Austin's Speech Act Classification

Austin's Speech Act Classification explains how our spoken or written words do more than just communicate information—they also perform actions. For example, when someone says "I apologize," they’re actually performing the act of apologizing. Austin identified that language can be categorized into different types of acts: locutionary acts (saying something meaningful), illocutionary acts (intending to do something, like promising or warning), and perlocutionary acts (the actual effect on the listener, like persuading or convincing). This classification helps us understand how speech functions in social interactions beyond just conveying facts.