LINGUISTICS: Felicity Conditions

Turnbull,(2003) felicity conditions are convention that speakers and addressing use as code to produce and organize actions.  Speakers use to felicity condition for action as a device for encoding their actions into sentences, with a particular linguistic structure that speakers utter (that is they produce appropriate utterance units). Hearers, in turn use the same set of felicity condition for action as a device for decoding the speakers action from the linguistic structure of the sentences, the speakers produces (that forms the speaker’s utterance unit). 

Etymologically felicity condition introduced by Oxford Philosopher J. L. Austin in how to do things with words (1962) and furthers development by American philosophy J. R. Searle.

According to Strzalkowski, (1994:115)[1], felicity condition are one of the most importance concepts in pragmatics; they are used to explain presupposition and speech act as they are. They are used to explain the appropriateness of linguistics data. In other words, they particularly describe situation in which sentences are thought to be true and thus they cannot restrain language in a strict manner like syntax. They are presented with defensible proposition. This requires us to consider another mechanism which is different from syntactic processing. Felicity condition are defeasible propositions which relate to linguistic expression such as presupposition sincerity and preparatory condition for speech acts and connotations.

However, felicity condition are expected or appropriate circumstances technically known as felicity condition for the performance of speech act to be recognized as intended. In order for the utterances to count as performative, various conditions have to be met they include setting speakers with power and authority and audience.

Therefore, these can work depending on declarative, imperative (order), warning and request.

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Felicity condition for declarations

Under this condition participants are able to perform felicious speech act under the circumstances. Only certain people are qualified to declare. For example;

Ø  A judge can sentence a criminal in court, but not in street

Ø  A pastor can declare “I pronounce you husband and wife” but only in the church.

From the above example it can bind two individual in marriage but only if several conditions are satisfied.

“I pronounce you husband and wife”

Ø  Setting – In a church/mosque in a wedding ceremony.
Ø Speaker – who is designated to marry others example; Priest pastor or sheikh.

Ø  Two individuals must be legally legible to marry each other
Ø  The words themselves must be uttered.

The felicity condition for an order

For example; “come here”

Here the speakers believe the action should be done the receiver has the obligation to do the action and the sender has the right to tell the receiver to do the action. If any one of these condition is not fulfilled the utterance will not function as an order.

Felicity condition for request

Under this condition the speakers believe that the hearer can perform the requested act although it is not obvious that the hearer can perform the requested act without being asked. But the requested act is said to be the future act of the hearer, to recognize that the future event that will be detrimental for example.

“I ask that you stop doing that”.

Felicity condition for warning

In this conditions the speaker believed that the events will occur and be detrimental to the hearer where the speakers  believes that is not obvious to the  hearer that condition  will occur. This condition also focus on whether the authority of the speakers and circumstance of the speech act are appropriate being spoken successfully as it looks whether the speech act is being performed seriously for example;

“I warn you not to jump of the roof”.

As far as felicity condition are concerned, Austin famously distinguished three major precondition of the speech act namely llocutionary means making meaningful utterance  it roughly corresponds to making linguistic text publicly  accessible by sound graphics marks or manual signs. Illocutionary act is  an act performed by a speakers  by virtual  of the utterance having being  made define  with respect  to speakers’  purpose for example; warning promising. Perlocutionary act means the act which achieved the particular effect on the listener for example frightening, For instance;

Anna says to Hussein “I will come tomorrow” – (a promise)

Since this is a well formed meaningful English sentence, a successful locutionary act has been performed if Anna knows English.

A successful illocutionary act (promise) has been performed if Anna intends to come tomorrow.

A successful perlocutionary act (persuasion) has been performed if Hussein is convinced that Anna will come tomorrow.

Searle’s felicity condition for well-formed promises include:

Ø  Sincerity condition
Ø  Futurity condition
Ø  Essential condition
Ø  Non-expectancy condition
Ø  Benefit condition

Consider the following example

“I promise that I will pay your tuition next year”

Illocutionaryclause

1.      Sincerity condition
2.      Essential condition

Propositional clauses

3.      Futurity condition
4.      Ability condition
5.      Non-expectancy condition
6.      Benefit condition

From the above example the following is description of the rules of felicity conditions:

Sincerity rule – means the speaker must be sincere, state of mind condition speakers intends to carry out the promise act for example;

“I will help you to fetch water”

(I intend to help you to fetch water).

Essential rule – here the speakers in making the promise has conveyed to hearer that the speaker has made a commitment on what he/she promises to do. For example:

I will help you to fetch water (I promise).

Futurity rule – this deal with the act that to be performed must take place in future. For example;

1.      I promise you that I will repair your car
2.      I promise you that Hellen will buy you a T-shirt.

Thing to NOTE: The speaker must be the one who is to perform the future act (or else will see to it that someone else will do the act).

Ability rule – a speakers must have necessary ability “mentally, physically, and/or financially” to perform act promised (and must do something in furtherance) of the performance for example;

“I will help you with your daily homework”.

Non-expectancy rule – the rule that the speaker would not be obligated to perform the act in the ordinary course of the event, for example;

“(I promise) I will help you with your daily homework”.

It can be for husband and wife.

“I promise to come home to night”.

Benefit rule – Is rule where the promised act will be benefit to promise (person promised).

For example:

“I will take you to Saa-Nane Island next evening” (I have reasons to think that you would like to go to Saa-Nane Island).

TYPES OF FELICITY CONDITIONS

According to Hogan, (2000), there are three types of felicity condition as explained below:

1.      Preparatory condition

This refer to the status or authority of the speaker to perform the speech act, the situation of other parities and so on. So in order to confirm the condition the speaker must be a bishop, but a mere priest can baptize people while various minister of religion and registers may solemnize marriage.

2.      Sincerity condition

This involves the speaker genuinely believes that the events will be detrimental to the hearer.  It look whether the speech act is being performed seriously and sincerely. This kind of felicity condition show that the speaker must really intend whether he/she says. In the case of apologizing or promising, it may be impossible for others to know how sincere the speaker is.

Moreover, sincerity as genuine intention is no assurance that the apologetic altitude will last, or that the promise will be kept. There are some speech act such as plighting one’s truth or linking on oath where this sincerity is determined by the presence on witnesses. The one making promise will be able later to argue that he/she did not really mean it.

3.      Conditions of manner

Also the  other kind is conditions on the manner of execution of the speech act such  as touching the  new knight on  both shoulders with the  flat blade of  a sword  while intoning the  words.

Read: The Identification of the Manifestation of Information Structure Structurally in the Text

  

REFERENCES

Austine, J. L. (1962). How to do things With Words. Oxford University Press.

Guy Cook, (1989). Discourse. USA: Oxford University Press.

Hogan P. C (2000). Psychological Approaches to the Study of Literature. Florida: University Press of Florida.

Strzalkowski, T. (1994). Reversible Grammar in Natural Language Processing. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Turbbull, W. (2003). Language in Action Psychological Models of Conversation. Psychology Press.