PRAGMATIC ANALYSIS OF CNN HEADLINES REPRESENTING PAKISTAN

A dissertation submitted to the Department of English University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By RABIAH RUSTAM 2009-UMDB-11122

THE UNIVERSITY OFAZAD JAMMU & KASHMIR, MUZAFFARABAD JUNE 2013

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APPROVAL CERTIFICATE

It is certified that the thesis entitled “PRAGMATIC ANALYSIS OF CNN HEADLINES

REPRESENTING PAKISTAN” submitted by MS. RABIAH RUSTAM, Registration No. 2009-

UMDB-11122, in the partial fulfillment of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, at the University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, has been satisfactory for the requirement of the degree.

Supervisor: ______

External Supervisor: ______

Chairman: ______

Dean: ______

Director BASR: ______

Dated: ______

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DECLARATION

I RABIAH RUSTAM D/o RUSTAM KHAN hereby declare that the dissertation entitled

“Pragmatic Analysis Of CNN Headlines Representing Pakistan” submitted by me in the partial fulfillment of Ph D degree, is my original work and has not been submitted in support of any application for another degree or qualification at this or any other university or institution.

I also understand if evidence of plagiarism is found in my dissertation at any stage, even after the award of degree, the work may be cancelled and the degree revoked.

Signature: ______

Rabiah Rustam

Date: ______

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Abstract

Current study investigates the pragmatic and linguistic devices used in CNN headlines on the subjects of crises and political unrest in Pakistan. The study argues that in addition to the news coverage headlines also have pragmatically encoded meanings. The research is quite significant as the representation of Pakistan in the cyber media headlines has not yet been studied. Moreover, the selected period ranging from January 2010 to May 2011 covers a series of important events including political turmoil, terrorist activities, flood disaster, religious controversies, death of Osama Bin Laden and estranged diplomatic ties with the United States of America. All these events were subject to constant media debate, especially on CNN, a news channel available to two billion people worldwide.

Quantitative as well as qualitative descriptive methods were applied to analyze and discuss the news headlines. The results indicate that Osama Bin Laden, militancy in

Pakistan and US Pak diplomatic ties were commonly found topics in the headlines. The results also indicate that the representatives are the most frequently found illocutionary acts in the data as compared with the expressives, directives and commissives. The study finds that the headlines have variety of other illocutionary functions closely related to these acts. The study also finds that the linguistic devices not only help the headlines to function as speech acts but also help the headline writers to shape the news events in multiple ways. It has been identified that using these devices a number of features such as urgency and topicality, emphasis, emotional sense, metaphorical meanings, idiomatic connotations and irony have been incorporated in the headlines.

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Acknowledgement

This research was completed due to the intellectual, emotional and material support that I have received from my teachers, colleagues, friends and family. It’s my pleasure to thank them all. My gratitude also goes to those whose names I may forget to mention. I express my profound gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Dr. Nadeem Haider Bukhari for his intellectual and scholarly support. Without his endless dedication, encouragement and insightful feedback this thesis could not be completed. I feel highly indebted to him for all his time, ideas, and for his priceless support at every phase of my doctoral research. I would also like to thank the faculty members, the staff and the PhD scholars at the Department of English Language and Literature (AJKU). I extend my special thanks to Mr. Javed Iqbal for his cooperation. I gratefully acknowledge Higher Education Commission of Pakistan for the financial support I have received for this research. I extend my sincere thanks to Prof. Dr. Phil Backlund (Central Washington University, USA) for his generous support in proofreading my thesis and also for his comments and criticism that have considerably improved my research work. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Prof. Dr. Sami Awan (CIIT Abbottabad) for his valuable help in this regard. I extend my sincere thanks to Prof. Dr. Innocent Chiluwa (Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria) for providing intuitive comments on speech act theory and its application to headlines analysis. I am quite lucky to have a wonderful circle of friends and colleagues around me. I am especially thankful to Dr. Abdul Qadir Khan, Dr. Kamal Khan, Mr. Riazuddin, Mr. Ghani Rehman, Mr. Arshad Khan, Mr. Umruddin, Mr. Mian Shah Bacha and Mr. Abdulhameed. I thank them for their helpful, thoughtful, kind and entertaining company. I also pay my special thanks to Ms. Saima Aziz Lone for her special assistance during my research work. I shall never overlook the invaluable contributions of my respected teachers since the beginning of my journey towards research in linguistics. I would like to pay my gratitude to Prof. Dr. Shahbaz Arif, Prof. Dr. Qabil Khan, Prof. Dr. Anjum. P. Saleemi, Prof. Dr. Usman Khalil, Prof. Dr. Mubina Talaat, Prof. Nazir Malik and Prof. Dr. Muhammad Irshad. I am highly grateful to Prof. Dr. Zafar Iqbal for giving me continuous support and encouragement during the course of my research. I express my heartfelt gratitude to my parents for their patience, encouragement, unconditional support and love throughout my academic career. I also thank my brothers and sisters for making my life blissful during the course of a tough journey. I also thank my uncle Abdul Majeed Khan for being supportive and kind to me.

Rabiah Rustam

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents Page No. Abstract iv List of tables viii List of abbreviations x

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1. Background 1 1.2. Research questions and objectives 2 1.3. Research methodology 3 1.4. Review of related literature 4 1.5. Significance of the study 5 1.6. Scope of the study 5 1.7. Delimitations of the study 6 1.8. Organization of the thesis 6

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 8

2.1. Speech act theory 8 2.1.1. Austin’s speech act theory 8 2.1.1.1. Constatives and performatives 8 2.1.1.2. Felicity conditions 9 2.1.1.3. Explicit and implicit performatives 10 2.1.1.4. Austin’s taxonomy of speech acts 11 2.1.2. Searle’s Speech Act Theory 13 2.1.2.1. Searle’s criticism of Austin’s theory 13 2.1.2.2. Identification of Searlean illocutionary act 14 2.1.2.3. Searle’s taxonomy of speech acts 25 2.1.2.4. Perlocutionary effect 25 2.1.2.5. Identification of illocutionary force in a speech act 26 2.1.2.6. Extension of the Searlean framework 37 2.1.2.7. Non Literal speech acts 47 2.1.2.8. Context and speech acts 57 2.1.3. Presence of multiple illocutionary forces in speech acts 54 2.1.4. Application of Searle’s speech act theory to the study of headlines 71 2.1.5. Conceptual framework for the study 81

Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY 91

3.1. Research design 91 3.2. Data sources 91 3.3. Data collection and processing 91 vii

3.3.1. Selection of an online news source 91 3.3.2. Downloading headlines by crawling 91 3.3.3. Processing headlines 92 3.3.3.1. Copying the data into Microsoft Word files 92 3.3.3.2. Stripping off the unnecessary material 92 3.3.3.3. Checking the duplicate headlines 92 3.4. Sampling 92 3.5. Data analysis 93 3.5.1. Analysis of the speech acts 93 3.5.1.1. Selection of Searle’s speech act theory for analysis of headlines 93 3.5.1.2. Primary classification of headlines as speech acts 94 3.5.1.2.1. Illocutionary point 94 3.5.1.2.2. Direction of fit 94 3.5.1.2.3. Quantitative analysis 95 3.5.1.2.4. Classification according to the news topics 95 3.5.1.3. Classification of primary speech acts into prototypes 95 3.5.1.3.1. Analysis of the felicity conditions 96 3.5.1.3.2.Classification of headlines topics within the 96 prototypes 3.5.1.3.3. Tabulation of the data 97 3.5.1.3.4.Detailed description and analysis of felicity 97 conditions 3.5.1.4. Analysis of linguistic devices used within the speech acts 97 3.5.1.4.1. Identification of linguistic features 97 3.5.1.4.2. Underlining important features 98 3.5.1.4.3. Quantitative analysis 98 3.5.1.4.4. Qualitative analysis 98

Chapter 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 100

4.1. Identification of pragmatic functions of the news headlines 100 4.1.1. Classification of headlines into primary speech acts 100 4.1.2. Sub classifications within primary speech acts 103 4.1.2.1. Detailed analysis of representative Illocutionary forces 105 4.1.2.1.1. Expose 106 4.1.2.1.2. Report 112 4.1.2.1.3. Accuse 115 4.1.2.1.4. Predict 119 4.1.2.1.5. State 123 4.1.2.1.6. Conclude 126 4.1.2.1.7. Denounce 129 4.1.2.1.8. Criticize 132 4.1.2.1.9. Explain 135 4.1.2.1.10. Argue 138 4.1.2.1.11. Attribute 140 viii

4.1.2.1.12. Irony 142 4.1.2.2. Detailed analysis of expressive Illocutionary forces 143 4.1.2.2.1. Praise 144 4.1.2.2.2. Laud 145 4.1.2.2.3. Regret 147 4.1.2.2.4. Protest 148 4.1.2.2.5. Mourn 149 4.1.2.3. Detailed analysis of the directive Illocutionary forces 150 4.1.2.3.1. Warn 150 4.1.2.3.2. Demand 153 4.1.2.3.3. Forbid 154 4.1.2.3.4. Request 155 4.1.2.3.5. Suggest 156 4.1.2.4. Detailed analysis of the commissive illocutionary forces 157 4.1.2.4.1. Commitment to future actions 158 4.1.2.4.2. Possible future actions 159 4.1.2.4.3. Announce future actions 161 4.1.2.4.4. Expressing speaker intentions 162 4.1.2.4.5. Pledging for future 163 4.2. Role of the linguistic devices in the headlines 163 4.2.1. Present tense 163 4.2.2. Past tense 164 4.2.3. Direct speech 167 4.2.4. Active voice 169 4.2.5. Passive voice 172 4.2.6. Rhetorical questions 175 4.2.7. Verbs 177 4.2.8. Adverbs 179 4.2.9. Idioms 186 4.2.10. Metaphors 188 4.2.11. Loaded words 191 4.2.12. Infinitives 192 4.2.13. Colon 194 4.2.14. Inverted commas 196 4.2.15. Non sentences 198 4.2.16. Adjectives 200 203

Chapter 5: CONCLUSION 209

BIBLIOGRAPHY 217

APPENDIX A 224

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LIST OF TABLES

Tables Page. No.

Table 4.1.1: Classification of headlines into primary speech acts 101 Table 4.1.2: Primary Illocutionary acts associated with the news topics 102 Table 4.1.2.1: Representatives classification into prototypes 105 Table 4.1.2.1.1: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Expose’ 106 Table 4.1.2.1.2: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Report’ 112 Table 4.1.2.1.3: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Accuse’ 115 Table 4.1.2.1.4: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Predict’ 119 Table 4.1.2.1.5: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘State’ 123 Table 4.1.2.1.6: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Conclude’ 126 Table 4.1.2.1.7: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Denounce’ 129 Table 4.1.2.1.8: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Criticize’ 133 Table 4.1.2.1.9: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Justify’ 136 Table 4.1.2.1.10: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Argue’ 138 Table 4.1.2.1.11: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Attribute’ 140 Table 4.1.2.1.12: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Irony’ 142 Table 4.1.2.2: Expressives classification into prototypes 143 Table 4.1.2.2.1: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Praise’ 144 Table 4.1.2.2.2: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Laud’ 145 Table 4.1.2.2.3: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Regret’ 147 Table 4.1.2.2.4: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Protest’ 148 Table 4.1.2.2.5: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Mourn’ 149 Table 4.1.2.3: Prototypes associated with directives 150 Table 4.1.2.3.1: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Warn’ 150 Table 4.1.2.3.2: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Demand’ 153 Table 4.1.2.3.3: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Forbid’ 155 Table 4.1.2.3.4: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Request’ 156 Table 4.1.2.3.5: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Suggest’ 156 Table 4.1.2.4: Prototypes associated with commissives 157 Table 4.1.2.4.1: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Commitment to future actions’ 158 Table 4.1.2.4.2: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Possible future actions’ 159 Table 4.1.2.4.3: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Announce future actions’ 161 Table 4.1.2.4.4: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Expressing speaker intentions’ 162 Table 4.1.2.4.5: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Pledging future actions’ 163 Table 4.2.1: Distribution of present tense in the speech acts 164 Table 4.2.2: Distribution of past tense in the speech acts 167 Table 4.2.3: Distribution of direct speech in the speech acts 169 Table 4.2.4: Distribution of active voice in the speech acts 172 Table 4.2.5: Distribution of passive voice in the speech acts 175 Table 4.2.6: Distribution of rhetorical questions in the speech acts 177 Table 4.2.7: Distribution of verbs in the speech acts 179 x

Table 4.2.8: Distribution of adverbs in the speech acts 186 Table 4.2.9: Distribution of idioms in the speech acts 188 Table 4.2.10: Distribution of metaphors in the speech acts 191 Table 4.2.11: Distribution of loaded words in the speech acts 192 Table 4.2.12: Distribution of infinitives in the speech acts 194 Table 4.2.13: Distribution of colons in the speech acts 196 Table 4.2.14: Distribution of inverted commas in the speech acts 198 Table 4.2.15: Distribution of non sentences in the speech acts 200 Table 4.2.16: Distribution of adjectives in the speech acts 203

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CNN Cable News Network

CIA Central Investigation Agency

DNA Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid

HTML Hyper Text Markup Language

Indo Pak India and Pakistan

ISI Inter Services Intelligence

MQM Muttahida Qaumi Movement

NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NGO’s Non Governmental Organizations

PIA Pakistan International Airline

US United States

USA United States of America

UN United Nations

VBS Vice's Broadband Television

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Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

This study attempts to identify and classify speech acts in the news headlines of CNN

(Cable News Network) used in reporting the situations of crises and political unrest in Pakistan.

The study also aims to explore the linguistic practices associated with the speech acts. The study argues that the headlines have pragmatically encoded meanings in addition to the news coverage.

The study also claims that the linguistic devices used within the headlines not only help to identify speech acts but also function to project the news in a different way.

1.1. Background to the study

Years 2010 and 2011 will be remembered as a critical period in the history of Pakistan.

Pakistan faced many problems at domestic as well as diplomatic level during these years. The most prominent events of the year 2010 included floods, suicide bombings, casualties in drone attacks and Parvez Mushaarraf (Former President of Pakistan) political comeback. The year 2011 also marked a series of disastrous events such as blasphemy law controversy, the assassination of the Governor of Punjab Province Salman Taseer, American agent Raymond Davis’s murder of three Pakistanis and arrest on the spot, issues of corruption in Pakistani cricket, controversial killing of Osama Bin Laden by US marines, Hussain Haqqani’s resignation as Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States and the blockade of the logistic support to the NATO forces in

Afghanistan.

All these issues were closely connected with one another and received much attention from the media. For example, on the one hand the country was facing the terrorist threats from inside and outside the country as well as political turmoil, while on the other flood disaster of

2010 destroyed the property, cash crops, human lives and posed economic threats to the country. 2

The country was facing estranged diplomatic ties with India on one hand and Afghanistan on the other. Media war broke out against the country when Osama Bin laden was killed on May 2011.

The country faced stiff questions from the United Sates and the news about this event went viral across the global media.

As the internet is a swift and convenient means of information transfer, no part of the world was left where the information regarding current affairs in Pakistan might not have reached.

Grueskin, et al. (2012, p.4, 13) highlighted the importance of digital journalism and termed it as an online phenomenon where the content is displayed on the computer screens through the internet. Referring to Pew research center for the people and the press report he stated that 65 percent people between the age ranges of 18 to 29 years get news from the internet. Among the people aged between 50 to 64 years the access to the internet for the sake of getting news information is 34 percent. He termed this growing population as ‘network effect’. The internet is accessed by people not only by using computer screens but also by using smart phones, tablets and other mobile devices. There are 47 percent American adults who prefer to get local news and information from cell phones and tablets using internet as found by the Pew Study Centre report.

CNN gave due importance and coverage to all the events taking place in Pakistan. CNN website was loaded with the news about Pakistan along with video reporting. Giving reference to the CNN website popularity and video reporting Grueskin, et al. (2012, p.89-90) explained that as video has become an essential element of digital experience, the news usually have videos associated with them on the internet. In this context CNN is at the top. CNN delivers 60 to 100 million video streams a month. The number of CNN website visitors increases between 9a.m. to

2.p.m on the regular news days. 3

In this situation many questions arise about the role of the media in portraying Pakistan before the world. As according to Grueskin, et al. (2012, p.17) the quality, accuracy and authority of the content supplied by the paid professionals is variable and susceptible to manipulation.

Pragmatic analysis of the headlines was selected as the most appropriate means of studying the role of CNN headlines. Emphasizing the importance of speech acts Iorio (2004, p.174) termed speech act analysis as a ground breaker towards English language pragmatic history. Inferences can be made by studying an utterance in the context in which it s used by the considering of different factors. Chiluwa (2007, p.70) also highlighted the importance of pragmatic analysis and said that it plays a key role in the headlines because the pragmatic meanings are based on the illocutionary intentions of the headlines writer.

1.2. Research questions and objectives

The objectives of the study are twofold. First, it aims to identify and classify the speech acts in CNN headlines. Second, the study also seeks to establish the role of the linguistic features in the headlines being treated as speech acts.

In relation to the above mentioned objectives the study aims to investigate following questions: i. What are the speech act functions of the CNN headlines representing Pakistan?

ii. What are the roles of linguistic devices in the headlines functioning as speech acts?

1.3. Research methodology

Quantitative as well as a qualitative descriptive method was applied to analyze the pragmatic and the linguistic features of the headlines. Searle (1979) theory of speech acts was selected as a framework for analysis of headlines. Felicity conditions were selected as a parameter to identify different illocutionary forces present in the headlines. Data were analyzed 4

quantitatively to determine the frequencies of the speech acts. The descriptive qualitative method was also used to discuss the results with the help of the previous researches. Analysis of the linguistic devices used in the construction of speech acts was also given due importance. The linguistic elements were not only analyzed quantitatively but also qualitatively in order to find out different kinds of functions associated with the headlines functioning as speech acts.

1.4. Review of related literature

Speech acts are an under theorized aspect of journalism inspite of playing an important role in the media especially news reporting (Hall, 2012). Based on Searle (1969) taxonomy of speech acts some important studies were conducted by Vanderveken (1990), Munawaroh (2007),

Underwood (2008) and Muskananfula (2009) on the illocutionary functions of the speech acts in the political language utterances. An important aspect of these studies was the formation of prototypes of the speech acts having a variety of illocutionary functions in the texts. Munawaroh

(2007) sub classified speech acts arguing that the information can be delivered in different ways based on the intended perlocutionary effect. Moreover, it is up to the listener or reader to identify the illocutionary intent of the speaker or writer. Muskananfula (2009) expressed the same point of view arguing that the speech act prototypes are tightly connected with the basic categories of speech acts and have a range of functions as intended by the narrator.

On the contrary only a few studies are available on the use of speech acts in the headlines most important of which were conducted by Muhammad (2005), Chiluwa (2007), Siposova

(2011) and Hall (2012). Muhammad (2005) conducted a pragmalinguistic analysis of the headlines. She found illocutionary acts based on the Searle’s taxonomy along with a number of linguistic devices such as deletion, special use of tenses, abbreviations, modifiers, sentences and punctuation. Siposova (2011) studied illocutionary acts of commands, statements and questions in 5

the headlines. She also came across the similar linguistic features as mentioned by the previous researches but also discussed the use of loaded words, modality, questions, slang language and register to her findings. Hall (2012) focused on only three kinds of speech acts that included informing, deliberating and witnessing. He explained that speech acts are specific linguistic practices that not only provide information but also facilitate debate and help making moral judgments.

1.5. Significance of the study

It has been discovered from the previous researches on the speech acts and headlines that some issues were left unresolved that need to be clarified. Limited information is available in the analysis of speech acts in the headlines. Chiluwa (2007) made prototypes of the speech acts without taking felicity conditions into account. Muhammad (2005) and Siposova (2011) discussed basic Searlean speech act categories without forming prototypes. Similarly, Hall (2012) discussed only three kinds of speech acts in his research. Another problem with the speech act analysis is the scarcity of available research on the role of linguistic devices in the headlines functioning as speech acts. The present study aims to take a deeper look at the issues concerning prototype formation in the speech acts and the role of linguistic devices in the speech acts. Felicity conditions have been selected as a parameter in the present study to explain the encoded meanings in the headlines. The study is quite significant as there is no previous research available on the subject of pragmatic or linguistic analysis of the coverage given to Pakistan in cyber media headlines.

1.6. Scope of the study

This research will contribute not only to pragmatics but also to pragmalinguistics. Being a pragmatic research it is an attempt to analyze the speech act functions focusing especially on the 6

felicity conditions that help to decide the functions of the speech acts. Modern approach to the study of pragmatics is pragmalinguistics that attempts to study pragmatic phenomena by taking into account linguistic elements associated with pragmatic functions. It is a contribution especially to speech act analysis of the media texts particularly, the headlines. It is an effort to contribute towards a comprehensive interpretation of the illocutionary acts and their linguistic aspects by deducing comprehensive methodology. The study can be helpful to find out how different ideas are imposed on the minds of people through media discourses. It can also help to analyze the techniques used by powerful cyber media news channels to represent news events taking place around the globe.

1.7. Delimitations of the study

This study is limited to the investigation of the illocutionary functions of the headlines only, although, there is a series of other pragmatic functions. The study is limited to the investigation of pragmatic aspects of speech acts especially the illocutionary acts only. The study will only look into the general classification of the illocutionary acts prototypes without getting into the domain of the indirect speech acts. Moreover, only 04 felicity conditions will be used to classify speech acts. The number of selected headlines has been limited to 200 only due to time limit and analytical constraints. It needs to be noted that the current study is not concerned with the study of media biases or propaganda theories related to the media neither the study attempts to blame any source for negative or positive reporting of an event rather, the study is only concerned with the speech act functions performed by the headlines.

1.8. Organization of the thesis

A brief description of every chapter is given in the following paragraphs: 7

Chapter 1 of the thesis provides introductory information about the pragmatic analysis of

CNN headlines. It also covers the purpose of the study, the background of the study, research questions, research objectives, methodology, delimitations, scope and significance.

