王扬

I. Introduction

Press conference is an essential medium for information transmission， especially for the Foreign Ministry press conference， which serves as an important source of a countrys policy and position. This paper makes a brief comparison of them between China and the United States based on the theory of speech acts， analyzing the potential reasons and intentions and drawing up some conclusions for reference and practical use.

II. Elaboration of speech act theory

Speech act theory was first established by the British philosopher John Austin （1962）. He pointed out that we use language to do things as well as to assert things， which basically forms the speech act theory. Based on his theory， the American philosopher John Searle （1969） then classified illocutionary acts into five types.

2.1 Austins model of speech acts

2.1.1 The theory of performatives

The action which is performed when a ‘performative utterance is issued belongs to what Austin calls a speech act， e.g. “I name this ship the Queen Elizabeth”， “I take this man as my lawfully wedded husband， ” or “I bequeath this watch to my brother”. In these cases， the sentence is not being used to describe or state what one is ‘doing， but being used to actually ‘do it.

2.1.2 Locutionary， illocutionary and perlocutionary acts

Austin then further explained that speech acts can be analyzed on three levels： locutionary act： the performance of an utterance； illocutionary act： the pragmatic ‘illocutionary force of the utterance； perlocutionary act： its actual effect.

2.2 The development of the theory by Searle

2.2.1 The classification of illocutionary acts

According to Searle， under the branch of illocutionary acts， there are five general types of things we do with language： assertives； directives； commissives； expressives； declaratives.

2.2.2 Indirect speech acts

One common way of performing speech acts is to use an expression which indicates one speech act， and indeed performs it， which is a direct speech act. However， the expression may also an indirect one， for instance： “Peter， can you close the window？” thereby asking Peter whether he will be able to close the window， but also requesting that he does so， and it counts as an indirect speech act.

III. Comparison of press conference language between English and Chinese

3.1 Direct speech act

3.1.1 Performative verbs

types performative verbs commonly used in press conference

assertives E： admit， affirm， agree， answer， argue， assert， assure， claim， conclude， declare， insist， report， suggest， testify

C： 报告， 声明， 宣称， 通知， 提醒， 公告， 否认， 否定， 承认， 证实， 确立， 批准， 坦白， 公认

directives E： request， suggest， command， sign， allow， prohibit， forbid， recommend， ask， order， remind

C： 号召， 呼吁， 提议， 劝告， 警告， 委托， 指示， 批准， 核准， 否决，禁止

commissives E： promise， vow， undertake， offer， commit， pledge

C： 承諾， 保证， 答应， 允诺

expressives E： agree， approve of， support， deny， condemn， repudiate， disaffirm， disavow， negate， wish

C： 赞成， 赞许， 承认， 辩驳， 拒绝， 谴责， 原谅， 感谢， 祝贺， 祝愿

declaratives E： declare， state， announce， notify， apprize， impart， withdraw， retract， countermand

C： 宣称， 任命， 委派， 声明， 撤回， 告知， 宣告

3.1.2 Performatives

Expressions and statements can also be easily identified with respective implications.

E.g.

Our Constitution declares that from time to time， the President shall give to Congress information about the state of our union. （Presidents State of the Union Address， Barack Obama， 2011）——assertives

我想强调的是， 在达尔富尔地区实现司法公正离不开地区持久的和平和稳定。（例行记者会， 秦刚， 2010）——assertives

It shows that without active mitigation against the current level of emissions， the worlds temperature will rise by 4 degrees by the end of the century compared to the pre-industrial level. （regular press conference， William Ehrman， 2010）——directives

我们要求印方重视中方严正关切， 不在争议地区挑起事端， 以利中印关系健康发展。（例行记者会， 马朝旭， 2009）——directives

3.1.3 Reflections and analysis

a. Perfomative expressions of press conference are always complete sentences， both in English and Chinese， while its not the case in oral forms. （compare： “我反对” and “中国政府坚决反对达赖以任何身份和名义到任何国家从事分裂中国的活动”）

b. In performatives， the subjects are mostly nouns or first person plural forms. （e.g. We agreed that the Islamic Republic of Iran must provide assurances to the international community that its nuclear program is peaceful and transparent. / This kind of comprehensive agreement would be an important step forward in the effort to rally the world around a solution to our climate challenge）

3.2 Indirect speech act

3.2.1 Adjustment in strength

According to Searle， illocutionary acts falling into the same type may differ in their strength. Likewise， in press conferences， statements made in less strength are always regarded prudent and agreeable with the cooperative principle and politeness principle.

e.g.

What currency the DPRK uses is its internal affair and I am not in a position to comment.

我们对政策本身不予评论， 但我们必须为了飞行安全而遵守程序.

3.2.2 The delay in reply

Its common that the spokesperson are not prepared to answer all the questions or not allowed to reveal all the details. Under these circumstances， they reply with an ask for delay or later contact， which shows the observance of the cooperative principle， especially the maxim of quality.

e.g.

Up to now I havent got any information available. We will try to contact the office as soon as possible.

問： 关于哥伦比亚外长贝穆德斯访华的问题。据悉， 他与习近平副主席和杨洁篪外长的会见改在本周五举行， 你能否证实？

答： 我需要了解一下具体的安排， 随后电话答复你。

IV. Conclusion

1. The common ground of the speech acts between Chinese and English counts more than the differences， which shows that the restriction of speech acts from diplomatic institutions weighs more than linguistic individuality.

2. The frequency of a certain speech act relates directly to the speakers and their rights of speaking. In press conference， appeal， suggest， propose， etc. are used a lot and we may tell they fully clarifies their rights of making statements.

3. Direct speech acts is in larger amount than indirect ones where every point must be made clearly and precisely， so doubtlessly direct speech acts are utilized more thus the communicative purpose can be realized.

References：

[1]Austin J.L.How to do things with words[M].Cambridge，Mass： Harvard University Press，1962.

[2]Searle J.R.Speech acts：an essay in the philosophy of language [M].Cambridge University Press，1969.

[3]陈佑林，何举纯.普通语言学概论[M].湖北：华中师范大学出版社，2010.