Entry #3 Constative and Performative

J.L.Austin (British linguistic)

2 parts of speech:

Constative: Sentences that describe something as true or false. (IS)
(E.g. The headline in a newspaper reads “Heatwave”, but the sky is cloudy and it feels quite chilly. So , it is a false constative because it has been proved to be incorrect)

Performative: Sentences that denote an action (DOES). They are sentences that are meant to inspire actions.Rather than conveying a message, it acts upon the world, it does something.
(E.g. In a trash bin say “Recycle”, it is a performative because it is requesting people to put their trash into the proper receptacle)

Speech acts: Words not only bring about actions, sometimes words themselves are actions. These actions include , but are limited to ordering, promising , apologising , warning , sentencing , christening and even marrying.

Performative depends on context and reception , there are known as felicity conditions. There are the rules under which the performance can be enacted. They should be authoritative, understood, clear, and able to be executed