Chapter 2 covers the historical background of pragmatic analysis adopted for research and also the linguistic devices used in the headlines. The main topics covered in the literature review describe speech act theory, illocutionary acts and their functions especially in headline language, linguistic features of the headlines and conceptual framework adopted for the study.

Chapter 3 reviews the research design that involves collection of data, preparation of the data for the analysis, sampling, quantitative and the qualitative techniques used for the discussion and the analysis of data.

Chapter 4 deals with data analysis and discussion. This chapter discusses the results obtained by quantitative as well as qualitative analysis. The data have been classified according to the study design. The results have been interpreted quantitatively by measuring the frequencies while the qualitative analysis has been carried out with the help of previous studies.

Chapter 5 sums up the findings of the study. It also discusses the scope of the study as well as points out related areas of the research that may be worth exploring.

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Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter describes the speech act theories of Austin and Searle and their application in the analysis of utterances. It also presents previous researches on the application of speech act theories to the headlines. Finally it sets out a theoretical framework developed in the light of the speech act theory and the previous researches that will be helpful in the analysis of headlines.

2.1. Speech Act Theory

Speech act theory was an important breakthrough in the field of Language and

Philosophy. It emerged as a result of the work of famous philosopher J.L Austin who delivered a series of lectures on this topic in 1955 that appeared in the shape of a book named ‘How to do things with words’ in 1962. He defined speech act as an utterance made by a speaker in a particular context. Austin’s work was extended by many philosophers such as Leech (1983),

Searle (1969), Levinson (1983), Allan (1986) and Vanderveken (1990).

2.1.1. Austin’s Speech Act Theory

Austin (1962, pp. 3-6) distinguished between saying things and doing things. He explained that all the sentences cannot be treated as statements instead they include commands, questions, explanations and wishes made by the people in different contexts. This observation led Austin present the concept of constative and performative utterances.

2.1.1.1. Constatives and performatives

Austin (1962, p.3) differentiated constatives from performatives arguing that the constatives can be true or false statements while the performatives perform an action and can’t be true or false.

Austin (1962, p. 22) gave following examples to explain constatives and performatives: 9

i. I name this ship ‘Liberté’

ii. I apologize

iii. I welcome you

iv. I advise you to do it

He explained that such utterances are performed in a certain context under proper conditions otherwise the acts of naming, apologizing, welcoming and advising won’t take place. Austin categorized the utterances that can take place successfully and unsuccessfully. He used terms felicitous and non felicitous respectively to differentiate successful utterances from non successful utterances.

2.1.1.2. Felicity conditions

Austin (1962, pp.14-15) gave following conditions for the successful performance of a speech act:

i. There must exist an accepted conventional procedure with certain conventional effect. The

procedure needs to include the utterance of a person in a specific context. The persons

involved in making the utterance and the circumstances under which an utterance is made

must be appropriate for the procedure.

ii. The procedure needs to be correctly and completely executed by the people involved.

iii. The procedure that has been designed to be used by the people having certain thoughts and

feelings or to inaugurate a particular consequential conduct on the behalf of the participant

involved, then the participants must have thoughts, feelings and intentions to conduct the

procedure. Moreover, they must conduct it actually and subsequently. 10

Above mentioned conditions were termed by Austin (1962) as ‘Felicity conditions’. He further classified the utterances as Misfires, Misinvocations and Misapplications on the basis of the violation of the above mentioned felicity conditions.

i. Misfires: There does not exist a conventional procedure and the persons and

circumstances are not appropriate to the utterance.

ii. Misinvocations: The procedure does not exist and the way in which it is applied is wrong.

iii. Misapplications: If the procedure does not exist or cannot be applied to the utterance as

required.

Infelicitous utterances were termed as infelicitous or unhappy in the following ways by Austin

(1958, p. 14) under the following conditions:

i. The circumstances, under which an utterance is made, do not fulfill the requirements for it

to be felicitous.

ii. The utterance is made in an insincere way.

iii. Everything else has been fulfilled but there is a lack of commitment.

Austin (1962, pp. 22-23) was not clear about the infelicities and preferred to study the utterances under general circumstances. He stated that accidents or unintentional happenings may be involved in making an utterance infelicitous.

2.1.1.3. Explicit and implicit performatives

Austin (1962, pp. 32-33) also made a distinction between explicit and implicit performatives. He defined explicit performative as highly significant, unambiguous and having a performative verb such as ‘I bet’, ‘I promise’ and ‘I bequeath’. Verbs used in these expressions can be used to name the act being performed. Austin (1962, pp. 73-77) clarified that inside the implicit performatives the speech act is not indicated by a performative verb rather identified with 11

the help of grammatical mood, modal verbs, intonation, tone of voice, adverbs, connecting particles and non verbal cues as well as other circumstances associated with an utterance.

Austin (1962) further argued that there may exist problems with performatives as in some cases they may be mistaken for descriptives or constatives. It may be doubtful whether the performative is explicit or looks like a performative or there may be a prformative force associated with a descriptive meaning as in ‘I approve’ and ‘I agree’(Austin 1962, pp. 77-78).

Austin (1962, pp.79-80) suggested following test to differentiate performatives from constatives or non performatives:

i. It needs to be checked whether the words constituting the performative make sense or not.

For example a person welcoming someone may be asked ‘does he really welcome’.

ii. Can the action be performed without even uttering the words? For example, a person can

be sorry just by feeling that what he has done is wrong but can not apologize without

saying ‘I apologize’.

iii. It needs to be found whether the personal consent or deliberation involved in making an

utterance.

iv. It is also important to know whether the utterance is literally true or false or is sincere or

insincere.

2.1.1.4. Austin’s taxonomy of speech acts

Austin (1962, p. 94) termed an act of saying something as a locutionary act. Austin (1962, pp. 92-93) subclassified locutionary acts into three types mentioned below:

i. Phonetic: An act of uttering certain noises or phones

ii. Phatic: An act of uttering certain vocabulary items or words 12

iii. Rhetic: An act of using certain vocabulary items or words with a less definite sense and a

less definite reference.

Austin (1962, pp. 98-99) also gave the idea of illocutionary act. He defined this act as a performance of an act in saying something as opposed to locutionary act or an act of saying something. Austin (1962, p. 101) elaborated that illocutionary act affects the feelings, thoughts, or actions of the audience, of the speaker, or of the other persons.

Austin (1962, p. 108) defined perlocutionary act as an act of achieving anything by saying something.

Austin (1962, pp. 101-102) differentiated three acts by giving following examples:

i. Act A or locution: Shoot her (Saying something)

ii. Act B or illocution: He urged me to shoot her (Doing an act in saying something)

iii. Act C or perlocution: He persuaded me to shoot her (Achieving an objective by saying

something)

Austin (1962, pp. 150-163) further classified illocutionary acts into five categories that are the following:

i. Verdictives: These acts deliver findings that can be official or unofficial based

on evidence or reasons. For example: calculate, reckon, estimate, locate and

measure.

ii. Exercitives: Exercitives give a decision in favor of or against a course of action.

For example: beg, order, request and dare.

iii. Commissives: These acts make the speaker committed to a certain course of

action. For example: guarantee, refuse, promise, and decline 13

iv. Expositives: These are the acts involving the description of views, conducting

arguments or clarifying usages and references. For example: state, contend,

remind, guess, insist and deny.

v. Behabitives: They include the notion of reaction to other peoples’ behaviors,

fortunes, and expressions of attitudes or conduct. For example: congratulate,

criticize and thank.

2.1.2. Searle’s Speech Act Theory

John. R Searle an American philosopher and a student of Austin extended Austin’s work and pointed out its shortcomings by presenting a new theory of speech acts. Searle (1965, p.173) defined speech act as a function of the meaning of the sentence and used the term illocutionary act as opposed to the term speech act used by Austin (1962). Searle (1969, p.16) termed speech act as a basic or minimal unit of the linguistic communication. He elaborated that all of the linguistic communication is composed of the speech acts. He stressed that the words or sentences are not the units of linguistic communication, rather, they are speech acts produced under certain circumstances. According to Searle and Vanderveken (1985, p. 1) the minimal units of human communication are the speech acts of a type called the illocutionary acts. These acts include statements, questions, commands, promises and apologies. Illocutionary acts are performed by a speaker while uttering a sentence in an appropriate context with certain intentions.

2.1.2.1. Searle’s criticism of Austin’s theory

Searle (1968, pp. 406-424) differentiated between locutionary and illocutionary act in terms of illocutionary force and argued that these two acts are closely connected with each other.

This differentiation contradicts with the distinction pointed out by Austin (1962). 14

Searle (1969, pp. 9-11) termed Austin (1962) taxonomy of illocutionary acts (Verdictives,

Exercitives, Commissives, Expositives and Behabitives) as faulty on the following grounds:

i. Austin (1962) classified illocutionary verbs instead of classifying illocutionary acts. For

example an announcement is not an announcement in the form of the verb but can be in

the form of a statement or an order

ii. All the verbs listed by Austin (1962) are not illocutionary verbs. For example if someone

says ‘I intend’ does not actually clarify that he is intending. Similarly, ‘he intended’ does

not mark a speech act.

iii. The most important weakness of Austin (1962) taxonomy is the lack of consistent

principles in the construction of taxonomy. For example, the exercitives have been partly

defined in terms of exercise of authority.

iv. Austin’s categories of illocutionary acts overlap with one another and some others are too

heterogeneous. For example verb ‘describe’ can be taken as a verdictive as well as an

expositive.

v. Some categories contain verbs that do not simply relate with them. For example dare, defy

and challenge cannot be placed with thank and apologize.

vi. The verbs given by Austin (1962) do not satisfy the given definitions.

2.1.2.2. Identification of Searlean illocutionary act

Searle (1969, pp.65-68) established a different framework for the identification of

speech acts and put much emphasis on the role of felicity conditions in the speech acts. He

argued that the felicity conditions have an important role in order to determine the function of

a speech act. He termed felicity conditions as conditions of success for the performance of a

speech act. Searle highlighted the importance of these conditions by arguing that they play a 15

vital role in the successful performance of an illocutionary act. They are not only important to perform a speech act but also to enable the speaker to carry out an act according to his intention and also to communicate the force of an utterance properly to the hearer.

Following are the four most important conditions given by Searle that play an important role in the identification of a speech act:

i. Propositional content conditions: These conditions are concerned with the

proposition contained within a sentence that is being studied.

ii. Preparatory conditions: These conditions play an important role in the

functioning of a speech act as they refer to the intentions and knowledge of the

speaker as well as the hearer. These conditions explain what a speaker implies

during the performance of a speech act. If a successful illocutionary act is to be

made, it must be ensured that the preparatory conditions of the concerned act are

satisfied.

iii. Sincerity conditions: Sincerity conditions focus upon the psychological state of the

person making an utterance. These conditions address the beliefs, intentions, and

desires of a speaker during the performance of an act.

iv. Essential conditions: Essential conditions determine or decide the type of a speech

act especially illocutionary act. It can be said that these conditions are the

constitutive rules that determine the type of an illocutionary act. An example of

promise can be given here where the intention of the speaker is to make the

utterance an act of promise by intending to carry out a future action and he also

intends the hearer to know that action. 16

Searle (1979, pp. 1-8) gave another notion of identifying a speech act as opposed to Austin

(1962) in his later classification of felicity conditions. He proposed a detailed set of certain conditions called felicity conditions for the successful performance of a speech act. These conditions are the following:

i. Differences in the point or purpose of an utterance: Illocutionary point is the

main purpose of a person behind making an utterance. It is associated with the

perlocutionary intent or the intentions behind an utterance to get the hearer do

something. It is a part of illocutionary force but not same as illocutionary force. For

example requests and commands are the attempts to get the hearer do something but

their illocutionary forces are different.

ii. Differences in the direction of fit: Illocutions have the direction of fit as an

important component of illocutionary point to get the words or in strict words, the

propositional content to match the world. In other cases they can attempt to get the

world match the words. Direction of fit emerges as a result of the illocutionary

point. Directives (commands, requests) have a world to word direction of fit while

assertives (statements, descriptions) have a word to world direction of fit.

iii. Differences in expressed psychological states: In the performance of an

illocutionary act the speaker expresses an attitude or a psychological state. For

example in a request the speaker’s psychological state is a wish or desire while in

an apology it is a regret. This state may be sincere or insincere. An expression can

be made even without having a belief, desire or an intention. 17

iv. Differences in the strength of illocutionary forces: There exist differences in the

strength with which an illocutionary point is presented. For example ‘suggest’ and

‘insist’ have same illocutionary points but different degrees of strength.

v. Differences in the status or position of speaker and hearer: Status or position

affects an utterance. For example command or order can only be issued by a person

of higher authority. vi. Differences in the way utterances relate to the interests of the speakers and

hearers: This feature is a kind of preparatory condition where the speakers and

hearers interests are involved. As there is a difference between boast and lament or

congratulations and condolences. vii. Differences in relation to the rest of the discourse: Some expressions relate the

utterance to the rest of discourse or the surrounding context. For example, the

expressions such as ‘I reply’, ‘I deduce’ and ‘I conclude’ depend on the surrounding

context. viii. Differences in propositional content that are determined by IFIDs:

Illocutionary force indicating devices are present in the propositional content and

contribute in making the differences. For example a report is about the present

while a prediction is about the future. ix. Differences in speech acts and the acts that need not be performed as speech

acts: Sometimes, in order to perform a speech act it is not necessary to make an

expression about it. For example a person estimating something may not say ‘I

estimate’ or a person concluding something may not say ‘I conclude’. 18

x. Differences on the basis of extralinguistic institutions: Sometimes special

positions are required to perform a speech act. For example the acts of blessing,

excommunicating and christening cannot take place when an ordinary person utters

them rather when a priest utters them.

xi. Differences on the basis of illocutionary verbs: Illocutionary verbs have

performative uses such as ‘promise’, ‘order’ and ‘conclude’ but it is not necessary

that an illocutionary act must take place only when a performative verb is there. It

can take place even without the presence of a performative verb.

xii. Differences in the style of performance of an illocutionary act: Illocutionary

verbs make a difference but sometimes the style of performance differs. For

example, ‘announce’ and ‘confide’ do not have any differences in the illocutionary

point or propositional content but only in the style of performance of an act.

All these components were reduced by Searle and Venderveken (1985) to seven components of an illocutionary force mentioned below that enable the speaker to express something and the hearer to understand it.

i. Illocutionary point or purpose of an utterance: Illocutionary point is the main

purpose of a person behind making an utterance. Searle (1979) explained the

different kinds of illocutionary points:

i. Assertive illocutionary point: Assertive illocutionary point presents a

proposition as an actual state of affairs in the world.

ii. Commissive illocutionary point: Commissive illocutionary point

commits the speaker to some course of action that has been mentioned in

the propositional content of the message. 19

iii. Directive illocutionary points: Directive illocutionary point attempts to

let a person do something that is according to the propositional content

contained in the message.

iv. Declarative illocutionary point: Declarative illocutionary point helps to

bring into existence a state of affairs that has been mentioned in the

propositional content of the message.

v. Expressive illocutionary point: Expressive illocutionary point helps to

communicate the attitudes or emotions about a state of affairs as

described in the propositional content of the message. ii. Degree of strength of illocutionary point: It is the power of an illocutionary point

to bring about certain action. An action is brought about according to the

propositional content having illocutionary strength. There is a difference between

‘request’ and ‘insist’ although both are directive illocutionary acts. ‘Insist’ has a

stronger illocutionary point than request does. iii. Mode of achievement: The manner by which a speaker accomplishes the

illocutionary point of an utterance is called the mode of achievement. If a speaker

gives a command, it means that he has an authority to give orders. iv. Propositional content condition: The condition imposed by an illocutionary force

on the propositional content is the propositional content condition. If a person

makes a promise in an utterance, it means that the proposition contained within the

promise refers to the future state of affairs.

v. Preparatory conditions: Preparatory conditions cover the affairs that have already

been presupposed by the person who produces an utterance and uses an 20

illocutionary force to accomplish his/her objective. Preparatory conditions are

necessary for the employment of an illocutionary force. If there is an illocutionary

force of promise, then the preparatory condition behind the promise is that it has

been presupposed by the speaker that he has the ability to fulfill that promise.

vi. Sincerity conditions: Whenever anyone performs an illocutionary act with a

propositional content, certain psychological state is also expressed in that content.

Sincerity condition determines that whether the content of the illocutionary act is

identical to the propositional content of the expressed psychological state or not. In

a sincere speech act, the speaker believes what he says while in an insincere speech

act is the speaker does not believe what he says. For example, an insincere promise

is the one where the speaker does not intend to do what he says while in a sincere

promise the speaker is committed to do what he says.

vii. Degree of strength of the sincerity conditions: Same illocutionary point can be

achieved with different degrees of strength; similarly, the same psychological state

can be expressed with different degrees of strength. For example, a speaker making

a request wants the hearer to do the expressed act. He can request with a weaker

degree of strength or beg, implore or beseech with a strong degree of strength.

Degree of strength of the sincerity conditions and the degree of strength of

illocutionary point vary directly but it does not always happen. As in case of an

order, the greater degree of strength comes from the mode of achievement.

Searle and Vanderveken (1985, pp.8-20) stressed that the character of an illocutionary act is entirely dependent upon the nature of its illocutionary force and the propositional content. An illocutionary point is achieved by means of propositional content. Many preparatory conditions 21

are determined by illocutionary point. Propositional content also helps to determine the psychological state. An illocutionary force can be determined once the illocutionary point, preparatory conditions, mode of achievement of illocutionary point, propositional content conditions, sincerity conditions and degree of strength of sincerity conditions are specified. Two illocutionary forces F1 and F2 can be considered identical if they possess identical sets of the above mentioned conditions. Two illocutionary forces may differ from one another even if one or two of these conditions differ.

Every primitive illocutionary consists of an illocutionary point, no special mode of achievement of that point, null degree of strength and only the propositional content, preparatory and sincerity conditions that have been determined by that point, Searle and Vanderveken (1985, p.121).

The illocutionary point of an illocutionary force relates the propositional content of that illocutionary force to the world of an utterance. There are only a limited number of ways in which the propositional content can be related to the world of an utterance. The way in which propositional content of an utterance is related to the world of an utterance is called its direction of fit, Searle and Vanderveken (1985, p.52). Illocutionary point always not only determines the direction of fit but also determines how the propositional content is presented as having a relationship with the world of an utterance. For example, if the propositional content of an assertion is supposed to match the world of an utterance, this is the result of the fact that illocutionary point of an assertion describes how things are (Searle and Vanderveken 1985, p.87).

According to Searle and Vanderveken (1985, p.24) a speaker can be committed to an illocution even without the achievement of illocutionary point of that illocution explicitly. 22

Similarly, a speaker can be committed to an illocution even without expressing the propositional content or psychological state.

According to Searle and Vanderveken (1985, pp.52-53) the illocutionary point of an illocutionary force relates the propositional content of that illocutionary force to the world of an utterance. There are only a limited number of ways in which the propositional content can be related to the world of an utterance. The way in which propositional content of an utterance is related to the world of an utterance is called its direction of fit. There exist only four directions of fit in a language.

i. The world to word direction of fit: While achieving the success of fit, the propositional

content of an illocution fits an independently existing state of affairs in the world.

ii. The world to word direction of fit: In achieving success of fit, the world is altered to fit the

propositional content of an illocution.

iii. The double direction of fit: In order to achieve the success of fit, the world is altered to fit

the propositional content by representing the world as being altered.

iv. The null or empty direction of fit: There does not arise any question of achieving the

success of fit between the propositional content and the world as most of the times the

success of fit is presupposed by an utterance.

Searle and Vanderveken (1985, pp.21-22) also explained that although illocutionary intention of the speaker determines the illocutionary force of an utterance but the success or failure of an illocutionary act also involves other factors more than the speaker’s intentions. These factors involve that the hearer must pay attention, must share a common language with the speaker and above all the hearer must be awake as well. These factors are usually assumed to be present when an utterance is made and are not given much theoretical importance. Due to the 23

involvement of other factors the seven features of illocutionary force get reduced to four different types of necessary and sufficient conditions that play an important role in the successful and non defective performance of a speech act. Thus an illocutionary act having the form F(P) is successfully and non defectively performed in the context of an utterance under the following circumstances:

i. The speaker is successful in the achievement of an illocutionary point of force (F) on the

proposition (P) along with the required mode of achievement and the degree of strength of

illocutionary point of the force (F) within the context of the utterance.

ii. The speaker expresses a proposition (P) which satisfies the propositional content

conditions imposed by force (F).

iii. The preparatory conditions of an illocution as well as the propositional presuppositions are

obtained in the world of an utterance while the speaker presupposes that they exist.

iv. The speaker not only expresses but also possesses the psychological state determined by

the force (F) having the characteristic degree of strength of the sincerity conditions of

force (F).

Searle and Vanderveken (1985, p.22) clarified these points by elaborating the illocutionary point and illocutionary force of a non defective act of command.

i. The illocutionary point of command is an attempt to get the hearer do an act A. This point

is made by exercising the authority of the speaker over the hearer which can be called the

mode of achievement. It also has a strong degree of strength that can be derived from the

illocutionary point.

ii. The speaker expresses a proposition that the hearer will perform a future act A. It can be

called propositional content condition. 24

iii. The speaker presupposes that he or she holds a position of authority over the hearer with

respect to the act A of command and that the hearer is capable of doing an act A. The

speaker also presupposes all the possible propositions which include preparatory as well

as propositional presuppositions.

iv. The speaker possesses the desire and also expresses the desire that the hearer must do an

Act A that is the sincerity condition having a medium degree of strength.

According to Searle and Vanderveken (1985, pp.22-23) a speech act can be successful in spite of being defective. A speaker can succeed in making a promise or issuing a statement even if he or she makes a mess of his or her expression in multiple ways. For example, a speaker may or may not possess sufficient evidence for finding out that the promise he or she is making can be insincere. A speech act can be successful even if preparatory and sincerity conditions are inadequate.

Pratt (1977, pp. 81-83) elaborated Searle’s felicity conditions. He stated that successful performance of a speech act requires the fulfillment of certain felicity conditions. He also added that the grammatical correctness is not required for the successful performance of a speech act.

