Speech Act Theory Austin's Speech Act Theory in How to Do Things with Words Two types of sentences: Performatives(施为话语)：the utterance is the doing of an action.Examples (Textbook p.247) Constatives(表述话语)：making a statement,an assertion, or describing what the speaker is doing.Example (Textbook p.248) Generally,performatives are first person indicative active sentences in the simple present tense,with one performative verb (like "name,bequeath,bet,promise, declare,warn")and often an adverb“hereby”Speech Act Theory Austin’s Speech Act Theory in How to Do Things with Words Two types of sentences: Performatives (施为话语): the utterance is the doing of an action. Examples (Textbook p.247) Constatives (表述话语): making a statement, an assertion, or describing what the speaker is doing. Example (Textbook p.248) Generally, performatives are first person indicative active sentences in the simple present tense, with one performative verb (like “name, bequeath, bet, promise, declare, warn”) and often an adverb “hereby