grammar of a particular speech variety. The notion of grammaticality rose alongside the theory of generative grammar, the goal of which is to formu ...
judgments. An infelicitous sentence is marked with the
pound sign
The pound sign () is the currency symbol, symbol for the pound unit of account, unit of Pound sterling, sterling – the currency of the United Kingdom and its associated Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories and previously of Kin ...
.
The terms ''felicitous'' and ''infelicitous'' were first proposed by
J. L. Austin as part of his theory of
speech acts
Speech is the use of the human voice as a medium for language. Spoken language combines vowel and consonant sounds to form units of meaning like words, which belong to a language's lexicon. There are many different intentional speech acts, suc ...
. In his thinking, a
performative utterance
In the philosophy of language and speech acts theory, performative utterances are sentences which not only describe a given reality, but also change the social reality they are describing.
In a 1955 lecture series, later published as ''How to D ...
is neither true nor false, but can instead be deemed felicitous or infelicitous according to a set of conditions whose interpretation differs depending on whether the utterance in question is a declaration ("I sentence you to death"), a request ("I ask that you stop doing that") or a warning ("I warn you not to jump off the roof").
Felicity conditions for declarations
* ''Conventionality of procedure'': the procedure (e.g. an
oath
Traditionally, an oath (from Old English, Anglo-Saxon ', also a plight) is a utterance, statement of fact or a promise taken by a Sacred, sacrality as a sign of Truth, verity. A common legal substitute for those who object to making sacred oaths ...
) follows its conventional form
* ''Appropriate participants and circumstances'': the participants are able to perform a felicitous speech act under the circumstances (e.g. a judge can sentence a criminal in court, but not on the street)
* ''Complete execution'': the speaker completes the speech act without errors or interruptions
Felicity conditions for requests
* ''Propositional content condition'': the requested act is a future act of the hearer
* ''Preparatory precondition'': 1) the speaker believes the hearer can perform the requested act; 2) it is not obvious that the hearer would perform the requested act without being asked
* ''Sincerity condition'': the speaker genuinely wants the hearer to perform the requested act
* ''Essential condition'': the utterance counts as an attempt by the speaker to have the hearer do an act
Felicity conditions for warnings
* ''Propositional content condition'': it is a future event
* ''Preparatory precondition'': 1) the speaker believes the event will occur and be detrimental to the hearer; 2) the speaker believes that it is not obvious to the hearer that the event will occur
* ''Sincerity condition'': the speaker genuinely believes that the event will be detrimental to the hearer
* ''Essential condition'': the utterance counts as an attempt by the speaker to have the hearer recognize that a future event will be detrimental
See also
*
John Searle
John Rogers Searle (; born July 31, 1932) is an American philosopher widely noted for contributions to the philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and social philosophy. He began teaching at UC Berkeley in 1959 and was Willis S. and Mario ...
*
Illocutionary act
The concept of illocutionary acts was introduced into linguistics by the philosopher J. L. Austin in his investigation of the various aspects of speech acts. In his framework, ''locution'' is what was said and meant, ''illocution'' is what was do ...
*
Pragmatics
In linguistics and the philosophy of language, pragmatics is the study of how Context (linguistics), context contributes to meaning. The field of study evaluates how human language is utilized in social interactions, as well as the relationship ...
References
*
Austin, J. L. (1962) ''
How to Do Things With Words
John Langshaw Austin (26 March 1911 – 8 February 1960) was an English philosophy of language, philosopher of language and leading proponent of ordinary language philosophy, best known for developing the theory of speech acts.
Austin pointe ...
''. Oxford University Press.
*
Searle, J. R. (1969) ''Speech acts''. Cambridge University Press.
{{Formal semantics
Pragmatics
Semantics
Linguistics
Philosophy of language