Felicity conditions can either be explicit or implicit if an utterance has a verbal structure.

Commenting on the felicity conditions Levinson (1983, pp. 245-246) explained that the felicity conditions help to specify how to give an order to a particular utterance according to the context. He also added that an illocutionary force is closely related to the meaning of an utterance and cannot be easily discussed according to the truth conditional semantics. In this situation, felicity conditions provide the best way for the description of an utterance.

25

2.1.2.3. Searle’s taxonomy of speech acts

Searle (1969, pp. 16-19) presented an alternative taxonomy of illocutionary acts on the basis of the above mentioned rules.

i. Representatives or Assertives: These acts commit the speaker to something being

the case or to the truth of an expressed proposition. The direction of fit of

representatives is words to the world and the expressed psychological state is a

belief. For example: boast, complain, conclude and deduce.

ii. Directives: These acts are attempts by the speaker to get the hearer do something.

The direction of fit is world to the words and the sincerity condition is want or

desire. For example: ask, order, command, request and plead.

iii. Commissives: These acts commit the speaker to some future course of action.

Direction of fit is world to the words and the sincerity condition is intention. For

example commitment and promise.

iv. Expressives: They express a psychological state about a state of affairs expressed

in the propositional content. Direction of fit is not required. For example: apologize,

condole, deplore and welcome.

v. Declarations: These acts bring about alternation in the status or condition of the

referred object by virtue of the fact that the declaration has successfully been

performed. Successful performance guarantees that the propositional content

corresponds to the world. For example: declare, appoint and fire.

2.1.2.4. Perlocutionary effect

Searle (1985, pp. 11-12) stated that that when a speaker performs an act felicitously there is an effect produced on the hearer’s attitudes, feelings or behavior. These effects are called 26

perlocutionary effects and they can be achieved intentionally or intentionally. The acts producing such effects are called perlocutionary acts. Searle (1985, pp. 11-12) further elaborated that a perlocutionary act does not need to be linguistic only. Non linguistic factors can also contribute to the performance of a perlocutionary act. Elaborating this concept Sadock (1974, pp. 8-9) argued that the perlocutionary effect of an utterance can either be intentional or unintentional. He also added that the number of perlocutionary effects associated with an utterance can be unlimited.

Sadock (1974, pp. 147-153) further stated that the perlocutionary act can be a byproduct of communicative acts. According to him perlocutionary acts are closely associated with the illocutionary acts and an illocutionary act is just a special form of perlocutionary act.

2.1.2.5. Identification of illocutionary force in a speech act

Searle (1969, p. 30) used the term ‘Illocutionary Force Indicating Device (IFID)’ for the realization and identification of Illocutionary forces associated with the illocutionary acts. He elaborated that IFIDs can be realized in multiple ways. The intonation contour, punctuation, word order, stress, mood of the verb and performative verbs function as illocutionary force indicating devices that aim to identify illocutions. He also added that by using an illocutionary force indicating device a speaker can express different illocutions with the same proposition.

It is the task of the empirical linguists to study the existence and function of such devices

(Searle and Vanderveken, 1985, p.1). Searle and Vanderveken (1985, p.2) defined IFID or illocutionary force indicating device as an element of natural language that can be literally used to indicate that an utterance of a sentence containing that element has an illocutionary force or a range of illocutionary forces.

In case of the following utterances

i. Will you leave the room? 27

ii. You, Leave the room!

iii. You will leave the room

iv. If you will leave the room.

In all of the above mentioned examples, there exists the same syntactical feature (P) which keeping in view rest of the sentence and the context of the utterance expresses a propositional content (P). Keeping in view theory of speech acts the general forms of such simple sentences that express the illocutionary force of the form F (P) are called elementary sentences.

According to Searle and Vanderveken (1985, pp. 7-8) every sentence even a one word sentence has an indicator of illocutionary force. Without the presence of illocutionary components the theories of meaning cannot be considered complete. In order to assign illocutionary acts to the sentences it is quite important to analyze illocutionary verbs and other IFIDs.

Verschueren (1997, p. 30) tried to elaborate the concept of Illocutionary Force Indicating

Devices other than the illocutionary verbs. These devices included the following:

i. Sentence type: Sentences can be used as IFIDS. For example declarative sentences have

assertive force; interrogatives have the force of question and imperatives have directive

forces associated with them.

ii. Aspects of word order, stress and intonation.

iii. Adverbs can serve as the indicators of meta pragmatic awareness such as frankly,

seriously, briefly, confidentially. He gave following examples for the adverbs:

i. Admittedly, John's a lousy driver.

ii. Certainly/ undoubtedly, humans are a danger to themselves.

The adverb in the first sentence serves as an attitudinal marker while in the second it shows epistemic properties. 28

Allwood (1977, pp. 56-58) expressed a different point of view regarding the identification of illocutionary forces. He highlighted following important points:

i. Illocutionary force is not always derived from performatives rather it can be derived in

two ways. First, the lexical conventions operating on locutionary level connect lexical

items to certain contexts. Second, the modal conventions are also associated with

communicative actions such as indicative mood is associated with statements,

interrogative with questions while imperative with requests or orders. It does not always

happen that lexical or modal conventions are directly associated with the constitution of an

illocutionary force, instead they may operate together.

ii. There may not exist any explicit indicator of an illocutionary force rather there can be a

natural connection between conventional content of an utterance and specific type of

communicative action such as a warning.

Allwood (1977) gave four common ways of identifying an action:

i. Through its effects on results

ii. Intentions and purposes of an agent connected with an action irrespective of the fact that

whether they are achieved or not

iii. Overt form of behavior an agent exhibits in carrying out an action. For example a

rhetorical question can function as a statement in spite of having an interrogative form.

iv. Contextual extrapolation.

Giving an example of the speech act of warning he explained the concept in the following way:

i. There is an intention to warn as there is a need to evoke awareness about danger to

anyone. 29

ii. It is a specific type of overt behavior

iii. There is a specific context associated with it

iv. A person is actually being warned or made aware of danger linked with his or her coming

action.

Van Dijk (1980, pp. 175-196) also explained that the utterances always have functions that make them to assert, question, command, request, promise, threaten or congratulate. These functions make the utterances the speech acts and indicate that they possess semantic content or meaning. Van Dijk (1980) also explained the relevant conditions for a speech act that make an intention result pair where the speech act carries intention of the speaker and a result is expected from the hearer. When a hearer is made to believe whatever has been asserted is supposed to be done or whatever has been requested needs to be done, means that speech acts possess cognitive and social properties. Speech acts are performed to achieve particular goals. If somebody is convinced or persuaded, it means that the speaker wants to change the beliefs or behaviors of that person. If the speaker is able to achieve his goals by making certain speech acts, then these acts are perlocutionary.

There are certain factors that are quite important to make a speech act successful. A mentoned by Porayska-Pomsta et al. (2000, pp. 265-268) five factors were given by Givón (1989) that affect the final form of the speech acts. The details of these factors are:

i. Epistemic factors: Epistemic factors are related to the truth or falsity of an

utterance. These factors possess four grades that are the following:

i. Necessary truth that is true by definition

ii. Factual truth that is true as fact

iii. Possible truth that is true by hypothesis 30

iv. Non-truth that is false

ii. Subjective certainty factors: These factors are concerned with the speaker’s

beliefs with respect to the epistemic matters, for example truth.

iii. Social interaction factors: These factors are concerned with status, power, mood,

character and confidence of the hearer.

iv. Intentional factors: These factors are concerned with a speaker’s communicative

goals.

v. Action factors: These factors are concerned with producing the actual speech act.

All these factors are related to how a proposition in the mind of the speaker can create an impact on the hearer as intended by the speaker. The intentional factors determine the purpose of a proposition which Givón (1983) termed as purposive context.

According to Porayska-Pomsta et al. (2000, pp. 265-268) Givón (1989) directives cover a large category of different kinds of illocutionary acts which include commanding, ordering, requesting, permitting, prohibiting, dis-allowing, begging, pleading, supplicating, inviting and recommending. It is quite easy to understand directives when imperatives and subjunctives are used. Indirect requests are usually expressed by interrogatives or declaratives. Imperative clauses have the strength of manipulation. Imperatives are used to urge the addressee to do something or forbid someone from doing something. The imperative clause usually has no subject. They make use of a main verb or an auxiliary in the base form that is in turn followed by a main verb. It lacks a tense and modal specification. The progressive and, the perfective forms are rarely found.

On the other hand Morris (2004) explained that commissives and directives are closely related as both urge someone to do something. There is a slight difference, as in the commissives 31

a speaker commits himself to do something while in the directives hearer is asked to do something. According to Morris (2004) imperatives can be formed by the following processes:

i. Imperatives can be formed by the base form of the verb alone or with the help of a non

modal auxiliary.

ii. Imperatives are usually introduced by politeness markers for example pray or prithee.

iii. Imperatives are usually formed by means of do-periphrasis. Do periphrasis can be emphatic

especially when negatives are used.

iv. An imperative has a formal perfect appearance. It is formed with the auxiliaries have or be

although the sense is of immediate force and it is different from normal imperative only in

emphasis.

v. Imperatives can also be formed with parts of speech other than verbs.

There are certain speech acts that are hard to explain for example irony. Discussing speech acts and recognition of insincerity, Mann & Kreutel (2004, pp. 64-68) argued that there are certain ways of using language that challenge the adequacy of Searle’s sincerity conditions for the assertions. Referring to sincerity Searle (1979) stated that inside insincere speech acts the speaker’s beliefs or intentions are not real. He gave an example of irony in the following example,

‘All of the Bill Gates influence is due to his good looks’. This example is completely opposite to its intended meaning. Here the speaker expects that the hearers will quickly recognize that the statement is not believed by the speaker so no deception is involved. Use of irony violates

Searle’s sincerity conditions on speech acts as these conditions label ironic speech acts as insincere while ironic language is usually understood for what it is. It is not insincere rather it draws attention to what is meant and requires the hearer to construct what is meant. 32

Discussing the illocutionary act Mayer (2009, pp.14-15) argued that in order to define utterance meaning the distinction between the illocutionary act and the illocutionary force of an utterance is necessary. The distinction between the illocutionary act and the illocutionary force is that an illocutionary act has the form F (P) where it is composed of an illocutionary force F and a propositional content P. The content P already exists in a locutionary act. On the other hand the illocutionary force is related to the intention of the speaker to be accomplished through an utterance. In this way the illocutionary force becomes the property of an utterance. The successful performance of an utterance is dependent on the hearer’s recognition of intended illocutionary force F. The force of an utterance is intended by the speaker and is a shared belief between the speaker and addressee. The addressee assumes that while making an utterance a speaker always posses an overt communicative intention. Giving reference to Bach and Harnish (1979, p.15)

Mayer (2009) also added that an addressee needs to recognize the intention of an addresser. To communicate is to express a belief, an intention, a desire or a feeling. For example, the statements are the beliefs of addressers relative to certain propositions and secondly the intention that the addressee also believes the idea in a proposition.

Mayer (2009, p.14) defined illocutionary force as something that is intended by the speaker to be done with the prosodically marked utterance of a sentence. In this way an illocutionary force is the property of an utterance. The force of an utterance is intended by the speaker who is rational himself and there exists a shared belief between him and his addressee.

On the other hand the addressee assumes that a speaker always makes an utterance with an overt and the identifiable communicative intention. For example in the following utterance: ‘Did you finish digging the ditch around the house’ the speaker wants the addressee to recognize that he is seeking certain information. In other words the speaker wants the addressee to recognize that the 33

given sentence has an illocutionary force of a question. This kind of intention was termed by Bach and Harnish (1979) as reflexive intention or R intention. Here it can be said that in uttering the above mentioned sentence the speaker reflexively intends or R intends his hearer to recognize the illocutionary force of a question.

According to Mayer (2009, p.14) the communicative presumption (CP) given by Bach and

Harnish (1979, p.12) there always exists a reflexive intention. According to CP the participants of a conversation assume that whenever a speaker says something to the addressee he expects that the addressee already has a belief that there exists an illocutionary intention that needs to be recognized. Moreover, the communicative presumption helps to differentiate linguistic acts from other acts for example, from an act of drawing a picture.

According to Mayer (2009, p.15) Bach and Harnish also highlighted the role of inference arguing that although the illocutionary force of an utterance is R intended to be recognized by the addressee. However the recognition itself is the result of a complex pragmatic inference process.

This inference process involves the recognition of an utterance either phonetic, phatic or rhetic act and then there is a determination of sentence meaning that is the rheitc act and then the determination of an utterance or the illocutionary act. In this way the process can be represented in the following manner:

Utterance act > Phatic act > rhetic act > illocutionary act

Discussing explicit performatives Mayer (2009, pp.16, 18, 20 ,23) explained that speakers use explicit performatives in order to increase the chance of recognition of an utterance meaning or the illocutionary force of a sentence. He described following relationships between the sentence types and the prototypical illocutionary act. 34

Sentence types Prototypical Illocutionary acts

i. Declarative Assertive speech act

ii. Imperative Directive speech act

iii. Interrogative Question act

He also clarified that in the light of the pragmatic view this relationship can only be applicable when studied at the level of speech acts that are typically formed by making such kinds of sentences. He further explained that speech acts performed by different utterances in the form of different sentences of different types can be differentiated by virtue of their illocutionary forces.

Moreover, the pragmatic characterization of a sentence mood is not a proper determiner of an entire domain of possible speech acts dependent on different sentence types. As there does not exist a one to one relationship between sentence types and speech acts mood can not be characterized in terms of speech act properties. In this way mood does not determine speech acts rather delimits the sets of possible speech acts that could be performed with an utterance of a sentence.

An illocutionary force is the result of the interplay of the information about a sentence mood as well as the information available in the utterance context. In order to determine the kind of an illocutionary force it is quite important to define the notion of context and also the notion of utterance in the context (Mayer 2009, pp. 37-38).

According to Mayer (2009, pp.12-13) following steps are involved in recognizing an illocutionary act:

i. A Hearer recognizes that a speaker has made an utterance.

ii. Structural ambiguities are resolved. 35

iii. The hearer recognizes the fact that a speaker has made a prosodic utterance in the form of

sentence that possesses meaning provided by a semantic evaluation function in language.

iv. Indexicals and demonstratives are assigned values keeping in view the context of an

utterance. In such a way a sentence denoting a proposition is identified by the addressee as

an expressed proposition.

v. The addressee determines the illocutionary force of a sentence.

Mayer (2009, pp.55-58) highlighted the role of the following explicit performatives in illocutionary acts:

i. Performative verbs: It is one of the crucial components in explicit performative

sentences. It can express illocutionary force such as in the verbs like assert, state,

claim, deny, correct and state etc.

ii. Subject: The subject has an important role in an illocutionary act. An actual

speaker can perform the speech act and can take the responsibility of an act

performed by means of a performative verb. Actual speaker can be denoted by first

person pronouns ‘I’ and ‘we’. It can take place in other ways such as in the

following sentence ‘The court permits you to sit down’. Here the court is

functioning as a subject for a performative verb permit.

iii. Tense and aspect: In a speech act performed at the time of an utterance a

performative verb is used in the present tense. For example in the following

sentences:

i. I order you to leave

ii. I ordered you to leave

iii. Higgins has ordered Magnum to take care of the Ferrari. 36

In first sentence the speaker performs an order while in the second and the third

there are speech acts of reports and they do not express an order performed by a

speaker at the time of an utterance. Thus the first sentence is an order while others

are assertions. iv. Embedding: An utterance is an explicit performative only if the explicit

performative sentence is of declarative type. In the following sentences;

i. Did I order you to clean the table?

ii. If I ask you whether you want to marry me, my husband will be very angry.

First one is a prototypical question act. In the same way second one is of

declarative type then the speaker asserts the possibility that she asks the addressee

whether he wants to marry her.

v. The adverb ‘hereby’: According to Austin (1975) adverb hereby marks the verb as

performative. It can be used along with the verb in sentences where the speaker

performs a speech act whose illocutionary force is expressed by the verb. For

example in the following sentence:

‘I hereby order you to leave’

In this sentence the speaker not only spells out the illocutionary force of an

utterance but also the vehicle of that force or an utterance of that sentence itself. vi. Hedged performative: As mentioned by Mayer (2009), according to the

observation of Fraser (1975) explicit performative can be embedded under modals.

i. I must hereby ask you that when you will finish your thesis.

ii. I shall hereby warn you that my brother will find you.

iii. I can (hereby) order you come to your baptism. 37

First utterance is a question, the second is a warning while the third one is an order.

Third utterance is just a statement if it implies that the speaker has the ability to

perform an order.

vii. Negation: There are two ways to negate an explicit performative sentence as given

below:

i. I (hereby) do not promise you to come to the party but I will try.

ii. I (hereby) do not order you to answer the door……I beg you to do it.

First utterance is not a performative as the speaker does not perform an act of non

promising or non ordering. The negation deprives the utterance of its performativity

while in the performance of speech acts it is not prohibited.

2.1.2.6. Extension of the Searlean framework

Wunderlich (1976, p.112) classified the speech acts into certain categories by giving different kinds of interactional conditions such as obeying and acknowledgement. This classification is based on Austin’s distinction between illocutionary and perlocutionary acts as well as the felicity conditions given by Austin. These conditions categorize the speech acts in a different ways that are given below:

i. If the hearer obeys the command given by the speaker the act is directive.

ii. An act is vocative if the hearer acknowledges the call by the speaker.

iii. An act is considered commissive if the speaker fulfills his promise.

iv. Information seeking can be there if the speaker has obtained not only the

information he/she seeks, but has also obtained sufficient information.

Wunderlich (1976, p.112) based his classifications on the perlocutionary effects or the consequences of speech acts. The conditions given by him are more related to perlocutionary acts 38

as compared with the illocutionary acts. He classified the speech acts into eight categories that resemble some of Searlean categories such as declaratives, directives, commissives and representatives. They differ as well because vocatives, retractives, satisfactives and informatives have also been included. All these categories have been given below:

i. Declaratives: The speech act is declarative if the interactional conditions are

fulfilled by giving a fact in an utterance such as in case of the act of nominating.

ii. Directives: A speech act is declarative if the interactional conditions are only

satisfied when the given proposition is true and the hearer carries out or fulfills the

course of action that has been requested such as in an act of request.

iii. Commissives: In a commissive speech act, the interactional conditions are satisfied

if the given proposition is true and also if the speaker carries out an action

mentioned in the proposition. The speech act of threatening is an example of a

commissive act.

iv. Representatives: In a representative act the interactional conditions are satisfied

when the given proposition is true at a given period of time. The speech act of

stating is a good example.

v. Vocatives: In the vocative acts the interactional conditions are satisfied when the

speaker makes an utterance and the hearer gives attention to what has been said by

the speaker such as in case of the speech act of addressing.

vi. Retractives: Retractives also depend on the success of the interactional conditions.

The interactional conditions for the reatractives can only be fulfilled when the

utterance made by the speaker is in past tense including the truth of the given 39

utterance. Wunderlich gave an example of the speech act of withdrawing promise as

a retractive act.

vii. Satisfactives: Satisfactives are achieved when the interactional conditions are

fulfilled and a proposition is made or an utterance is made such as in case of the

speech act of thanking.

viii. Informatives: In case of an informative act the interactional conditions are only

satisfied when a proper answer is given for the utterance made by a speaker such as

in case of the speech act of questioning.

Bach and Harnish (1979) followed some of the Searlean criteria in designing a new taxonomy for the speech acts but at the same time they also differed from Searle in a few respects.

Bach & Harnish (1979, pp. 16-17) stated that an utterance has intentional effects on the hearer.

The utterances can be unintentional as well but if there is an intention associated with what the speaker says then the presence of a speech act is necessary. Bach & Harnish (1979, pp. 42-51) extended Searle’s taxonomy and classified the speech acts into five classes but did not classify them according to the direction of fit. They emphasized sincerity conditions used in Searlean classification. They subdivided Searle’s declaratives into effectives and verdictives keeping in view the institutional changes. They classified the speech acts into the following categories:

i. Verdictives: The speech acts are verdictives if there is an official binding imposed

in a certain context of making a speech act.

ii. Effectives: As it is clear through the name the effectives are the speech acts that are

the result of effect on the changes in an institutional state of affairs.

iii. Directives: The directives are the speech acts that direct the hearer to achieve

something. 40

iv. Commissives: The commissive acts commit the speaker to attain an action.

v. Assertives: The assertive assert or emphasize an action in the real world.

vi. Acknowledgements: The acknowledgements recognize an act where something is

done for the benefit of the speaker.

Leech (1983, p.174) contradicted with Austin and Searle on the matters of the illocutionary verb and the performatives. He challenged two theories in order to explain illocutionary verb fallacy. First, he termed Austin and Searle’s theory as an orthodox speech act theory and the second one includes the performative hypothesis of Ross, Lakoff, Sadock and others. The first fallacy is the view that the suitable approach to the analysis of an illocutionary force is the analysis of the meaning of the illocutionary verbs such as advise, command and promise. Apparently, this view seems reasonable but according to Leech (1983) it grammaticizes pragmatic force that is an error. The reason behind the fallacy is that the sense of the illocutionary verbs is a part of grammar that is analyzed in categorical terms while illocutionary force is analyzed in rhetorical and non categorical terms. Illocutionary verb analysis is dependent upon the grammar while illocutionary force analysis is dependent on the pragmatic forces.

The second type of illocutionary verb fallacy is performative fallacy. It is the thesis that a performative or an utterance containing an explicit performative verb is the canonical form of utterance in terms of which the forces of other utterances are explicated. It means that an ordinary non performative sentence has a meaning that can be made explicit by the addition of performative prelude. For example in the following sentences:

i. He did not do it

ii. I said that he did not do it

iii. I maintain that he did not do it 41

The meaning of the sentence ‘i’ can be explained by the help of the meaning contained in ‘ii’ &

‘iii’.

The performative fallacy is the performative hypothesis of Ross (1970) and others which states that the main verb of the underlying semantic structure of every sentence is a performative that lies deep down in its structure. Every sentence has a form something like ‘b’.

