SPEECH ACT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does speech act mean? 

• SPEECH ACT (noun)
  The noun SPEECH ACT has 1 sense:

1. the use of language to perform some act

  Familiarity information: SPEECH ACT used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SPEECH ACT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The use of language to perform some act

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("speech act" is a kind of...):

act; deed; human action; human activity (something that people do or cause to happen)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "speech act"):

denial (the act of refusing to comply (as with a request))

resignation (the act of giving up (a claim or office or possession etc.))

address; speech (the act of delivering a formal spoken communication to an audience)

denouncement; denunciation (a public act of denouncing)

explanation (the act of explaining; making something plain or intelligible)

challenge (a call to engage in a contest or fight)

naming (the verbal act of naming)

boast; boasting; jactitation; self-praise (speaking of yourself in superlatives)

promise (a verbal commitment by one person to another agreeing to do (or not to do) something in the future)

disclosure; revealing; revelation (the speech act of making something evident)

informing; making known (a speech act that conveys information)

objection (the speech act of objecting)

rejection (the speech act of rejecting)

congratulation; felicitation (the act of acknowledging that someone has an occasion for celebration)

affirmation; assertion; statement (the act of affirming or asserting or stating something)

description (the act of describing something)

reply; response (the speech act of continuing a conversational exchange)

asking; request (the verbal act of requesting)

offer; offering (the verbal act of offering)

disagreement (the speech act of disagreeing or arguing or disputing)

citation ((law) the act of citing (as of spoken words or written passages or legal precedents etc.))

agreement (the verbal act of agreeing)

bid; bidding; command; dictation (an authoritative direction or instruction to do something)

proposal; proposition (the act of making a proposal)

slander (words falsely spoken that damage the reputation of another)