locutionary act

[ˌlɒkjuːˈʃəneri ækt]
nounpl: locutionary acts
ato locucionário
1. In speech act theory, the act of producing a meaningful utterance; the physical act of speaking with phonetic, grammatical, and semantic properties
The locutionary act is simply saying 'It is raining' with proper pronunciation and grammar.
O ato locucionário é simplesmente dizer 'Está chovendo' com pronuncia e gramática adequadas.
2. The basic level of communication involving the production of sounds and meaningful words according to linguistic rules, as distinguished from the intention behind the utterance
Every locutionary act requires the speaker to produce sounds that follow the rules of a language.
Todo ato locucionário requer que o falante produza sons que seguem as regras de uma língua.
This is a specialized linguistic and philosophical term coined by British philosopher J.L. Austin in the 1950s. It is primarily used in academic discourse at universities in both Brazil and English-speaking countries. The term is fundamental to understanding modern speech act theory and pragmatics, and is taught in linguistics, philosophy, and communication courses. It has no colloquial equivalent and is rarely used outside academic contexts.
Synonyms / Sinônimos
utterance actphonetic actlinguistic act
Antonyms / Antônimos
illocutionary actperlocutionary act

Regional Variations

General Brazilian Portuguese
ato locucionário
Standard academic term used in linguistics and philosophy of language courses
Portugal
acto locucionário
Same meaning, using older Portuguese spelling convention with 'acto' instead of 'ato'
Academic contexts
ato locucionário
Primarily used in university-level linguistics, philosophy, and communication studies

Related Words

speech act theoryillocutionary actperlocutionary actutterancesemantic meaningAustin, John L.

Related Idioms & Phrases

speech act theory framework
the three dimensions of speech acts
locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary distinction
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