According to Searle (1979) as mentioned by Leech (1983), differences in illocutionary verbs are a good guide but differences in illocutionary acts cannot be surely determined on the basis of the differences between the verbs. According to Leech (1983) illocutions are more like puddles and ponds than like monkeys and giraffes. it means that illocutions are distinguished by indistinct rather than discrete characteristics. Language is regarded as an indirect means of accomplishing an extra linguistic goal that is illocutionary goal.

Descriptive view of performatives states that performatives are often partly equivalent to the non performative analogue. They express additional meaning that if conveyed at all is implicitly conveyed by the non performative analogies. Extended performative hypothesis by

Cole and Morgan (1975) is that illocutionary force of an indirect speech act can be appropriately focalized in a performative deep structure. It fails as it is an inadequacy of the attempt to squeeze pragmatics into an unyielding mode of the grammar.

Allan (1986) made a different classification of speech acts where he took Wunderlich’s interactional conditions and also Searlean taxonomy into account. His classification again resembles the one given by Searle in many respects that is clear in the taxonomy of speech acts given below:

i. Statements: Statements are characterized on the basis of the speaker’s belief about

a state of affairs in the world. The state of affairs may be related with present or 42

how it is, past or how it was and future or how it should be. Statements are usually

dependent on the credibility of a proposition. Offers, promises and reports are the

most commonly existing examples of statements.

ii. Invitations: Allan’s invitations resemble Searle’s directives and can be taken as a

subset of the directives. Invitations can either be acceptable or unacceptable. The

invitations usually involve participation on the part of the hearer. Invitations can

easily be formulated inside interrogative clauses. Examples of the invitations are

suggestions, warnings, and requests.

iii. Authoritatives: Allan’s authoritatives are a mix of Searlean directive acts and

declarative acts. As it is clear from their name the authoritative are based on the

question that whether the speaker has the authority to make an utterance in a

particular context. Such kinds of acts can be found not only in the imperative

clauses but also in the directive clauses. The most common examples of

authoritatives include judge, permit, command etc.

iv. Expressives: Expressives are interactive acts that are based upon the speaker’s

reaction to a certain situation. Expressives express social interaction with the hearer.

Expressives include idiomatic expressions or may also include declarative clauses.

Apologizing, congratulating, thanking and greeting are the most common examples

of expressive.

Vanderveken (1990) focused his taxonomy of speech acts solely on the performative verbs. He followed the Serlean taxonomy of speech acts but classified only the performative verbs in English language into five categories. These categories are given below: 43

i. Assertives: Vanderveken classified English assertive verbs into a number of

categories. Their functions resemble assertive acts. Vanderveken’s list of assertive

contains a large number of verbs that include : assert, reassert, negate, deny, correct,

claim, affirm, state, disclaim, declare, tell, suggest, guess, hypothesize, conjecture,

postulate, predict, forecast, fortell, prophecy, vaticinate, report, retrodict, warn,

forewarn, advise, alert, alarm, remind, describe, inform, reveal, divulge, divulgate,

notify, insinuate, sustain, insist, maintain, assure, aver, avouch, certify, attest,

swear, testify, agree, disagree, assent, dissent, acquiesce, object, recognize,

acknowledge, admit, confess, concede, recant, criticize, praise, blame, accuse,

calumniate, reprimand, castigate, denounce, boast, complain and lament.

ii. Commissives: Just like assertives are based on Searle’s assertive speech acts.

Similarly, the commissive verbs function as performative verbs for commissive acts

and mark commissive force of an utterance. These verbs include: commit, pledge,

undertake, engage, promise, hypothecate, guarantee, threaten, vow, avow, swear,

assure, certify, accept, agree, consent, acquiesce, abide, reject, refuse, renounce,

offer, counter-offer, bid, rebid, tender, dedicate, bet, wager, contract, covenant and

subscribe. iii. Directives: Vanderveken’s directive verbs mark directive illocutionary foece and

include the following verbs: direct, request, ask, question, inquire, interrogate, urge,

encourage, solicit, appeal, petition, invite, convene, convoke, beg, supplicate,

beseech, implore, entreat, conjure, pray, insist, tell, instruct, demand, require, claim,

order, command, dedicate, prescribe, enjoin, adjure, exercise, forbid, prohibit,

interdict, proscribe, commission, charge, suggest, propose, warn, advise, caution, 44

alert, alarm, recommend, permit, allow, authorize, consent, invoke, imprecate and

intercede.

iv. Declaratives: The function of the declarative verbs is to mark the declarative

illocutionary force. There are a number of verbs classified as declaratives by

Vanderveken. These verbs include: declare, renounce, disclaim, disown, resign,

repudiate, disavow, retract, abdicate, abjure, deny, disinherit, yield, surrender,

capitulate, approve, confirm, sanction, ratify, homologate, bless, curse, dedicate,

consecrate, disapprove, stipulate, name, call, define, abbreviate, nominate,

authorize, license, open, close, suspend, adjourn, terminate, dissolve, denounce,

vote, veto, enact, legislate, promulgate, decree, confer, grant, bestow, accord, cede,

rule, adjudge, adjudicate, condemn, sentence, damn, clear, acquit, dissipate,

exonerate, pardon, forgive, absolve, cancel, annul, abolish, abrogate, revoke, repeal,

rescind, retract, sustain, bequeath, baptize and excommunicate.

v. Expressives: Vanderveken’s expressive verbs mark expressive illocutionary force.

These verbs include: approve, compliment, praise, laud, extol, plaudit, applaud,

acclaim, brag, boast, complain, disapprove, blame, reprove, deplore, protest, grieve,

mourn, lament, rejoice, cheer, boo, condole, congratulate, thank, apologize, greet

and welcome.

In the above mentioned classification of verbs it is quite clear that although Vanderveken analyzed the performative verbs in a comprehensive way but most of his categories are similar to that of Searle. Moreover, there exists overlapping in the verbs such as verb ‘advise’ not only comes under assertive but also directives. 45

According to Ljungberg & Holm (1996, pp.29-52) speech act theory is not a complete account of meaning as it focuses only on some of the standard ways to decode the success or failure of communication. Searlean classification has been adopted by many scholars. There is a little added or changed to make suitable for the context. A concise classification of speech acts depends on the perspective that may exist in a particular situation. This factor has not been addressed sufficiently. Giving reference to Allwood (1980) Ljungberg & Holm mentioned that due to the multifunctionality of speech acts ambiguities arise in speech act theory. Our common sense classification of speech acts is affected by these ambiguities. There are four factors that usually act as parameters for the classification of speech acts.

i. Intentional phenomena that govern the behavior

ii. A form of behavior

iii. The result achieved through behavior

iv. The context in which the behavior occurs

Ambiguity arises in the following different ways:

i. An utterance can be classified keeping in view intentional phenomena and context.

ii. There can be many communicative intentions associated with a single speech act

(Allwood, 1977, 1980). For example same speech act can act as a request, a counteroffer,

a rejection, a promise or a declaration.

iii. Searlean theory is also charged for its limited possibilities of referring to a wider social

context where the conversation takes place. Searle emphasizes an idealized utterance

where the sender's perspective is more important than the receiver or social interaction

perspective. The meaning of an utterance is derived from the utterance and the theory of

speech acts is termed by some authors as drastically decontextualized. 46

iv. Speech act theory focuses on mapping speech acts into categories. This mapping of the

speech acts is largely dependent on the complex contextual cues which in turn depend on

the social and cultural contexts where language plays an important role. Utterances take

place in complex contexts that have variety. In such kind of situation consideration of too

many variables becomes difficult and questionable.

Another taxonomy of the speech acts was given by Alston (2000, p.34). Just like Allan and Vanderveken Alston also followed Searle’s taxonomy of speech acts in many ways. His categories of speech acts especially speech act verbs are given below:

i. Assertives: Just like Searle’s assertives these speech acts have been taken as a

means of asserting a proposition. In the assertive acts the focus is on the truth of a

proposition. Its examples include the acts such as agreeing, remarking, insisting and

claiming.

ii. Directives: The directives ask the addressee to carry out an action. Examples of the

directives include the acts such as command, advise and suggest etc.

iii. Commissives: The commissives commit the speaker to an action to be carried out

in future. Examples include the acts of offering, guaranteeing, inviting, promising

etc.

iv. Expressives: Expressives are concerned with the psychological state of the speaker

while making an utterance. Examples of the expressive include acts such as

compliment, express, relieve, desire, etc.

v. Exercitives: Exercitives resemble Searlean declaratives. They are concerned with

the exercise of authority on the part of the person who utters something. These acts 47

are dependent on the social or institutional authority of the speaker. Common

examples include pardon, name, hire, approve, nominate, etc.

2.1.2.7. Non literal speech acts

Searle and Vanderveken (1985, p. 25) highlighted the difference between literal and non literal speech acts. They explained that a literal speech act F (P) is performed in the context of an utterance when a sentence is uttered in that context which expresses that force and content literally. If it does not happen then the act can be non literal where the most common examples are metaphor, irony, hints and insinuation.

Commenting on the nature of indirect speech acts Searle and Vanderveken (1985, p.10) explained that most of the times the speakers make one speech act in an implicit manner while making another speech act in an explicit way. The understanding of the speech act depends on the background knowledge as well as mental capacity of the hearer. For example in the following speech acts:

i. Do you know the way to palace hotel?

ii. Sir, you are standing on my foot.

In these utterances the speaker is communicating more than he or she is saying. In the first utterance there is a hidden speech act ‘please get off my foot’ while in the second one the implicit meaning is ‘Tell me the way to palace hotel’. Such kinds of speech acts are called indirect speech acts.

A speaker may express a literal or non literal speech act depending on the context. For example if a speaker says that Paris is the capital of France’ or he says that ‘ I assert that Paris is the capital of France. He or she performs a literal speech act. A speaker may express a non literal illocutionary act by saying ‘You’d better do it’ and means it as an order. In such kinds of indirect 48

speech acts the speaker has to rely on the features of conversational background in order to perform an act. In a non literal speech act in order to communicate to the hearer the speaker and hearer both rely on common contextual knowledge in order to convey as well as understand an intention Searle and Vanderveken (1985, p.75).

In formal semantics speaker meaning is reduced to sentence meaning or in other words speaker means what he says while in ordinary conversation whatever speaker means if often different than what has been stated in a sentence. The primary illocutionary act a speaker attempts to perform is quite different than the literal speech act expressed in a sentence in case of metaphor, irony and other indirect speech acts (Vanderveken, 1997, p.334).

According to Vanderveken (1997, p. 337) an indirect speech act can either be categorized or conditional. An indirect promise or offer can be made by saying’ I could help you’, ‘Can I help you’ or ‘Do you want me to help you’. An indirect offer can become indirect promise if the hearer accepts it. In case all the non literal felicity conditions on which the speaker relies are fulfilled in the conversational background the intended indirect speech act is categorical. On the contrary when some of the conditions are dependent on hearer’s reply the indirect speech act is conditional. There can be an intention to indirectly offer help when it is not clear whether the hearer is willing to help or not.

Vanderveken (1997, pp.337-339) explained in detail different kinds of indirectness in language use as well as inferring why a speech act is indirect. He mentioned following conditions:

i. An indirect speech act has a propositional content. For example by uttering the sentence’

Please, help me’ a speaker not only requests a hearer to help him but also expresses a high

intensity of desire. 49

ii. The literal propositional content is that the illocutionary point of an indirect speech act is

achieved on a proposition. For example by saying ‘I am trying to get you to leave’ a

speaker can make an attempt to get the hearer leave a place. iii. The literal propositional content represents the mode of achievement of an illocutionary

point of an indirect speech act. For example by saying ‘I have witnessed all this’ a speaker

is indirectly giving a testimony. iv. The literal propositional content implies that a preparatory condition of an indirect speech

act has been obtained. For example by saying ‘you should absolutely stop smoking’ a

speaker is indirectly urging the hearer to stop doing an action. v. Literal propositional content represents the sincerity condition of a speech act. For

example by saying ‘I am not at all satisfied with your work’ a speaker is complaining

indirectly. vi. The illocutionary force of an indirect speech act possesses a stronger degree of strength.

An example is the sentence ‘reimburse me’ where a speaker makes an indirect

requirement where it is part of background knowledge that the speaker has a strong need

to be reimbursed. vii. An indirect speech act has more preparatory conditions as compared with a direct speech

act. By saying ‘Do your homework’ a father indirectly advises his son while presupposing

that it is beneficial for his son. viii. An indirect speech act possesses more sincerity conditions such as in the sentence ‘I have

won against all of them’ a speaker is indirectly boasting while being proud of his

achievement. 50

ix. An indirect speech act possesses a non literal illocutionary point that is achieved on a

literal propositional content. For example by saying ‘You will arrive on time’ a speaker

indirectly tells the addressee to arrive on time in a context where he does not refuse to

come.

Vanderveken (1997, p.339) also highlighted following factors in making inferences about an indirect illocutionary act:

i. A proposition P can be identified with the help of background knowledge where the

proposition P is the propositional content of all the non literal conditions of success and

non defective performance of a speech act to which the speaker wants to draw the

addressee’s attention.

ii. By exploiting Grice’s maxim of quality a speaker intends to achieve an illocutionary point

on a proposition P as the achievement of an illocutionary point plays key role in speech

act performance.

iii. An indirect illocutionary act is basically an illocutionary act F (P) whose force can be

achieved by adding all literal and non literal force components to the primitive force.

These components determine the conditions of non defective performance of an

illocutionary act.

iv. When a speaker has an intention to the facts that he obtains multiple illocutionary points

on multiple propositions, in such a case an indirect speech act is a link for different

illocutionary acts that can be achieved by applying the same method.

v. Indirect speech acts are categorical when their felicity conditions are fulfilled in the

conversational background surrounded by an an utterance otherwise they are conditional

and depend on the hearer’s acceptance of felicity conditions. 51

2.1.2.8. Context and speech acts

Van Dijk & Kintcsh (1983, p. 84) emphasized the importance of context in the constitution of the speech acts and termed them social actions. They emphasized that certain acts such as promises, threats and congratulations are social actions of the communicators. The speech act can only be successful if contextual conditions such as wants, beliefs, desires and intentions are satisfied. The social relationships between speakers and hearers such as status and familiarity also matter in the successful performance of a speech act.

According to Searle and Vanderveken (1985, p.17) the context in which an illocutionary act is performed is called the context an utterance. The idea of context is quite important as the same sentence if uttered in different contexts performs different illocutionary acts. The sentence ‘I will come back in five minutes’ can function as a prediction or a promise if uttered in different contexts. Different speakers and different times of an utterance constitute different contexts. In order to understand the context of an utterance, certain elements such as speaker, hearer , time place and also other features related to these features such as psychological states of the speakers and hearer including intentions, desires and beliefs need to be considered.

Searle and Vanderveken (1985, p.28) further added that the features related to the context usually constitute the ‘world of an utterance’. The term world is used to talk about possible worlds or the way things might have existed in addition to the actual world that describes how the things are or how is the state of things at a particular moment of time. The notion of the world plays two important roles in illocutionary logic. First, in order to determine the exact nature of the illocutionary force of an utterance information concerning the speaker, the hearer and the objects of reference in the world of an utterance is necessary that can be explained by the notion of possible world. For example, the utterance of a sentence ‘Leave the room’ can be an order 52

where the speaker has a position of authority over the hearer while in a different world where the speaker does not have authority same utterance can function as a request. Moreover, the issuance of an order can be successful where the speaker has authority otherwise it can be a failure. The illocutionary force depends on different worlds where the speaker and the hearer have different relations with each other. Knowledge of different features constituting the world of an utterance help the hearers to disambiguate illocutionary forces of the utterances. Furthermore, the notion of worlds helps to explain the propositional content of an utterance as a proposition can be identified by determining the conditions under which it is true or false in any possible world.

A state of affairs is universally possible if there is at least one possible world present where it exists. As it is not possible to have detailed information regarding the world of an utterance in order to determine the illocutionary force of an utterance or to decide the success and failure of an illocutionary act, it is convenient to decide illocutionary force on the basis of illocutionary point, mode of achievement, degree of strength, propositional acts possibly formed, psychological states and degree of strength (Searle and Vanderveken, 1985, p.30).

Saeed (1997, pp. 204-205) also emphasized the role of interactivity and context dependence in the performance of the speech acts. He elaborated that communicative function takes place because of the coordination between the speaker and the hearer. Sometimes there is more interaction among the speakers and hearers depending on the requirements of the situation.

Context dependence in turn relies on two features. One is social conversation and the second one is context dependence. Same utterance can have two different meanings in two different contexts.

He gave examples of social rules and rituals taking place in certain societies. For example, if a priest says ‘I now pronounce you man and wife’ in a marriage ceremony, there is a special context associated with the utterance that cannot be found in ordinary situations. A speaker can use one 53

utterance in two different contexts. For example an interrogative can be used to ask question when the answer is unknown whereas it can act as a request if an answer is known to the hearer.

According to Mayer (2009, p.12) so far as semantic theory is concerned it aims to study the meaning of sentence according to Frege’s principle of compositionality. This principle says that the meaning of a sentence is a function of the meaning of its parts as well as syntactic combinations. In this way the semantic interpretation involves assigning the combination of denotations relative to a particular context. An extra linguistic context may also be considered while interpreting an utterance if a linguistic rule allows. As a result of such kind of a semantic interpretation, an entity or a property arises that can be called proposition that is an input to the pragmatic study.

Giving reference to Stalnaker (1978) Mayer (2009, p.39-40) explained that there exists a dual relationship between the context and the content. Whenever context dependent expressions such as pronouns and demonstratives are found in certain context the expressed proposition is determined on the basis of the aspects found in the context of an utterance. He also stated that the illocutionary force and semantic content affect the contexts in which they are performed.

According to Stalnaker (1978) a common ground for a speech act is not a set of possible worlds rather a set of sets of possible worlds called presuppositions. The presupposition is the proposition whose truth is a part of the background of a conversation and is taken for granted. In a conversation the presuppositions are taken by the speaker as the common ground of the participants or their common belief for the purpose of conversation. A proposition is presupposed if the speaker acts as if he believes that the proposition is true in the actual world and also believes that his audience also believes that it is true. 54

Mayer (2009, p.48) also said that an illocutionary context is formed as a result of combination of semantic rhetic act and an illocutionary act.

2.1.3. Presence of multiple illocutionary forces in speech acts

According to Searle and Vanderveken (1985, p.1) an illocutionary act has an illocutionary force F and a propositional content P. Speech acts may have different illocutionary forces inspite of having the same propositional content. For example in the case of the two utterances given below:

i. You will leave the room

ii. Leave the room.

Both the utterances have same propositional content that ‘you will leave the room’ but the first one has an illocutionary force of predication while the second one has an illocutionary force of an order.

Similarly, the speech acts may have same illocutionary force but different propositional contents.

For example in the case of the following two utterances:

i. Are you going to the movies?

ii. When will you see John?

Both the utterances have the same illocutionary force of question in spite of having different propositional contents.

Explaining the theory of Illocutionary logic and illocutionary force Searle and

Vanderveken (1985, p.2) explained that an important objective of illocutionary logic is to study the entire range of possible illocutionary forces without worrying about different ways in which they are realized in syntax of English and also without worrying about how these features are translated into other languages. 55

The axiom of foundation in speech acts states that all chains of illocutionary commitments of a speaker have a unique and common starting point (Searle and Vanderveken, 1985, p.86).

Propositions act as important constituents of speech acts such as assertions, orders, promises and declarations. A speaker making an illocutionary act having a propositional content expresses a proposition (Searle and Vanderveken, 1985, p.32).

According to the hypothesis of constructability presented by Searle and Vanderveken

(1985, pp. 49-50) new illlocutionary forces can be formed out of the old ones by adding propositional content, preparatory or sincerity conditions. It can be explained by taking an example of the illocutionary force of report. In an illocutionary force of report there is an additional propositional content condition as compared with an illocutionary force of an assertion that P. Here, in report P is about present or past state of affairs with respect to the time of an utterance. Similarly, in an illocutionary act of reminding that P there is an additional preparatory condition than the illocutionary force of asserting that P which emphasizes that a hearer once knew and might have forgotten that P. If this kind of situation occurs where the propositional content, preparatory and sincerity conditions of an illocutionary force those are not common to all illocutionary forces having the same illocutionary point are called special conditions of that force.

On the contrary if the conditions of an illocutionary force that are common to all other illocutionary forces with the same point are called general conditions of that force.

These conditions can simply be explained by taking examples of commissive speech acts where the illocutionary point is commissive. Here the general propositional content condition is that their content represents a future course of action of the speaker, the general preparatory condition is that the speaker is capable of carrying out a future course of action whereas the general sincerity condition is that the speaker intends to carry out an action. All the general 56

propositional, content, preparatory and sincerity conditions are determined on the basis of illocutionary point of an illocutionary force. The way they are determined is that an illocutionary point cannot be achieved without presupposing the preparatory conditions, without expressing the sincerity conditions and without expressing a proposition that can satisfy propositional content conditions.

Typical degrees of strength of illocutionary points and sincerity conditions of illocutionary forces are taken as a measure to compare the degrees of strength of all other illocutionary with the same illocutionary points and similar sincerity conditions. For example the degree of strength of commitment to truth and the degree of strength of belief of the illocutionary force of an assertion can be taken as standard for comparing other forces with the same point. As the other illocutionary forces with the assertive point mark same, less or greater degrees of strength of commitment to truth and degrees of strength of belief thus the degree of strength of an illocutionary force is medium or null if it lies in the middle of the scale of strength with which an illocutionary force can be achieved according to system of comparison. In the same way the characteristic degree of strength of the sincerity conditions of an illocutionary force is medium or null if it lies in the middle of the scale of degree of strength with which the psychological state specified by the sincerity conditions can be expressed. As the degree of strength can be expressed by integers the medium degree of strength can be expressed as zero. Thus the degree of strength of a primitive illocutionary force is zero or can be achieved by adding or subtracting from zero

(Searle and Vanderveken, 1985, p.51).

Same kind of problem exists with the mode of achievement where some illocutionary forces have a special mode of achievement that is not found in other illocutionary forces sharing the same illocutionary point. For example a command does not have the same mode of 57

achievement as request or ask in spite of having same illocutionary point as request and ask have

(Searle and Vanderveken, 1985, p.51).

