What does locutionary mean?
Locutionary means relating to an utterance and to the conventional act of producing meaningful speech. The term is especially associated with speech-act theory, where a locutionary act concerns the sentence itself: what was said, how it was structured, and what it literally meant. It is distinguished from an illocutionary act, such as promising or warning, and from a perlocutionary effect, such as persuading or frightening someone. Thus, the locutionary dimension of the statement “I promise to help” includes its meaningful form, while its illocutionary dimension is the act of promising and its perlocutionary dimension would be any effect on the listener. Outside these technical contexts, “locutionary” may describe speech-related language or an unusually precise way of expressing something, although it is uncommon in everyday conversation.
adjectiveRelating to the act of saying something or to the literal meaning and grammatical structure of an utterance. In speech-act theory, a locutionary act is the production of a meaningful sentence with a recognizable structure.
- Relating to an utterance, its wording, or the act of expressing something in words.
- Relating to a locutionary act in speech-act theory, especially the production of a meaningful sentence rather than its social or emotional effects.
"The philosopher analyzed the locutionary act independently of its intended persuasive effect."
"Her locutionary accuracy made the witness's statement unusually clear."
"The analysis separated the locutionary content of the promise from its illocutionary force."
A locutionary act is the plain linguistic act of saying something—what was said and how it was put together, before persuasion or emotional effect enters the picture.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does locutionary come from?
The adjective comes from Latin locutio, meaning “speech” or “a speaking,” which is derived from loqui, “to speak.” English borrowed the related noun locution in the 16th century, and locutionary developed later in the 19th century. Other English words from the same Latin root include eloquent, interlocutor, allocution, and elocution.
Related word forms
How locutionary is actually used
This is a specialized term, especially common in philosophy, linguistics, and speech-act theory. In general use, it may sound excessively formal or technical.
Easily confused with locutionary
Locution is a spoken or written phrase, whereas locutionary is an adjective describing an act, meaning, or feature of speech.