Keeping in view the above mentioned logic the hypothesis of constructability can be formulated in the following manner: First, there are a finite number of illocutionary points where a primitive illocutionary force having that illocutionary point exists. There is no special mode of achievement, null degree of strength and only general propositional content, preparatory and sincerity conditions that have been determined by that illocutionary point. Moreover, all the illocutionary forces are obtainable from a few primitive illocutionary forces by applying operations affecting the mode of achievement, degree of strength, propositional content conditions, preparatory conditions and sincerity conditions existing in the primitive illocutionary forces (Searle and Vanderveken, 1985, p.51).

Different scholars have applied Searle’s speech act taxonomy in the analysis of utterances and divided Representative, expressive, commissive and directive acts into prototypes.

Munawaroh (2007) investigated the types of illocutionary acts found in Kofi Annan’s interview using a descriptive qualitative method. She explained that illocutionary acts are the effects of speakers’ intentions on their utterances. These acts are necessary to be understood in order to find out the meaning of the words and also what the speakers express in the process of sending messages. Munawaroh (2007) also explained that the information could be delivered in numerous ways depending on the intended perlocutionary effect. Successful communication demands the listener or reader to identify speaker’s illocutionary intent. After analyzing speech acts in Kofi Annan’s interview she subdivided Searle’s main categories of illocutionary acts into following prototypes:

i. Representatives: Suggest, conclude, affirm ,complain and conclude 58

ii. Directives: Request, advise, recommend and suggest

iii. Commissive: Forecast

iv. Expressives: Apologize and condole.

Muskananfula (2009) analyzed illocutionary acts in ‘Victory Speech’ and ‘Inaugural

Speech’ of Barack Obama. She supported making sub classifications of the speech acts based on the taxonomy given by Searle (representatives, commissives, directives, declaratives, expressives). She argued that the prototypes of speech acts are tightly connected with Searle’s taxonomy and can have diverse uses in the texts depending on the intention of the narrator.

Underwood (2008) explained Searle (1989) speech acts on the basis of the speech act functions given by Vanderveken (1990). He classified the speech acts into following prototypes:

i. Assertive or representative: Assert, deny, state, declare, tell, report, advise,

remind, inform, certify, agree, acknowledge, praise and amend.

ii. Commissives: Commit, pledge, accept, welcome and tender.

iii. Directives: Direct, request, ask, urge, encourage, call on, invite, order, block,

prohibit, suggest, propose, recommend and authorize.

iv. Declaratives: Declare, resign, retire, deny, proclaim, confirm, nominate, appoint,

authorize, delegate, terminate, veto, determine and revoke.

v. Expressives: Approve, mourn, congratulate, thank, apologize, welcome, appreciate,

regret, trust, believe, desire and intend.

Underwood (2008) classified speech acts according to the categories given by Searle

(1975), Vanderveken (1990) and Wierzbicka (1987). There are a number of prototypes explained by Underwood (2008) that have been mentioned below:

59

i. Assertives

The illocutionary point of an assertive is to express an actual state of affairs in the world. Assertive include following prototypes:

i. Assert: According to Vanderveken (1990) the traditional form of assertive used in

English is ‘asser’. Assert is used to name the force of an assertion. Propositional

content conditions are not required for it. The preparatory condition is that the

speaker should have reasons to support the proposition. The sincerity condition

requires that the speaker believes the proposition.

ii. Deny: Deny is not only used an assertive but also as a declarative. When it is used

in assertive sense, it denies a proposition by asserting an opposite kind of

proposition. The preparatory condition is that the thing that has been denied has

already been affirmed. In the negation of any kind of claim denial is not only

related to the important events but is also related to the accusations.

iii. State: ‘To state’ means to assert something. It is used as a statement in the chunks

of discourses that have larger size. The preparatory condition for ‘state’ is that the

asserted matter should be important.

iv. Declare: The traditional form of declare was ‘to declare’ It is a declarative but it

can also be used in the sense of assertive. The sentences in which declarative form

is used, possess indicative mood. It is usually used to make a declaration that

affirms a proposition publicly that is directly related to the speaker who has a

perlocutionary intention of making an assertion known to someone.

v. Tell: ‘To tell’ is used in an assertive sense. It is used when a statement asserts

something strongly that is authoritative in nature and has to make some kind of 60

achievement. The preparatory condition for ‘tell’ requires that it has some implicit

conviction and there is no need of evaluation or appraisal. vi. Report: The propositional content conditions for report require that the

propositional content is related to the event that happened in the past with respect

to the time of occurrence. The event can happen in the present as well in a few

cases. vii. Advise: To advise the hearer has the proposition that the state of affairs being

communicated to the hearer is in his interest. Vanderveken (1990) and Wierzbicka

(1987) defined ‘advise’ in a bit different way. According to them it is used as an

official speech act. When the institutions have to address the individuals then it is

performed in the written form. It is usually used by the lawyers, professionals or

agents etc. to convey information which implies that the information being

provided by the speaker is in the interest of the addressee. viii. Remind: It is directed towards the hearer. The preparatory condition requires that

the person who is being informed, already knew about the information being given

and might have forgotten it. ix. Inform: It is used with the presupposition having the preparatory condition that

the hearer does not already know what is being communicated to him.

x. Certify: The purpose of certify is to give assurance that a proposition is true. It has

the perlocutionary intention of assuring the hearer that the proposition being

communicated to him is true. 61

xi. Agree or concur: Both of them have the same meanings and are used in an

assertive sense. ‘To agree’ means to assert a proposition keeping in mind that the

other person has already put this proposition forward.

xii. Acknowledge: Acknowledgement occurs when a mode of achievement is openly

recognized.

xiii. Praise: It is used when an approval is given about something or some person. It

has the propositional content condition that the state of affairs being represented by

the proposition is good. It also needs a sincerity condition that the speaker gives

approval of that state of affairs.

xiv. Amend: The preparatory condition is that an assertion or a declaration has already

been made. The proposition that is asserted adds something to or revises an already

existing proposition. ii. Commissives

The commissive illocutionary point is to commit the speaker to do something. It

includes following prototypes:

i. Commit: It is a performative verb. Traditionally, it was used to name the

commissive force. The propositional content condition demands that the

proposition represents a future course of action for the speaker. The preparatory

condition is that the speaker has the ability to perform certain course of action.

The sincerity condition implies that the speaker intends to carry out that action.

ii. Pledge: ‘To pledge’ means that somebody is very much committed to certain

objective or has a strong desire to do something. The illocutionary force of a

pledge is obtained when the degree of strength of a commitment is increased. 62

iii. Accept: To accept means to commit ourselves to do something or to allow a

thing to be done. The preparatory condition is that the hearer or any other person

has already requested a proposition.

iv. Welcome: To welcome means to accept a proposition with pleasure. Here the

proposition represents a state of affairs other than the arrival of a person who is to

be welcomed. The preparatory condition is that the hearer may think that the

speaker may not accept the condition with pleasure unless the speaker said so.

v. Tender: To tender means to put in or submit a bid in the formal context of a

contract. There are rules that determine the winner under certain preparatory and

propositional content conditions. iii. Directives

According to Underwood (2008), the directive act means to try to get other people

do things. It includes following prototypes:

i. Direct: Direct is generally used in the passive form as in ‘You are hereby

directed to…’ The propositional content condition for direct requires that the

proposition represents a future course of action of the hearer. The preparatory

condition is that the hearer is capable of carrying out the action that he has been

asked to carry out. The sincerity condition stresses that the speaker wants or

desires the hearer to carry out that action.

ii. Request: The directive use of request is to give direction to a person to carry out

an action. The hearer of the request can even refuse to carry out an action as the

directive request gives him the possibility of doing so. 63

iii. Ask: Ask is used in two different kinds of directive senses. A person can ask

someone to carry out a particular action in the sense of request or can ask

someone a question. Ask and requests usually have the same illocutionary force.

In the second sense, ask is used to put a question. Here the hearer has to perform a

future speech act that can give the speaker a correct answer to his question. iv. Urge: ‘Urge’ is used in the sense of directive. It represents a particular course of

action having a mode of achievement that has some strength. The preparatory

condition is that a course of action is important or urgent. A speaker who urges

the hearer to do a particular course of action has to presuppose that he has reasons

for the course of action that has been urged.

v. Encourage: ‘To encourage’ is used in the directive sense. It has the purpose to

request the hearer to do something. It has the perlocutionary intention of inspiring

the hearer with courage. The preparatory condition presupposes that the course of

action required on the part of the hearer needs courage. It also requires that the

speaker has to provide him the needed courage. vi. Call on: To call on means to appeal for help keeping in mind that there will be

public pressure on the addressee to provide the needed help. The sincerity

condition is that the act is of serious type. The propositional content condition is

that the proposition represents something that the hearer believes should be done. vii. Invite: To invite is to request someone to participate in some activity. The

propositional content condition is that it is a group or a process in which a person

is to be involved. The preparatory condition to invite is that there is something the 64

hearer will be happy to learn about and is also expected to be good for him. There

is an option of refusal for the hearer in this mode of achievement. viii. Order: Order is a directive. To give an order means to make a demand from

someone to do something. An order is made by a person who exercises a power or

authority on someone.

ix. Block: The propositional content condition for block is to stop the transfer of

property or a financial transaction. A preparatory condition for block is that the

transfer or financial transactions were previously allowed.

x. Prohibit: Prohibit means to forbid somebody from some action or place for a

longer period of time.

xi. Suggest: Suggest is used in the directive sense. It is used to make a weak attempt

to get someone to do something.

xii. Propose: To propose means that a hearer has to carry out some action. It is to

suggest that the hearer is made to accept doing that action. xiii. Recommend: To recommend means to advise. The preparatory condition for

recommend presupposes that the future action recommended is good in general,

and is for the benefit of the hearer. When a person recommends something to the

hearer, he favors that person for the benefit. xiv. Authorize: To authorize is used both as directive and as a declarative. To

authorize an action is to allow someone to perform that action. It declares that the

person has the authority or official power to do an action.

65

iv. Declaratives

The declarative speech act means to change the world by saying something.

Following are the prototypes of declaratives:

i. Declare: The traditional form of declarative verb is ‘declare’. It has the

illocutionary force of the declaration. ‘Declare’ is also used as an assertive. When

it is used as a declarative, it exemplifies the features that the speaker can make

something the case by declaring it so. Declare has no propositional content

conditions. The preparatory condition is that the speaker has the power or

authority to bring about the state of affairs that has been mentioned in the

propositional content. The sincerity conditions require that the speaker believes

that he brings about a declaration and that it is his desire to do so.

ii. Resign: To resign is to give up an occupied position. The preparatory condition

is that the person making this kind of speech act occupies the position and has the

power to renounce it.

iii. Retire: To retire is to give up a position when a person reaches a certain age of

retirement. The preparatory conditions are that the person has occupied certain

position and has reached the age of retirement.

iv. Deny: Deny is not only used as an assertive but also as a declarative. When

something is denied, a declaration is made that the supposed claim is void. The

truth of statements, access or rights to claims or course of actions can be denied

using both assertive and declarative forces.

v. Proclaim: The propositional content condition for proclaim is that a person has

the power to declare a new desirable state of affairs to a wide audience. The 66

preparatory condition for proclaim is that the speaker has the power or authority

to bring about a particular kind of state of affairs represented by the propositional

content. The sincerity condition is that the speaker believes that he brings it about

and he desires to bring about a certain action.

vi. Confirm: Confirming a proposition means to make a previous declaration of a

proposition firm. To confirm is giving an approval of something while

presupposing that a declaration with the same propositional content has already

been performed.

vii. Nominate: To nominate is a declarative that takes place when someone is

nominated as a candidate for a position to be filled in by a person chosen from a

set of nominees by a process of selection, appointment or voting. The preparatory

condition for nominate is that there is a process that is under way. The

propositional content condition is that a person has to be nominated. Out of a set

of person suitable candidate is selected after the process of selection. viii. Appoint: To appoint means to select someone for a position of status or authority.

ix. Authorize: To authorize is not only a declarative but also a directive. It is

directive in the sense that it is the process of granting permission. Its force of

declaration comes from its mode of achievement. A person who is in an

authoritative position declares that a person or group of persons has been given

the authority to exercise power in such a way that is applicable to the context.

x. Delegate: To delegate means to declare that the authority to perform a function

has been transferred to another person. The preparatory condition for delegate is

that the speaker has the authority to use the power assigned to him. 67

xi. Terminate: To terminate means to declare that a committee or a process has

come to an end. The preparatory condition is that, only a previously established

thing can be terminated.

xii. Veto: To veto is used as a declarative. It means that a process, a bill or a proposal

has been defeated by a single vote. The preparatory conditions require that veto is

done to a proposal or a process that was already presented. A veto is made by a

person who has a unique power or authority.

xiii. Determine, find: To determine or to find is to declare a determination or a

decision. Preparatory conditions for determine require that the person who is

making the determination has an authority to make it and is in a mode of

achievement.

xiv. Revoke: To revoke is a declarative whose function is to call back or draw back a

decision or enactment that has already been made. The preparatory condition for

revoke is that the reality is in place. The propositional content condition is that it

should be withdrawn. v. Expressives

Expressive verbs have the illocutionary point of expressing feelings and attitudes.

Underwood (2008) classified them as under:

i. Approve, endorse: To approve when used in the expressive sense means that

positive feeling of approval or support are expressed for a state of affairs or an

action. The preparatory conditions for approve or endorse are that it is good.

Endorse is used to name the same kind of illocutionary force as approve. 68

ii. Mourn: To mourn is to grieve or to express deep sorrow over any kind of personal

loss especially when someone close dies.

iii. Congratulate: To congratulate means to express happiness for some good fortune

that has come the way of the hearer.

iv. Thank: To thank means to express gratitude. The preparatory condition for thank

is that the hearer is responsible for a state of affairs that has done some favor or is

good for the speaker.

v. Apologize: To apologize is to express sorrow or regret. The sincerity condition is

that when something has a bad effect then the person who committed it or thought

it bad has to express sorrow over it. The preparatory condition is that the speaker is

responsible for it.

vi. Welcome: To welcome means to acknowledge someone’s presence. The sincerity

condition is that it should be a courteous acknowledgement and the welcoming

person should be happy to see the coming person. The preparatory condition is that

it is the hearer who has arrived. vii. Appreciate: Expressing appreciation for something is usually speaker oriented. It

means to express gratitude for some action of the hearer. It has a preparatory

condition to the effect that the hearer is responsible for a certain state of affairs that

is good for the speaker. viii. Regret: To regret means to express remorse, sorrow or contrition that is sincerity

condition for it. The preparatory condition is that there is a bad condition.

ix. Trust: To trust a proposition means to hope for or desire that proposition. 69

x. Believe: To believe is used as an expressive. The preparatory or propositional

content conditions are not required. The sincerity condition is that the speaker

believes a proposition. The strength of the sincerity condition depends on the

speaker‘s degree of belief in the proposition.

xi. Desire, want: To desire means to express the feelings of desire for a state of

affairs that has been nominated by a proposition. It does not have any preparatory

or propositional content conditions. The sincerity condition requires that the

speaker is desirous of the content of the proposition. Want and desire have the

same illocutionary forces.

xii. Intend: To intend a proposition means to express an intention. The propositional

content condition is that the proposition represents a future course of action for the

speaker. The sincerity conditions are that the speaker intends to carry out the

intended action. No preparatory conditions are required for it.

Muskananfula (2009) classified the illocutionary acts as well as determined their frequencies of occurrence. Her study was descriptive qualitative and the technique used was document analysis which is the analysis of written contents of a document. She used Searle

(1976) taxonomy of representatives, declaratives, commissives and expressives. Representatives had the largest frequency of 26, declaratives were18, commissives were 15, expressive were 12 and directives were 11 in number. She also made sub classifications or the prototypes that included the following:

i. Representatives: Asserting the speaker’s beliefs, telling the speaker’s beliefs,

suggesting listeners something, describing a condition in the past, giving

information to listeners, asserting a fact, comparing one condition with another. 70

ii. Declarations: Transforming one condition to another, declaring something,

containing goals from the actions required by the speaker.

iii. Commissives: Promising some future action, pledging for future, expressing what

the speaker intends, expressing what the speaker intends, expecting something in

future.

iv. Expressives: Welcoming, thanking, recommending, congratulating, expressing the

pain happened in the past, thanking for something.

v. Directives: Demanding the listeners to do something, inviting the listeners into

speaker’s actions, forbidding the listeners to do something.

Ayeomoni & Akinkuolere (2012, pp. 461-468) conducted a pragmatic analysis of the

victory and inaugural speeches of President Umara Musa Yar’ Adua and focused on the

locutions, illocutions and perlocutions within the speeches using speech act theories of Austin

(1962) and Searle (1969). They found 60% assertive, 35% directive, 15% expressive, 40%

verdicitve, 30% commissive and 20% declarative speech acts within 20 sentences taken out of

the speeches. They also found following prototypes of the speech acts:

i. Assertives: State

ii. Directives: Appeal, say

iii. Expressives: Savouring country’s new experience

iv. Verdicitves: Assess, instruct

v. Commissives: Promise, Assure

vi. Declaratives: Confirm.

Above mentioned speech acts performed direct as well as indirect functions from which they concluded that the president meant more than what was said. They also concluded that 71

speech acts help to identify the meaning carried by political discourse. Moreover, in the process of saying something other speech acts are performed as well.

Ayeomoni & Akinkuolere (2012, pp.461-468) also introduced a new aspect of analysis inteir study of speech acts that is the analysis of the expected perlocutionary effect. They found the perlocutionary effects of excitement, sympathy, hopefulness, happiness, cheerfulness, appeasement, reconciliation and determination. A few examples are given below:

Example1:

Locution: The time for reconciliation has begun

Illocutionary acts:

i. Direct: Assertive (statement)

ii. Indirect: Directive (assess)

iii. Expected perlocutionary effect: Happiness

Example 2:

Locution: I will do all I can to honor their sacrifice.

Illocutionary acts:

i. Direct: Commissive (promise)

ii. Indirect: Declarative (confirm)

iii. Expected perlocutionary effect: Hopefulness

2.1.4. Application of Searle’s speech act theory to the study of headlines

A few researchers have tried to analyze news headlines according to the taxonomy of speech acts provided by Searle. They have treated headlines as speech acts and divided them into prototypes according to the context in which they were used. Some researchers such as 72

Muhammad (2005), Siposova (2011) and Hall (2012) tried to analyze linguistic devices such as grammatical and lexical devices in the speech acts associated with the headlines.

Waelteh (2003) conducted a research on speech act analysis of headlines in which he analyzed the speech acts as well as the linguistic features of the language of the advertising headlines. According to this analysis, representative, directive, commissive and verdictive acts are used in advertising headlines. In order to present a product or service, representative, commissive and directive acts are used. Attention catching strategies are used in these speech acts by employing linguistic devices in different ways. For example pronoun ‘we’ is used to show solidarity and involvement while ‘you’ is used to show familiarity. In order to catch attention effective words such as relish and affordable are used. Apart from these strategies, alliteration, repetition, figurative language and structural ambiguity are also used. Words and phrases having multiple meanings are used in headlines. In order to create structural ambiguity word ‘than’ inside a clause is usually omitted intentionally.

Muhammed (2005) conducted a pragmalinguistic analysis of the selected political newspaper headlines from distinguished newspapers, such as Los Angeles Times, The New York

Times and The Washington Post. Out of a total of 50 illocutionary speech acts she found 02, declaratives, 39 representatives, 04 expressives, 01 directive and 04 commissives. She also found following linguistic features in the headlines:

i. Deletion: It is the omission of lexical items such as articles, demonstrative

adjectives, possessive adjectives, verb ‘be’ and titles, such as Mr., Sir, and Dr., to

save space in a headline.

ii. Special Use of Tenses: Present tense is used in headlines to add freshness,

immediacy and also to create interest. Present tense describes something happening 73

in the present or the past. It is also used for the events happening repeatedly. Present

progressive tense is used with the omission of the auxiliary to report the events that

are developing. The infinitive is used to refer to the future. The past participle is

used in passive constructions. iii. The Use of Acronyms and Abbreviations: Abbreviations, and acronyms make

headline writing easy, but they also add ambiguity to the headlines. iv. Pre and post modification: They occur in different ways in headlines as

adjectives; participles, adverbials, genitive ‘s’ and nouns are used as pre modifiers.

Post modifiers are also used where modifier follows the modified expression.

v. Ambiguity: There are various reasons why ambiguity is created in the headlines.

Context alters word meanings. As editors have to shift the headline materials in

order to save space. In this way the particular word important to the context is

missing. Sometimes nouns and adjectives are joined in a way that they convey

double meanings. Generalization is also a cause of ambiguity. Generalization must

only be made when a specific fact cannot be stated within the limits of the headline.

Sometimes, it overstates the results. Muhammed (2005) gave following different

kinds of ambiguity:

The first one is lexical or referential ambiguity where a single lexical item has more

than one meaning the ambiguity is lexical. The second is syntactic ambiguity where

an entire sentence has more than one interpretation the ambiguity is syntactic. The

third one is textual ambiguity that occurs when incompatibilities exist between

different parts of text or specifications exist in multiple directions, across a text. 74

Chiluwa (2007) examined the pragmatic functions of the news headlines in the most popular Nigerian newspapers. According to Chiluwa (2007) headlines are the units of discourse that can be analyzed as independent texts. Headlines are the functional parts of news stories having pragmatically encoded meanings apart from giving information about the news only.

These meanings are socially interpretable. Headlines also have social functions. If the definition of pragmatics as a study of social meaning is applied, then headlines can be treated as speech acts as having illocutionary functions. He found that the implicit meanings cannot be easily decoded from the vocabulary contents inside a headline. Moreover, the pragmatic meanings are based on the illocutionary intentions of the writer where he wants to accomplish certain social goals. He concluded from his study that news headlines are under the influence of the personal bias of the journalist as well as the professional and social requirements of the newsmagazine itself. His study was based on the pragmatic analysis of popular magazines like ‘Tell’ and ‘News watch’ that use headlines to denounce, satirize, attack, expose and probe political and social situation in

Nigeria.

Chiluwa (2007) treated headlines as illocutionary acts and divided them into following prototypes keeping in view Searlean framework:

i. Commissives: Accuse, reprimand, threaten, denounce, satirize and attack.

ii. Representatives: Report, assert, announce, reveal, expose and probe.

iii. Expressives: Congratulate, thank and greet.

Chiluwa (2007) also found that the implicit meanings cannot be easily decoded from the vocabulary contents inside a headline. Moreover, the pragmatic meanings are based on the illocutionary intentions of the writer where he wants to accomplish certain social goals. He 75

concluded from his study that news headlines are under the influence of the personal bias of the journalist as well as the professional and social requirements of the newsmagazine itself.

Chen (2007, pp. 25-56) studied the texts of the newspaper entitled ‘Times’ and classified the positive verbal processes into six categories according to the nature of the function each process imparted on the behalf of the people whose words were being reported. These categories include:

i. Declaratives: Announce and declare are the most common forms of declaratives.

Both of these processes indicate that the person uttering them is powerful,

confident, and a man of action. Such person has the authority to influence or to

make important decisions.

ii. Authoritatives: Authoritatives include order, demand, emphasize and inquire.

They indicate that the person involved is powerful, authoritative and influential.

iii. Exhortatives: Exhortatives include urge, recommend and suggest. These

processes indicate that the person making the utterance is astute. He can suggest

as well as encourage others to perform an action in the best possible way. On the

other hand, these processes also show that the utterer does not have that much

influence to force others to do certain things or forbid others from a certain action.

iv. Accusatives: Accusatives include condemn, criticize and accuse. These processes

help to create the impact that the person saying these words occupies a high

position so far as his morality is concerned. To accuse someone requires that the

accuser should be at morally higher position as compared to the one he accuses for

wrongdoing. These kinds of expressions are very much dramatic, introducing and 76

emphasize the notions of right and wrong. These notions introduce conflict,

disagreement, anger and betrayal.

v. Informatives: Informatives usually include ‘report’ and ‘explain’. Such processes

indicate that the speaker is wise, well informed and responsible.

vi. Predictives: Predictives include ‘will call for’, ‘will be urged’, ‘will announce’.

These processes show the kind of attitude a journalist has towards a person whose

words are being reported. Predictives are usually in the future tense and predict

the event that is likely to happen.

Siposova (2011) identified speech acts and linguistic features in a study of headlines and sub headlines. She found illocutionary acts of statements, commands and questions in the headlines. She discussed a number of linguistic features found in headlines that include the following:

i. Modality: It affects the perception of given texts and has an effect on the

impartiality.

ii. Vague headline: A headline that does not reveal a sufficient amount of

information in its content and does so in order to encourage the readers into

reading further.

iii. Clause: Simple clause consists of one independent clause and contains a subject

and a verb. The complex clause has one independent clause connected by a

subordinate as to a dependent clause.

iv. Verbal and verbless: Verbal is the one containing a verb and verbless does not

contain a verb. 77

v. Ellipsis: It is the omission of elements which are recoverable from the linguistic

or situational context. vi. Nominal headlines and nominalization: If a verb is missing in the clause, the

action is implied in the noun phrase as the verb is changed into a noun. This

process is normalization and such headline is nominal. vii. Present tense: It refers to a verb in the past or present situation and habitual

behavior or to the future events. When present simple refers to past events, then it

is called historic present. It is used to present a vivid description of the events. viii. Modal verb: It is used when the information is not finite or presented as an

assumption. Modal verb allows information to be presented as speculation rather

than a fact. ix. Simple past tense: It is not frequent in the headlines. It is used sometimes with

direct quotation in the headline to present words that are uttered by someone else

other than the speaker.

x. Imperative clauses: They lack subject. They are used when the addressee is

known and is ordered to do something. xi. Future tense: It is marked by a modal or semi modal verbs such as will, shall, be

going to. Sometimes modals are omitted to save space and future tense is

expressed by the infinitive. xii. Passive voice: Active voice in the headlines is used when the focus is on the agent

whereas passive voice is used to shift focus to the happening rather than who

causes the happening. 78

xiii. Stance adverbials: They express author’s stance towards a proposition that can be

epistemic, attitudinal or stylistic.

xiv. Inverted commas: In order to indicate hesitant or apologetic introduction of a

doubtful or discordant item, inverted commas are used.

xv. Loaded or emotional language: This language is used to appeal to the feelings of

the readers and affects their objective judgment of reality.

xvi. Prosody or intensity: Paralinguistic features such as prosody or intensity also

indicate modality and attitude can be expressed by them.

xvii. Rhetorical questions: It is a figure of speech used in the headlines to make an

assertion rather than to obtain information. It is usually a statement in place of a

question and makes renders think deeply.

xviii. Slang words: Slang is informal language that uses words which replace more

general term that would be used in some other way.

xix. Assertion: It is a piece of information that is presented as an unvarnished fact

based on some evidence.

xx. Assumption: It is based on tentative evaluation as opposed to assertion.

Hall (2012) attempted to identify as well as classify the speech acts in UK broadsheet newspapers. He termed speech acts as under theorized aspect of journalism that play an important role in social constructionism. He examined the way in which newspapers use speech acts and discussed the discursive and linguistic strategies used in the acts of deliberating, informing and witnessing.

Hall (2012, pp. 08-10) defined three acts in the following manner: 79

i. Informing: These are the acts of information used by media to report what is going

on and why

ii. Deliberating: These acts report different voices in media as well as identify and

compare the values given to them. These acts also invite opposing views

iii. Witnessing: These acts affirm the reality of an event.

Hall (2012, p. 04) emphasized that the deliberate use of certain lexical and syntactactic arrangements media reports the news as well as invites the desired responses from the audience.

He stated that media language is a performative language as it invokes certain attitudes from audience. He explained that the acts of informing, deliberating and witnessing are used by the journalists to give shape to the agendas, opinions, identities and social reality.

Syrovy (2012, p.74) categorized speech acts according to their purposes in the news discourse in a comprehensive manner. He also classified them into direct and indirect speech acts.

Direct speech acts included following:

i. Assertives (Informing, confirmation, correction and justification)

ii. Expressives (thanking, praising, sympathizing and condemnation)

iii. Directives (Request, suggestion, inquiry and warning)

Among the indirect speech acts primary and secondary speech act categories were forms.

The classification is given below:

Category Primary speech act Secondary speech act

i. Asssertive Informing Confirmation, inquiry

Praising Informing, request

Sympathizing Informing, Suggestion 80

Defense Informing, agreement and

request

ii. Expressive Condemnation Informing, clarification,

correction, agreement,

concession, apology, praising,

sympathizing, worrying,

defense, suggestion, request

and warning

iii. Directive Request Informing and inquiry

Suggestion Clarification and request

According to Syrovy (2012, p.87) analysis of speech act categories in political talk shows called Da hua and Qua Min. In Qua Min the assertive speech acts had the highest number of 193 with a percentage of 55.78. Directive speech acts had the second highest frequency of 94 with a percentage of 27.17. Expressives were only 59 with a percentage of 17.05. In Da Hua Assertives were 83 with a percentage of 50.30 whereas expressive were 67 with a percentage of 40.61 and directives were 15 with a percentage of 9.09.

After examining the relationship between speech acts and ideologies of political talk shows, Syrovy (2012, pp. 100-101) found that the political talk shows are the pragmatic strategies in order to criticize or support the government. Political talk shows that oppose the ruling party are indirect opinion oriented speech acts whereas talk shows that oppose the ruling party emphasize more on direct and fact oriented discourse. Intentions as well as ideologies are tactfully wrapped in verbal expression.

81

2.1.5. Conceptual framework adopted for the study

Speech act theory provides a framework for commonly found acts in journalism such as representatives, expressive, directives and commissives. Speech acts not only require illocutionary force but also certain context. Speech act theory given by Searle (1979) has been selected for the analysis. Certain modifications have been made in the application of the theory.

For example out of the five categories of speech acts given by Searle (1979) only four including representatives, expressive, directives and commissives have been selected for the analysis as declarative acts are rarely found in the headlines. Similarly, only four felicity conditions given by

Searle (1969, pp.65-68) have been selected to the analysis of the headlines that include propositional content, preparatory, sincerity and essential conditions.

i. Propositional Content Conditions: This condition is concerned with the

proposition of the sentence in question that concerns present, past or future state of

affairs.

ii. Preparatory Conditions: These conditions depend not only on the intention but

also the knowledge on the part of speaker as well as hearer.

iii. Sincerity Conditions: They tell about the belief, intention or desire of a speaker in

performing a speech act.

iv. Essential Conditions: These conditions help to determine the type of illocutionary

act on the basis of what is intended by the speaker.

Every speech act is composed of linguistic elements that not only act as illocutionary force indicating devices but also provide a way to identify the message constructed by the headline writer in a specific way. For the analysis of linguistic elements the previous researches conducted by Muhammad (2005), Siposova (2011) and others have been considered. As there were only a 82

few studies available on the functions of linguistic devices in headlines the studies conducted by

Bedrichova (2006), Praskova (2009), Obiedat (2006), Athjanasiadou (1991) , Biber et al.(2000) ,

Nemickiene (2010), Tseronis (2011), Vrbinc & Vrbinc (2011) and Steinhert & Kittay (1994) were also considered to discuss the functions in detail.

Importance of studying linguistic devices in the composition of texts cannot be neglected.

Morris (2004) emphasized that textual analysis is quite useful for the news reporters, editors, news directors, and researchers who want to know the impact of media on the routine lives of the people. Further, Morris (2004) explained that in order to improve writing skills it is important to know different models of news writing. Textual analysis is helpful to identify, describe and evaluate different types of journalism. Nemickiene (2010) studied newspaper style and found that the phonological, graphological, syntactical and lexical means are used in the headlines not only to direct reader’s attention but also to form a favorable readership.

Bedrichova (2006) analyzed the discourse of the newspaper articles in the newspaper

‘Guardian’ ranging from the selected period of December 2005 to May 2006. She chose 76 headlines. She analyzed the pattern of employment of sub headlines as well as their functions.

According to her, headlines are made of limited number of words. Due to high level of vagueness sub headlines are used to provide additional information. She found following features in the structural analysis of the headlines:

i. Structural ellipsis: It includes the omission of determiners, pronouns and other

words. This ellipsis style is called headlinese.

ii. Use of quotes, inverted commas and colon: They are used to strengthen

credibility. Colon represents somebody else’s words to show credibility, emphais

and objectivity. 83

iii. Metaphorical expressions: They are used to make language accessible to the

readers thus influence of a fact is relieved by using figures of speech.

iv. Omission of auxiliary verb: Headlines become non finite sentences by the

omission of auxiliary verb and this feature is typical of headlines.

v. Use of who, where, how and what: These words help to decode the message

introduced in the headlines. ‘Who’ helps to identify. Reader is expected to have a

certain degree of shared knowledge here. ‘Where’ is least used in headlines as the

information about the places is least included in the headlines. ‘How’ gives

information about the circumstance of the event. ‘What’ is most significant to

make readers know the happening of an event.

vi. Indirect speech: By using indirect speech, a journalist controls the focus the story

and can refer to what suits the purpose of the article. So far as position of the

source is concerned, placing it in the final position enables to present information

as factual statement voiced by the paper.

vii. Nominalization: It is the use of noun instead of the verb. It enables predicates

such as verbs and adjectives to be analyzed syntactically as nouns. The nominal

element enables author to delete both the participants including ‘who and whom’

that are the agent and object respectively as well as the indication of time as there

is no verb. It is a technique of concealment. viii. Present tense: It refers to the present, past and future.

ix. Active and passive voice: Use of active voice highlights the agent while the

passive transformation provides means of deleting the subordinate parts of the

clauses and thus avoiding explicit responsibility. Use of voice plays a role in the 84

choice of expressions occupying the initial position in the headline. Passive focus

is on the affected party in the headlines.

x. Non sentences: Headlines having no verb at all can be called non sentences. It is a

typical form of block language where a noun phrase or nominal clause is used in

isolation.

xi. Proper nouns: Proper nouns are used to refer to specific people, places and

institutions whereas common nouns are used to refer to common issues persons

and organizations.

Praskova (2009) analyzed the grammar of headlines and found features and structures that occur most commonly in the newspaper headlines. It is the headline that sells the newspaper therefore, it needs to be sparkling, clever, eye catching and correct. The main purpose of the headlinese is to communicate using few short words as possible that can lead to misleading or misrepresented headline. In order to produce a successful headline writers break many grammatical rules and use non standard structures.

i. Sentential headlines: These headlines have a regular sentence structure and have

subject and a finite verb. Simple sentences have one subject and one finite verb.

Multiple sentences are two or more clauses linked by a coordinator or a

subordinator. Compound sentences have two or more clauses joined by a comma

or coordinator. Complex sentences are the clauses joined by a subordinator.

Praskova (2009) divided sentences further into four groups on the basis of the

structure and discursive functions. But these structures do not always correspond

to the main discursive functions such as statements, questions, directives and

exclamatives therefore mismatch can occur. Statements declare or convey 85

information and make something known. Questions perform the function of asking

or may perform a request or command. Directives have imperative structure and

instruct someone to do something. Exclamatives show expressions and are usually

used as minor sentences.

ii. Non sentential headlines: They are frequently used in the headlines. Structure of

such headlines is lower than a regular sentence and they are constructed in an

irregular way. For example a structure ‘A bitter blow’ is a non sentence. Crystal

(2003) termed them minor sentences. Minor sentences lack a finite verb form or

they are without a verb form at all. Crystal (2003) explained that stereotyped social

expressions such as hello, thanks, interjections such as eh or oh, proverbs or

sayings such as easy come, easy go, abbreviated forms used in post cards,

institutions or commentaries and words or phrases used as exclamations, questions

and commands are non sentences.

iii. Non finite clauses: According to Biber et al.(1999) non finite clauses are

dependent clauses that usually appear in a sentence together with the main clause.

iv. Phrases: According to Biber et al.(1999) phrases are composed of a single word or

a group of words for example noun phrase, adjective phrase, adverb phrase and

prepositional phrase.

v. Ellipsis: It is the mission of elements that are recoverable from linguistic context

or structure. Ellipsis can either be medial (omission of operator), initial (subject is

omitted) or intentional (subject or operator is omitted).

Obiedat (2006) investigated the use of reported speech in news stories. He argued that reporting an event involves the process of selection, manipulation, bias and prejudice. Direct 86

quotations are used in the headlines to add flavor, vividness and sense of immediacy to the news stories. A viewpoint seems more authoritative than personal by using direct quotations. Direct quotation functions as a distancing and disowning device. It absolves the newsmaker from what has been said. Direct quotations are also used to show the facts that are not convertible despite the fact that the news reporters take sides by selecting quotations and present a biased or prejudiced opinion.

Use of interrogatives in headlines is to function as rhetorical questions. Athjanasiadou

(1991, p.12) stated that questioning is a speech act that affects the way information is organized.

Different modes of questioning are the different ways of conveying intentions. In rhetorical questions, the speaker does not expect an answer, even if he does the information channel is empty. It is usually maintained that the purpose of questioning is to elicit information, but it may not always happen as the implicit meaning of a sentence is usually different than what is conveyed by its overt form. While asking questions with intentions, the speakers not only communicate the meaning but also influence the hearer in some way. While asking rhetorical questions the speaker usually emphasizes something or gives it prominence.

A detailed classification given by Biber et al.(2000,p.357) can be helpful in analyzing news discourse. He divided verbs into the following classes: i. Activity verbs that denote action and events that can be associated with choice and take

subject in the semantic role of an agent. ii. Mental verbs are based on activities and states experienced by humans and have cognitive,

attitudinal, emotional and perceptive meanings. iii. Communication verbs involve communication activities iv. Existence or relationship verbs denote a relationship or state that exists between entities. 87

v. Occurrence verbs report events that occur other than any volitional activity. vi. Facilitation or causation verbs indicate a new state of affairs brought about by a person or

entity. vii. Aspectual verbs characterize a stage of progress of an event or activity.

Yamashita (1998, pp. 177-191) classified verbs into following categories after analyzing

Japanese and American newspaper reports:

i. Reporting verbs: In these verbs a neutral evaluation of represented discourse is

given by the reporter, for example say and tell.

ii. Mental or thought verbs: Here the internal sates of the subject of the represented

discourse are presented to the reader for example, wonder and recall.

iii. Manner of speaking verbs: These verbs represent physical characteristics to the

represented discourse i.e. shout.

iv. Speech acts or illocutionary verbs: These verbs represent illocutionary force

such as warn and claim.

Biber et al. (2000, p.503) also gave a detailed classification of the functions of adjectives.

He categorized adjectives as pre and post modifiers. Further, he classified them as descriptors denoting color, size, quantity, extent, time, evaluation and emotions. In classifiers he placed non gradable adjectives that delimit or restrict a noun’s referent by placing it in a category in relation to other referents. Classifiers can be relational, classification or restrictive to delimit a noun like same, whole, following etc. Adjectives can be topical that give the subject area or show a relationship with a noun like social, human international. Biber et al.(1999) gave six forms of adjectives, comparatives and superlatives, intensifiers (high, most extremely), attenuatives 88

(slightly, hardly), quantifiers (exact, a mile), descriptive (strangely silent, cheerfully confident) and sub modifiers (just as easy, really quite angry).

Commenting on the role of phrasal verbs in news Nemickiene (2010, pp.34-41) clarified that they are used instead of simple verbs to vary the means of speech and add colour to the language.

Analyzing the argumentative discourse Tseronis (2011, pp. 473-490) observed that the strategic function of adverbs such as in fact and frankly is to function as a standpoint in argumentative discussion. An utterance can be identified as a standpoint when it expresses a positive or a negative position on a disputed issue that is stated explicitly or stays implicit in spoken or written discourse. Choice of words affects the interpretation of argumentative discourse. Adverbs were classified by Bieber et al. (1999) as adverbs of doubt and certainty, actuality and reality, evidence or source, limitation, viewpoint or perspective, imprecision, evaluation, judgment, assessment of expection and adverbs of style.

Vrbinc & Vrbinc (2011, pp. 75-91) studied the creative use of idioms in satirical magazines. According to Oxford English Dictionary, idiom is a form of expression, grammatical construction or phrase that is peculiar to a certain language or a person. Idiom is a peculiarity of phraseology and its meaning can not be deduced from those of individual words. Vrbinc &

Vrbinc (2001) explained that the idiomatic expressions do not mean what they appear to mean.

Understanding the meaning of the constituent parts of an idiomatic expression only, does not facilitate the meaning of the whole. People modify idioms not only to communicate propositional content but also to express attitudes and emotions.

Metaphors are also commonly found devices in the headlines. According to Steinhert &

Kittay (1994, pp. 2452-2456) metaphor is a trope in which one thing is expressed as if it were 89

some other thing. Those who maintain the view that there is no metaphorical meaning generally say that the meaning of a metaphor depends on the contextual factors and those who think that metaphor has a meaning , look for the rules by which it can be deduced from an utterance.

According to Kulo (2009), common metaphors in politics come from domains of sports and war.

Steuter & Wills (2009) studied the coverage given to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in Canadian newspaper headlines. They examined the way in which images of enemy leaders as well as Arab and Muslim citizens’ images were constructed by using metaphors that frame the enemy in particular ways. They found that there was a repeated use of animal metaphors by dominant media institutions that have constituted representations having ideological importance. Suspected terrorist and enemy military and political leaders were labeled by media as vermin, rats, insects and arachnids. These metaphors function to reflect and intensify the anxieties regarding enemy movements, growth and territorial expansion. The anxieties aroused by the conceptual metaphors that present the image of enemy as a prey, an animal or having diseases are deeply consequential in the way they frame war on terror.

Andersen (2006) analyzed the use of loaded words and explained that certain expressions were used while reporting on Iraq by CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System) such as ‘staggering,’

‘fantastic,’ ‘excellent spectacle’ and ‘rolling thunder air war’ were enthusiastically used while reporting on bombardment of urban areas. Human suffering was suppressed while the use of modern technology was celebrated. Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein were presented as daemons while George W. Bush was presented as the person fighting ‘good fight ‘or ‘just war’.

Depending on the interests of news organizations, several issues were either over reported or underreported. 90

As mentioned by Jucker & Taavitsainen (2008) verbs have been classified into the following categories:

i. Assertive: Affirm, allege, assert, forecast, predict, announce and insist

ii. Directive: Ask. Beg, bid, command, demand, forbid, recommend and request

iii. Commissive: Offer, promise, swear, volunteer and vow

iv. Expressive: Apologize, commiserate, congratulate, pardon, thank and attribute

v. Declarative: Adjourn, veto, sentence and baptize

vi. Question introducing verbs: Ask, inquire, query and question

vii. Verbs of referring, classifying and predicating: Name, class, describe, define

and identify.

91

Chapter 3

METHODOLOGY

This chapter reviews the methodology designed for the present study. The study aims to identify as well as classify speech acts in the news headlines of CNN. It also aims to explore the functions of the linguistic devices that constitute speech acts.

3.1. Research design

Quantitative as well as qualitative descriptive method was selected as the most suitable design for the current study. Quantitative method was used to calculate the frequencies and the percentages of speech acts as well as the linguistic devices associated with the speech acts.

Qualitative descriptive method was used to analyze the pragmatic and linguistic phenomena related to CNN headlines in the light of the previous researches.

3.2. Data sources

The data sources of this research were CNN headlines collected from CNN website that were treated as speech acts.

3.3. Data collection and processing

The researcher used the following steps to collect and process the data:

3.3.1. Selection of an online news source

CNN website (www.cnn.com) was selected as it is one of the most popular news

websites of the world. Moreover, it covers issues from all around the world.

3.3.2. Downloading headlines by crawling

Headlines web pages from January 2010 to May 2011 were collected from CNN

website by following hyperlinks from one page to another which is termed as crawling. 92

These web pages having headlines were saved as HTML files. These files contained

information about headlines, their dates of publication, links and description.

3.3.3. Processing headlines

Following steps were taken to process the headlines:

3.3.3.1. Copying the data into Microsoft Word files

The data were copied from the web pages to Microsoft Word

files. These files helped to arrange data and to make it easy for further

processing.

3.3.3.2. Stripping off the unnecessary material

As the study focused on the headlines from January 2010 to May

2011, all the headlines before January 2010 and after May 2011 were

deleted. Moreover, only those headlines were selected that were related

to news giving coverage to Pakistan. Necessary items containing

headlines were kept and unnecessary materials like catalogues and link

lists were stripped off.

3.3.3.3. Checking the duplicate headlines

There were multiple copies of the same headlines in the data. It

was important to avoid repetition of data. Headlines were checked

keeping in view website, category, date and time. Duplicate headlines

for the same news story were checked and deleted.

3.4. Sampling

A random number generator was used to select a total of 200 headlines out of 1000 headlines. 200 headlines from January 2010 to May 2011 were selected from CNN website. 93

Integer generator was preferred that generated the numbers independent of each other. In order to avoid duplicate numbers, randomized sequence was used as it did not create duplicate numbers.

The reason behind the selection of only 200 headlines was time constraint and the length of data.

The selected time period from January 2010 to May 2011 covers a series of events. The most prominent of them include the disastrous flood of 2010, militancy, blasphemy law controversy, cricket scandal and cricket diplomacy, turbulent domestic politics, issues related to foreign journalists, the death of Osama Bin Laden, drone attacks and rise and fall in US Pakistan relations. Indo Pak relations, political comeback of Parvez Musharraf, Pak China relations and

Pak Afghan relations were also subject to continuous media discussion.

3.5. Data analysis

In order to analyze pragmatic functions headlines were treated as propositions functioning as speech acts. Two major steps were involved in the classification and analysis of pragmatic functions:

i. Analysis of speech acts

ii. Analysis of linguistic devices used within the speech acts

3.5.1. Analysis of the speech acts

Following steps were involved in the analysis of the speech acts:

3.5.1.1. Selection of Searle’s speech act theory for analysis of headlines

Searlean speech act analysis framework was preferred over all other

frameworks given by Austin and others because it was found to be one of the most

suitable frameworks for the analysis of the headlines. It gives a room for the

analysis of different illocutionary forces. Moreover, all the illocutionary forces

usually connect with the main categories of speech acts given by Searle. By the 94

analysis of felicity conditions the application of the speech act theory to media

texts becomes more convenient. This framework was applied by many researchers

in the analysis of headlines as speech acts because of its suitability and flexibility

in the process of analysis. This model accepts different indicators of illocutionary

forces whether they arise out of linguistic or extra linguistic context.

3.5.1.2. Primary classification of headlines as speech acts

Speech act theory given by Searle (1979) was applied for the analysis.

Speech acts were identified according to the two parameters specified by Searle

that include illocutionary point and direction of fit. After that quantitative analysis

was done and these speech acts were also classified according to the news topics.

3.5.1.2.1. Illocutionary point

Illocutionary point is the main aim or purpose of a speech act.

Illocutionary point also has a key role to play as it determines the direction

of fit. Four basic categories of speech acts i.e. Representatives,

expressives, directives and commissves were found in the headlines

according to the Searlean criteria already given to determine the

illocutionary points of the speech acts.

3.5.1.2.2. Direction of fit

Illocutionary point helped to find out the direction of fit. The speech

acts were also classified according to the direction of fit as only one

criterion of classification was not sufficient to characterize different

headlines functioning as representatives, expressive, directives and 95

commissives. Moreover, the direction of fit can be used to discuss the

context in which a speech act is made.

3.5.1.2.3. Quantitative analysis

Quantitative measures were taken to determine the number of

speech acts according to a particular illocutionary point and direction of

fit. After determining the number total number and the percentages were

also calculated that helped to find out the functions of speech acts in the

headlines and also the differences in the ratio of occurrence of speech acts

in the headlines.

3.5.1.2.4. Classification according to the news topics

Speech acts basic or primary categories were again classified

according to the news topics associated with them. In order to find out the

representation given to Pakistan by CNN headlines, it was important to

determine the frequency of coverage given to the news on different topics

such as terrorism, militancy, flooding etc. It was very important to classify

the primary categories according to news topics as the news topics helped

to find out the context and also played a role in finding out the

illocutionary forces. Once again the frequencies of occurrence as well as

percentages were calculated.

3.5.1.3. Classification of primary speech acts into prototypes

As the representative, expressive, directive and commissive speech acts

have same illocutionary point but different illocutionary forces or prototypes

associated with them. Following steps were taken to analyze the prototypes: 96

3.5.1.3.1. Analysis of the felicity conditions

The headlines were termed as propositions and the aforementioned

basic categories of the speech acts were further analyzed according to the

following four felicity conditions given by Searle:

i. Propositional content conditions: Propositional content conditions

play an important role in the propositions as indicators of the time of

occurrence of an event. In the analysis of headlines as propositions

the propositional content was only analyzed as an indicator of

present, past or future tome of occurrence of a proposition.

ii. Preparatory conditions: Preparatory conditions were considered as

a measure to explain the conditions under which a proposition takes

place.

iii. Sincerity conditions: Sincerity conditions were applied to analyze

the state of mind or thinking associated with a proposition.

iv. Essential conditions: Essential conditions were taken as a measure

to reach towards deciding the illocutionary force associated with a

proposition keeping in view the propositional content, preparatory

and sincerity conditions.

3.5.1.3.2. Classification of headlines topics within the prototypes

After the analysis of the headlines or propositions in terms of the felicity conditions, the headlines were once again classified according to different topics or contexts associated with them. Headlines related with the same news topic were kept under the same heading. 97

3.5.1.3.3. Tabulation of the data

The propositions, topics of the propositions and felicity conditions were

presented in the form of tabulated data for the sake of qualitative analysis.

3.5.1.3.4. Detailed description and analysis of felicity conditions

A detailed explanation of the headlines treated as propositions and their felicity

conditions was given at the end of every table. This detail indicated how the felicity

conditions relate with one another within the same proposition as well as with the

other propositions coming under the same heading. Moreover, it was also analyzed

how the propositions coming under different news contexts were related with one

another. This analysis made it convenient to relate essential conditions with one

another for the propositions coming under the same prototype of a speech act. Further

the results were discussed with the help of the previous researches on the illocutionary

forces.

3.5.1.4. Analysis of linguistic devices used within the speech acts

Headlines are different than ordinary discourse. The range of linguistic features used in headlines is different as compared to other texts as the headlines have to attract a large number of audiences. These features were sorted out and were analyzed quantitatively as well as qualitatively. Following steps were carried out in order to analyze the linguistic features.

3.5.1.4.1. Identification of linguistic features

Linguistic features in the headlines were identified keeping in view the

previous studies on the headlines conducted by Bedrichova (2006), Praskova

(2009), Siposova (2011) and many others.

98

3.5.1.4.2. Underlining important features

Different linguistic features playing important role in the headlines were

underlined to make further analysis convenient.

3.5.1.4.3. Quantitative analysis

Quantitative analysis method was adopted to find out the frequencies of

different linguistic features that were already underlined. The data were presented

by means of tables. A separate table for each linguistic device was where its

frequencies in different speech acts were indicated. For example, in case of the

representative acts all the different illocutionary forces coming under the heading

of representative act were mentioned under the main headlines i.e. representatives.

All the prototypes were placed one by one in the same order as they were

discussed previously. The frequency of each linguistic device associated with the

particular type of prototype was calculated in terms of number as well as

percentage. Same categorization and calculation was observed for the expressive,

directives and commissives. Different frequencies of the linguistic devices

associated with different prototypes helped to find out the range of linguistic

devices associated with the Searlean speech act categories used for the research.

Moreover, the frequencies as well percentages also helped to explain the functions

of the linguistic devices in one category of a speech act in a comparison with

another category of a speech act.

3.5.1.4.4. Qualitative analysis

Qualitative analysis helped to find out the functions performed by different

linguistic devices within the headlines. It was carried out keeping in view the 99

functions of the headlines explained in the previous researches. There were two important dimensions that were considered in the analysis of the roles of linguistic features in the headlines

i. The role of linguistic features as illocutionary act markers

The linguistic devices have an important role as illocutionary force

indicating devices as mentioned by Searle in speech act theory. Their role

as markers of illocutionary forces was highlighted in the analysis. It was

also made clear if they were not associated with any role.

ii. The role of linguistic features in the construction and presentation of a

news headlines

As a headline story can not be constructed without the use of

linguistic devices. The role of the linguistic features in giving a particular

shape to the story was also considered for the analysis.

100

Chapter 4

DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter discusses the results obtained by quantitative as well as qualitative descriptive analysis. The research had two objectives. First objective was to identify the pragmatic functions of the CNN headlines representing Pakistan while the second objective was to discuss the role of linguistic devices especially lexical and grammatical devices in the headlines functioning as illocutionary acts.

4.1. Identification of pragmatic functions of the news headlines

In order to analyze the pragmatic functions, news headlines were treated as illocutionary acts. The identification of the pragmatic functions was carried out in two steps:

i. Classification of headlines into primary speech acts given by Searle (1969)

ii. Sub classifications within primary speech acts

4.1.1. Classification of headlines into primary speech acts

A sum of 200 headlines was classified into different speech acts according to the following illocutionary dimensions of variation specified by Searle (1969).

Illocutionary acts Illocutionary point Direction of fit

i. Representatives Speaker is committed to the truth of proposition Word to world

ii. Expressives Speaker expresses feelings associated with an act None

iii. Directives Speaker tries the hearer to do an act World to word

iv. Commissives Speaker is committed to the fulfillment of future act World to word

v. Declaratives Speaker performs an action representing himself as World to word and

an authority word to world 101

Headlines were classified into following primary speech act categories after analyzing them according to the above mentioned criteria.

Table 4.1.1: Classification of headlines into primary speech acts

Headlines Illocutionary point Direction of fit Number %

H1 to H156 Representative Word to world 156 78%

H157 to H173 Expressive None 17 08.5%

H174 to H 187 Directive World to word 14 07%

H188 to H200 Commissive World to word 13 06.5%

Grand total 200

The table represents only 04 kinds of illocutionary acts as no declarative act was found in the data. The headlines having representative illocutionary point and world to word direction of fit are abundant in the data. Only 17 headlines do not have any direction of fit. The number of headlines having world to word or word to world direction of fit is greater than those having no direction of fit. The table also indicates that the representative acts have maximum occurrences and greater percentage as compared to the expressive, directive and commissive acts.

The existence of only four kinds of illocutionary points verifies Searle and Vanderveken

(1985) statement that there are only a few limited ways in which the illocutionary point of an utterance can be found. Finding the illocutionary point is also important to determine the direction of fit of the news headlines that shows the relationship between the content as well as the context of news headlines. Maximum frequencies of occurrence of the representative acts also support the findings in the previous studies conducted by Muskanafula (2009) and

Ayeomoni & Akinkuolere (2012) that they are the most frequently occurring illocutionary acts in the texts especially the news headlines. Expressives, directives and commissives form the least frequently found types of illocutionary acts in the headlines. Just like the findings in the previous 102

studies on the speech acts expressive, directives and commissives have the least frequencies such as 06.5 percent. It shows that such kinds of acts are least frequent in the texts especially the headline texts.

Table 4.1.2: Primary Illocutionary acts associated with the news topics Illocutionary acts News Topics Representatives Expressives Directives Commissives Total no. No. % No. % No. % No. % of % headlines 1. Osama Bin Laden 41 26.28 - - 03 21.42 - - 44 22.00

2. Flood 16 10.25 04 23.52 01 07.14 - - 21 10.50

3. Militancy 24 15.38 - - 01 07.69 25 12.50

4. Blasphemy 11 07.05 - - 01 07.14 12 06.00

5. Sports 07 04.48 - - 02 15.38 09 04.50

6. Domestic affairs 12 07.69 - - 02 14.28 01 07.69 15 07.50

7. Foreign Journalists 02 01.28 ------02 01.00

8. Drone attacks 05 03.20 ------05 02.50

9. US Pakistan 29 18.58 11 64.70 07 50 04 30.76 51 25.50 relations 10. Indo Pak relations 05 03.20 02 11.76 - - 02 15.38 09 04.50

11. Parvez Musharraf 03 01.92 - - - - 02 15.38 05 02.50

12. Pak China 01 00.64 ------01 00.50 relations 13. PakAfghan ------01 07.69 01 00.50 relations Total no. of headlines 156 - 17 - 14 - 13 - 200 -

The data in the table indicates significant differences among the frequencies of the headlines associated with a specific topic. It is quite obvious that the number of headlines linked with the representative illocutionary function is far greater than expressive, directive and commissive illocutionary function. Similarly, the range of topics associated with the representatives exceeds the number of topics given to any other illocutionary act category. 103

Among the representative speech acts the highest number of headlines is about Osama Bin

Laden. Inside expressive acts most of the headlines are about flood while in directives and commissives they are about US Pak relations only.

Data indicate that more emphasis has been given to representative function of the headlines where the focus of the headline writer is on the truth of the expressed proposition and the direction of fit of representatives is always ‘words to world’ where the words are adjusted to describe the state of affairs in the world. It can be deduced from the data that most of the function of the headlines is to affect the beliefs of the readers about a certain proposition. Within the representatives greater frequency of headlines on Osama Bin Laden indicates that more emphasis was given to the truth of propositions on Osama as compared to other news topics.

Least emphasis has been given to the use of expressives, directives and commissives in the headlines. Expressives are related to the feelings and attitudes of grief, happiness and sorrow while directives ask the reader or hearer to carry out an action. Commissives indicate the commitment on the part of the person who makes a statement. Expressives do not have any direction of fit while the directives and commissives have world to words direction of fit. It can be deduced from the least frequencies of the above mentioned acts that the headlines rarely focus on the feelings, attitudes, demands from readers or commitment to actions. Expressive acts are mostly associated with the headlines on flood as the flood of 2010 that was disastrous and claimed thousands of lives. Direcitves and commissives mostly focus on US Pak relations as most of the demands and commitments were made during the selected period.

4.1.2. Sub classifications within primary speech acts

As the contexts and propositional contents of the headlines were different within the same illocutionary point, different illocutionary forces were found associated with the headlines. The 104

existence of a range of illocutionary forces within the headlines supports Searle and

Vanderveken (1985) statements regarding the illocutionary logic that there may exist a range of illocutionary forces that need to be realized without taking into account the grammatical forms.

Moreover, such illocutionary forces may have a unique and common starting point. For example the range of illocutionary forces associated with the representative illocutionary point has a common illocutionary point and a direction of fit. Same is the case with expressive, directive and commissive illocutionary points where a number of other illocutionary forces have been derived.

The existence of variation within the same illocutionary point led to further classification or formation of prototypes within the above mentioned illocutionary acts. The existence of illocutionary forces strengthens the claim made by Muskananfula (2009) that there can exist prototypes of speech acts tightly connected with the basic categories of speech acts i.e. representatives, expressive, directives and commissives.

Headlines were treated as propositions as the propositions constitute speech acts.

Whenever an illocutionary act has a propositional content, it expresses a proposition. So, all the headlines were termed as propositions.

In order to find out the prototypes, the headlines were again analyzed according to the following felicity conditions given by Searle (1969):

i. Propositional content condition: This condition helped to find out whether the event was

related to present, past or future time.

ii. Preparatory condition: This condition helped to find out the environment under which an

illocutionary act can be made.

iii. Sincerity condition: This condition is related to the state of mind under which certain

proposition is made. 105

iv. Essential condition: It helped to find out the actual illocutionary act present in a headline.

As the felicity conditions have an important role in the hypothesis of constructability given by Searle and Vanderveken (1985). New illocutionary forces can be derived from old ones by the addition of propositional content, preparatory and sincerity conditions. As there are no felicity conditions specified by Searle for specific acts. The propositional contents of the headlines are different from one another, the researcher has modified the felicity conditions and suggested appropriate felicity conditions for headlines in general and discusses them with the help of available literature. Other conditions were not considered for the classification of illocutionary forces as the hypothesis of constructability also states that there is a finite number of illocutionary forces and there is no special mode of achievement, null degree of strength and only general propositional content, preparatory and sincerity conditions that can determined by that illocutionary point.

4.1.2.1. Detailed analysis of the representative Illocutionary forces

Representatives were further subcategorized into prototypes as each prototype belongs to the representative category but varies on the basis of having a different illocutionary force.

Headlines sharing the same illocutionary force were placed together.

Representative illocutionary acts were divided into 12 prototypes according to different felicity conditions mentioned above. Headlines that exhibited similar conditions to another were placed under the same prototype.

Table 4.1.2.1: Representatives classification into prototypes S.No. Representative act prototypes Number of headlines Percentage 1. Expose 30 19.23% 2. Report 26 16.66% 3. Accuse 17 10.89% 4. Predict 12 07.69% 106

5. State 12 07.69% 6. Conclude 12 07.69% 7. Denounce 11 07.05% 8. Criticize 10 06.41% 9. Justify 10 06.41% 10. Argue 08 05.12% 11. Attribute 06 03.84% 12. Irony 02 01.28% Total 156 100%

This table indicates a significant variation within the frequencies of the prototypes of the representative acts. Headlines functioning to expose and report have highest frequencies. Acts of accuse, predict, state, conclude, denounce, criticize and justify have medium frequencies while the acts of argue, attribute and irony have least frequencies.

Analysis of the representative acts according to the felicity conditions mentioned above not only helped to classify them into the prototypes but also helped to find out how a message was constructed in the headlines. A detailed analysis of all the prototypes mentioned in Table

4.1.2.1 is given below:

4.1.2.1.1. Expose

This term has been used for the speech acts where the function is either to expose the facts related to the news headlines or to highlight a particular person or a component of the news headline. Table 4.1.2.1.1 analyses the headlines associated with this prototype:

Table 4.1.2.1.1: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Expose’

Headlines Propositional Preparatory Sincerity Essential (Propositions) Content Condition Condition Condition Condition Topic: Osama Bin Laden

H1. U.S. officials unveil videos Current Writer has Writer wants to An attempt to let of Bin Laden something to make reader reader know that reveal to the aware of something hidden is reader unknown being revealed information 107

H2. Osama Bin Laden hideout Past --do-- --do-- Osama Bin Laden revealed was hidden

H3. Pakistan's role in Bin Laden None --do-- --do-- Pakistan’s role needs death to be highlighted

H4. Latest updates: How the raid Past --do-- --do-- There is a story against Osama Bin Laden went behind the raid down

H5. How U.S. forces killed Past --do-- --do-- --do-- Osama Bin Laden

H6. Where is Current --do-- --do-- The location needs Abbottabad, Pakistan? to be exposed

Past --do-- --do-- There is a H7. How did U.S. confirm the background of body was Bin Laden's? investigation

H8. Trail leading to Bin Laden Past --do-- --do-- --do-- began with his trusted courier Past --do-- --do-- There exists a H9. Attack on Osama Bin history of plan Laden was years in the

making

Current --do-- --do-- Facts are going to be H10. U.S. spies dig into data exposed from Bin Laden raid

Current --do-- --do-- There are details regarding the H11. How jihadis are reacting to reaction Bin Laden's death

None --do-- --do-- Pakistan’s role needs H12. Video: Pakistan's role in to be exposed Bin Laden death

Topic: Flood

H13. Receding flood waters Current --do-- --do-- People need to know reveal destruction real picture after flood

None --do-- --do-- There is a secret H14. The Back Story on Pakistan behind the story flooding

H15. Hungry and homeless in None --do-- --do-- People are hungry Pakistan and homeless

H16. Pakistani ghost town after None --do-- --do-- Flood affected the flood town

H17. Desperation grips Pakistan Current --do-- --do-- There exists 108

desperation

H18. Post-flood farming woes in None --do-- --do-- Woes were caused Pakistan due to flood

Topic: Militancy

H19. Ilyas Kashmiri: the most None --do-- --do-- The reader must dangerous man on Earth? know why the person is a dangerous

H20. Pakistan refuses new Current --do-- --do-- There is an offensive unpleasant action done by Pakistan

H21. Coalition forces confirm Current --do-- --do-- A prominent person death of 5th militant leader has been killed

H22. Bail denied for alleged Past --do-- --do-- There exists a reason Pakistani Taliban funding behind bail denial conspirator

Topic: Blasphemy

H23. Christian faces blasphemy Current Writer wants to Reader must be told A Christian has death sentence highlight who is the victim been victimized something

H24. When speaking against None --do-- The reader must be Reader needs to religion is crime told why a crime is know why there H25. Official: Pakistani Christian None --do-- Information about A Christian has woman falsely accused of the victim is been victimized blasphemy confirmed

Topic: Sports

H26. When cricket means more Current --do-- The reader is Something else is than just a match ... unaware of the also happening in actual facts addition to cricket

Current --do-- The reader needs to There is a very H27. World update: Pakistan be given updated important cricketers out of England info information to be tour told to the world

Reader must be told A confirmation has H28. Newspaper: Cricket player Current --do-- the fact been given by confirms corruption newspaper

Topic: Domestic affairs 109

H29. Inside Pakistan's downward None --do-- Something bad is Readers need to spiral happening that is not know worst beneficial for the circumstances people inside Pakistan

Topic: Foreign journalists

H30. Photos of hands backed up Current --do-- There is a Some brutal fact Pearl slaying confession, background of the has been found report finds matter that needs to be revealed

Headlines having the illocutionary force of expose are related with different contexts that have been termed as topics of headlines. The number of the headlines related with Osama Bin

Laden is greater as compared with the other contexts. There are three different kinds of propositional content conditions in case of headlines on Osama Bin Laden. The propositional content is either related with current state of affairs where the topicality of the news story is to be maintained while in some other cases it is related with the raid on Osama Bin Laden and also with his investigations. Here the illocutionary function has been achieved by relating the story to some kind of background where the state of affairs is related with past. The preparatory and sincerity conditions are the same whereas the essential conditions mark the illocutionary force by indicating the hidden facts such as the background (H2, H4, H5), location (H6), history or facts

(H8, H9) related with the event of death of Osama Bin Laden.

Second major context of classification of headlines is flood. The propositional content is either related with the current state of affairs in case of H13 and H14 or is not easy to determine in case of H14, H15, H16 and H18 as the required information related with time of the event has not been mentioned in the headlines. All the propositions share same preparatory and sincerity conditions whereas the essential conditions vary on the basis of the propositional content mentioned in the headlines in case of the headlines from H13 to H18 as the propositional 110

contents are different. Most of the essential conditions again function to highlight the destruction or the background circumstances related to flood.

Third classification of the headlines indicates the context of militancy and terrorism.

Propositional content conditions are the same for H20 and H21 whereas differ in case of H19 and

H22 as H19 does not have any indicator for the current or past state of affairs whereas H22 gives background to the story. Headlines have the same preparatory as well as sincerity conditions whereas the diversity can be found in the essential conditions on the basis of propositional content. Most of the essential conditions indicate that prominence has been given to the people who were involved in terrorism. Reasons behind the action of the denial of bail have also been highlighted in case of H22.

There exists diversity in the felicity conditions mentioned for the headlines coming under the context of blasphemy law in Pakistan. The propositional content is related with current state of affairs (H23) or is not easy to determine for H24 and H25. The sincerity conditions emphasize giving reasons or logic while in H23 and H24 the essential conditions highlight the people who have been victimized. Essential condition for H24 attempts to highlight the whole story behind the headline.

Diversity can be found in the headlines written in context of Pakistani cricket. All the headlines or propositions discuss current state of affairs. The sincerity conditions indicate that the readers are unaware of the events of prime importance in case of H26 whereas H27 and H28 focus on giving facts and information. All the essential conditions relate with the propositional content, preparatory and sincerity conditions by highlighting the events that took place in

Pakistani cricket. 111

‘Domestic affairs in Pakistan’ is the least frequent context in the headlines functioning to expose. The propositional content is either unclear in case of H29 or is related with current state of affairs in case of H30. Sincerity and essential conditions relate with one another by focusing the bad state of affairs that needs to be known.

Vanderveken (1990, p.175) defined this illocutionary act as an act of revealing hidden information by removing the cover that was hiding the information from view. Detailed analysis of the felicity conditions reveals that the headlines do not have common content conditions.

Propositional content is either related to present or with the past in case of most of the headlines.

There are a few headlines where it cannot be concluded whether the propositional content is either related with present or with past, so the term ‘none’ has been used. Preparatory and sincerity conditions are synonymous for most of the headlines. Similar situations can be found in the essential conditions of the headlines where the writer has tried to expose the reality and tried to make the reader believe that whatever has been mentioned is true. Essential conditions indicate that the writer wants to either reveal some hidden factor highlights the role of different components associated with the headlines. In case of Osama Bin Laden and the role of US in killing Osama Bin Laden the writer has tried to take the readers to the fact of the matter whereas in case of terrorism and blasphemy the concerned people have been highlighted. The illocutionary functions of all the headlines included in the act of expose once again show variation as the propositional contents are different. Same illocutionary force has been used to highlight different situations in multiple ways.

112

4.1.2.1.2. Report

The term ‘report’ has been used to name all the headlines associated with informing the readers about updated events happening in Pakistan. The analysis of the felicity conditions is given below:

Table 4.1.2.1.2: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Report’

Headlines Propositional Preparatory Sincerity Essential (Propositions) Content Condition Condition Condition Condition Topic: Militancy

H31. Officials: Three killed in Current The writer is The writer The information Pakistan over alleged spy ties aware of the wants the concerns a latest info reader know latest event the latest happenings

H32. Gunfire exchanged near U.S. Current --do-- --do-- --do-- Consulate in Pakistan

H33. Violence erupts in Pakistan Current --do-- --do-- --do-- after politician's death

H34. Pakistan blast kills 7 Current --do-- --do-- --do--

H35. Deadly Pakistan blast --do-- --do-- --do--

H36. Pakistan bomb kills peace Current --do-- --do-- --do-- committee members, child

H37. Pakistani sources: Son of Current --do-- --do-- --do-- notorious insurgent leader is arrested

H38. Key Pakistani Taliban leader Current --do-- --do-- --do-- charged in U.S.

Topic: Drone attacks

H39. Intelligence officials: Current The information --do-- --do-- Suspected drone strike kills 4 has been taken in Pakistan from reliable resources

H40. Pakistan: 5 German nationals Past The writer is --do-- --do-- killed in drone strike aware of the latest info 113

H41. Suspected U.S. drones kill 13 Current --do-- --do-- --do-- in Pakistan

H42. Drone strikes kill 18 in Current --do-- --do-- --do-- Pakistan; supply route still blocked

H43. U.S. intensifies drone blitz Current --do-- --do-- --do-- in Pakistan, source says

Topic: US Pak relations

H44. 28 oil tankers carrying fuel for Current --do-- --do-- --do-- NATO forces attacked

H45. NATO convoys attacked in Current --do-- --do-- --do-- Pakistan

H46. Convoy burns in Pakistan Current --do-- --do-- --do--

H47. Pakistan convoy attacks None --do-- --do-- --do--

H48. CIA contractor released Past --do-- --do-- --do-- after Pakistan killings

Topic: Osama Bin Laden

H49. Osama Bin Laden, the face of Past --do-- --do-- --do-- terror, killed in Pakistan

H50. Official: Bin Laden's wife Current --do-- --do-- --do-- injured

H51. U.S. troops kill Osama Bin Current --do-- --do-- --do-- Laden in Pakistan Topic: Flood

H52. Pakistan rafts brave floods Current --do-- --do-- --do--

H53. Flood victims find some Current --do-- --do-- --do-- relief on Eid

Topic: Domestic affairs

H54. Strike Current --do-- --do-- --do-- cripples Pakistan's national airline

Topic: Foreign journalists

H55. British journalist released in Current --do-- --do-- --do-- Pakistan

Topic: Indo Pak relations 114

H56. Indian prime minister Current --do-- --do-- --do-- attempts 'cricket diplomacy' with invite

The headlines functioning to report have been divided into different categories keeping in view the situational contexts. The first category is of the headlines related to militancy. As the events are urgent all the headlines from H31 to H38 report current states of affairs. Preparatory and sincerity conditions are once again interrelated as all the preparatory conditions state that the writer is aware of the latest information while all the sincerity conditions lay emphasis on the usefulness of that information for the reader. Essential conditions have been derived on the basis of the above two conditions, they report the latest information and are attempts to make the propositions acts of report.

The second major category of headlines is about drone attacks where most of the propositional content contained in H39, H41, H42 and H43 indicates current state of affairs and only one proposition (H40) indicates past state of affairs where the purpose is to mention background of the event. The sincerity conditions show that the information has been taken from a reliable source in case of H39 whereas the mentioned information is latest in all other propositions. Essential conditions are the same as the previous ones mentioned in the headlines reporting the events of militancy.

Third category of the headlines is related with US Pak relations. Most of the propositional content conditions concern current states of affairs in H44, H45 and H46. There is only one proposition (H48) where the propositional content is related with past and indicates a background behind the event. Again there is only one headline (H47) where the propositional content has not been indicated still the mentioned headline is topical. The preparatory, sincerity and essential conditions are same as mentioned in the previous categories. 115

Fourth classification reports the events concerning Osama Bin Laden. The content represents current state of affairs in H50 and H51 where the event is indicated as urgent. Past state of affairs has been indicated in case of H49 or there exists a story behind the event.

Flood, Domestic affairs in Pakistan, foreign journalists and Indo Pak relations are the least frequent contexts found in the headlines where the sets of all the felicity conditions resemble one another.

The analysis of the data has a close relationship with Vanderveken statement. According to Vanderveken (1990, p.173) ‘to report’ is an assertive speech act. The propositional content condition to report is that the content either concerns past in relation to the time of utterance or is about the present. In this kind of act a report is given about what happened, what is happening now and what is likely to happen in future. All the headlines reporting the news events have three kinds of propositional content conditions e.g. current, past and none. As the headlines report the events to keep the readers updated most of the content related to the current state of affairs. Only one headline H47 does not indicate a clear propositional content.

4.1.2.1.3. Accuse

The term ‘accuse’ has been used for the headlines that hold somebody responsible for some bad state of affairs that is not beneficial for the people at large. The details of the felicity conditions are given below:

Table 4.1.2.1.3: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Accuse’

Headlines Propositional Preparatory Sincerity Essential (Propositions) Content Condition Condition Condition Condition Topic: US Pak relations

H57. Pakistani court denies Current Writer has The writer thinks The writer wants diplomatic immunity for evidence who is that the current state to bring fore the CIA contractor responsible for of affairs is not fair people who are the bad state of for the people who responsible for 116

affairs are being victimized the current state of affairs and the authority must change it

H58. Pakistani judge delays Current --do-- The writer does not Pakistani judge hearing for jailed U.S. want the delay is responsible for diplomat delay

H59. American citizen Current --do-- The writer has a Pakistan is reportedly detained desire that the involved in the in Pakistan detained person detention must be freed H60. Pakistani judge blocks Current --do-- The writer wants the The Judge is move to release U.S. change of the bad misusing his consular employee state of affairs authority

H61. Pakistan continues to hold Current --do-- --do-- Pakistan is U.S. diplomat involved in the continuity of the current situation

H62. Pakistan bans NATO Current --do-- --do-- Pakistan is supply convoys after troop reacting to the deaths situation negatively

H63. US officials say Pakistan Current --do-- --do-- Pakistan’s agency backs terror fight, agency’s role is despite rogues dissatisfactory

Topic: Militancy

H64. Taliban claims Current --do-- Reader must be told Taliban are responsibility for Pakistan who is responsible responsible for attack the current state of affairs

H65. Taliban claims Current --do-- --do-- --do-- responsibility in blasts at shrine in Pakistan H66. Pakistani Taliban claims Current --do-- --do-- --do-- convoy strike, lauds performance

H67. Pakistani Taliban claims Current --do-- --do-- --do-- responsibility for suicide attack at funeral

H68. Blasts strike 3 schools in Current --do-- --do-- --do-- Pakistan; officials suspect Taliban link

H69. Pakistan tries to convert Current --do-- --do-- Pakistan is 117

militants converting the militants Topic: Osama Bin Laden

H70. Source: Bin Laden Past --do-- Writer is telling the Pakistan was considered Pakistan prote truth to the reader involved in ction deal protecting Bin Laden Topic: Indo Pak relations

H71. Pakistan defies U.S. court Current --do-- The reader needs to Pakistan has a in lawsuit over Mumbai know the role in Mumbai attacks background attacks which she is denying Topic: Domestic affairs

H72. Pakistani air strikes said Past --do-- Existing state of Pakistan killed to have killed civilians affairs is harmful civilians for the people Topic: Flood

H73. Afghan refugees Past Writer knows The current state of Someone is victimized again that someone affairs is bad for responsible for has victimized refugees the victimization the refugees

US Pak relations are the most abundantly found topics in the acts of accuse. All the propositional content conditions describe current states of affairs as the illocutionary force marks the events of importance. The preparatory conditions indicate that there are reasons or logic associated with the propositions in order to blame. Similarly, the sincerity conditions show that the propositions related with current states of affairs must be changed as they are not suitable for the people at large. The sincerity conditions vary for H57, H58, H59 and H60 where the psychological sates associated with the utterances are different. As the preparatory conditions give evidence, the essential conditions accuse certain agents or sources of committing actions that are not suitable. Most prominent of these agents are Pakistani authorities.

Second frequently found category of propositions discusses the events related with militancy. All the events are related with current states of affairs. Preparatory conditions are same as previous and are based on evidence that the writer knows the sources responsible for the 118

bad state of affairs. The sincerity conditions are different than those mentioned in the context of

US Pak relations as they are concerned with informing the reader about the people responsible for the current state of affairs. Essential conditions mark the propositions as accusations as they hold Taliban responsible for terrorist attacks, suicide bombings and blasts.

Third category of headlines having less number of propositions is related to Osama Bin

Laden. As the proposition (H70) is related with past so the content is related with illocutionary force of accusation as there is a background of the story. Similarly, the preparatory conditions concern giving evidence whereas sincerity conditions emphasize truth. It is easy to derive essential conditions of the accusation on the basis of felicity conditions already mentioned.

Indo Pak relations make a fourth category of headlines where the propositional content is related to the current state of affairs while the preparatory conditions focus on evidence. The sincerity conditions lead the readers towards knowledge of the reality. The essential conditions hold Pakistan responsible for the unwanted state of affairs.

‘Domestic affairs in Pakistan’ is another least frequently found context where the propositional content concerns past in order to relate the news story to a background. The preparatory conditions focus on the evidence whereas the sincerity conditions show a state of affairs that is unfavorable for the people. The essential conditions attempt to accuse Pakistan of taking an unwanted action.

Final proposition (H73) related with the illocutionary function of accusation is concerned with flood where the state of affairs is past as the event is connected with a background of destruction. The preparatory conditions are based on the evidence possessed by the writer. The sincerity conditions highlight bad state of affairs whereas the essential conditions accuse unknown agent for the unfavorable state of affairs. 119

From the detailed analysis of the above mentioned propositions it is quite clear that the propositional content of the headlines is predominantly related with current state of affairs. Only

H70, H72 and H73 are concerned with the past events. In the preparatory conditions it is clear that there is some evidence related to the occurrence of the event. All the sincerity conditions emphasize on protecting the reader from some bad state of affairs. Essential conditions hold

Pakistan, Taliban or unknown sources responsible for the conduct of various actions that have been termed as harmful.

The above mentioned conditions verify Vanderveken (1990, p.170) definition of ‘to accuse’. He said that to accuse is to criticize publicly. Prepositional content condition entails that someone is responsible for something bad. Negative criticism may be laid upon products or states of affairs. Its preparatory condition is that a state of affairs should be criticized when it is bad. The preparatory conditions vary in the above mentioned analysis of the headlines. In spite of the variation, the sincerity conditions that are related with the bad states of affairs and the essential conditions that hold certain sources responsible for bad actions help to identify the given propositions as accusations.

4.1.2.1.4: Predict

This prototype has been named as ‘predict’ as all the headlines are concerned with the possibility of the happening of the future events. The detailed analysis is given below:

Table 4.1.2.1.4: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Predict’

Headlines Propositional Preparatory Sincerity Essential (Propositions) Content Condition Condition Condition Condition Topic: Militancy

H74. Collision at intersection of Possibility of The writer has The writer thinks Something bad quick fix and long haul in future event enough that giving is likely to Afghanistan, Pakistan knowledge to awareness about happen predict what is the possibility of 120

likely to future happening is happen in the interest of the reader

H75. 'You're seeing a collapse --do-- --do-- --do-- --do-- in Pakistan'

H76. Spring will bring Taliban --do-- --do-- --do-- --do-- resurgence, top military official predicts

Topic: Osama Bin Laden

H77. Sen. Feinstein: ‘Bin Laden Speculation The writer has The reader can be A conclusion and his family could have about what got the helped to draw can be drawn lived there up to six years’ happened in information conclusions if such on the basis of past from a reliable info is given background source info

H78. Inside Al Qaeda Possibility Writer can --do-- It can be succession: Who is likely of future speculate predicted who to step up event about future is the successor Topic: US Pak relations

H79. With Pakistani visit to the Possibility of --do-- --do-- Something U.S., a chance to ease future event good is likely tensions to happen

H80. Pentagon optimistic about Possibility of Writer has got The information is --do-- Af Pak strategy future event the speculation beneficial for the from a reliable reader source Topic: Domestic affairs

H81. Hope for future floats for Possibility of Writer has The info can help A bad event is Pakistan future event enough readers to change predicted knowledge to the course of an predict what is action likely to happen

H82. Pakistan 'ready to explode' Possibility of --do-- Reader must be --do-- future event protected from worst event that is likely to happen by giving relevant info Topic: Sports

H83. Pakistanis edge tense Possibility --do-- The reader needs to --do-- World Cup win of future be made aware of event the reasons Topic: Flood

121

H84. Economic outlook dire for Possibility --do-- --do-- --do-- Pakistan flood victims of future event Topic: Parvez Musharraf

H85. Pervez Musharraf's Possibility --do-- --do-- There is a comeback chances of future possibility for event the comeback

First context of headlines acting as propositions is militancy where the propositional content is neither past nor present rather indicates the possibility of a future happening. The preparatory conditions for H74, H75 and H76 show that the person who predicts possesses enough knowledge of the event that is likely to happen in future. All the sincerity conditions for the above mentioned propositions are based on informing the readers about the information that is beneficial to them. All the essential conditions for the headlines related to militancy in

Pakistan predict something worst that is most likely to happen in future.

The second most important context of the headlines is Osama Bin Laden. There is a difference in the propositional contents. The propositional content indicates the possibilities of happening in the future in case of H78 whereas H77 differs from previous propositions as it is a speculation about what happened in past. These speculations or possibilities are based on preparatory conditions where the resources are reliable and the speculator has got sufficient knowledge to predict. The sincerity conditions focus on increasing the knowledge of the reader.

The essential condition for the proposition H77 is a speculation whereas the essential conditions are the predictions of what is likely to happen for H78.

US Pak relations are another important context of the headlines functioning as predictions. Both the headlines in this context are the possibilities of future events. Preparatory conditions are based on sufficient knowledge of the prevailing situation for the proposition H79 while H80 connects the speculation with information achieved from a reliable source. The 122

sincerity conditions indicate that the given information can benefit the reader in some way. The essential conditions are predictions as the propositional content and the preparatory conditions are based on speculations.

‘Domestic affairs’ is the next important topic where the propositional contents of H81 and H82 are again related with the possibility of a future happening. Preparatory conditions are based on the knowledge of the predictor and the sincerity conditions intend to make the reader aware of the coming situation. On the basis of these conditions it can be said that the proposition is a prediction of some bad state of affairs.

Headlines related with Cricket in Pakistan (H83), flood (H84) and former president of

Pakistan General Parvez Musharraf (H85) are the least frequently found topics for the propositions. The propositional content found in all these propositions indicates possibilities of future happenings. The possibilities indicated are an outcome of sufficient knowledge possessed by the writer in preparatory conditions. The sincerity conditions focus on making giving knowledge to the readers. The essential conditions are the predictions just as all other essential conditions mentioned above.

Vanderveken (1990, p. 173) defined ‘to predict’ as an assertive. Its propositional content represents a state of affairs in future. Its preparatory condition is that the speaker is expected to have good reasons for believing what is predicted. Here, the listener does not need to look for any interpretation. Propositional contents of all the headlines or speech acts included here speculate about a future event likely to happen. Comparing with Vanderveken (1990) the propositional content does not clearly indicate whether the proposition is related to present or past. There exists a difference in the preparatory conditions for the headlines as some headlines are based on the writer’s knowledge or ability to speculate whereas others are based on the 123

information taken from reliable sources. Similarly, a variety exists in the sincerity conditions where the information is either beneficial or is for the sake of change of a course of action or just for awareness. In spite of the variety found in the felicity conditions, the propositions mark the illocutionary acts of predictions on the basis of propositional content conditions that indicate possibilities of future happenings.

4.1.2.1.5: State

This prototype has been selected for the headlines based on the statements issued by various sources. The detailed analysis is given below.

Table 4.1.2.1.5: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘State’

Headlines Propositional Preparatory Sincerity Essential (Propositions) Content Condition Condition Condition Condition Topic: Osama Bin Laden

H86. Nancy Grace: Evil suffers Current Writer has The writer wants The given a mortal blow got the reader to know information is important other’s opinion objective and is information not subjective from a reliable source

H87. NATO official: Bin Laden Current --do-- --do-- --do-- in northwest Pakistan

H88. Obama: Quran-burning Current An --do-- --do-- plan is 'recruitment authority is bonanza for Al Qaeda' issuing a statement

H89. Mullen on 'epicenter of None --do-- --do-- --do-- terror'

Topic: US Pak relations

H90. U.S.: Only one supply Current --do-- --do-- --do-- route shut down by Pakistan

H91. Pakistani official says Current --do-- --do-- --do-- intel cooperation with 124

U.S. is halted

H92. Official: 'Frank None --do-- There is some --do-- discussion' between positive US, Pakistan intelligence information, the chiefs reader needs to be given Topic: Domestic affairs

H93. Imran Khan: Pakistan is Current --do-- The information is --do-- 'going down' about the state of affairs that is not good for the reader

H94. Imran Khan: 'Pakistan is Current --do-- --do-- --do-- imploding'

Topic: Sports

H95. Khan 'shocked' over None --do-- --do-- --do-- cricket scandal

Topic: Flood

H96. Pakistan crisis a 'slow- Current --do-- --do-- --do-- motion tsunami,' UN chief says

Topic: Parvez Musharraf

H97. Musharraf: Obama is None --do-- Given information --do-- arrogant can change the existing opinion

First important context of the headlines mentioned under the heading of this prototype are about Osama Bin Laden. All the propositions from H86 to H89 are about current state of affairs except the last one (H 90) where the state of affairs is not easy to determine. It is quite clear from the preparatory conditions that the information has been taken from some reliable sources and authorities such as Nancy Grace, NATO official and US President Obama. The sincerity conditions make the reader aware of a different opinion. As the propositions refer to the sources that issued them that is why all of them have been marked as statements in the essential conditions. 125

Second frequently found topic for the propositions is US Pak relations where the same situation prevails as in the propositions related to Osama Bin Laden. In the first two propositions that include H90 and H91 the state of affairs is current whereas in the last proposition (H92) it cannot be deduced easily. Contrary to the sincerity conditions in the previous propositions, here they are related to positive states of affairs as well such as in case of H92. The preparatory conditions indicate the information taken from reliable sources whereas the sincerity conditions tend to add to the existing knowledge of the reader. All these conditions go towards concluding the essential conditions that the given propositions are statements.

Third important category of propositions discusses Domestic affairs in Pakistan where all the propositions are related with the current states of affairs. Preparatory conditions describe the information taken from reliable resources whereas there is a bad states of affairs mentioned in the sincerity conditions. Essential conditions clearly indicate on the basis of propositional content that they are statements.

Least number of headlines can be found in the last three categories where the propositions relate with Pakistani cricket (H95), flood (H96) and Musharraf (H97). Propositional content is mostly related with current states of affairs. There is one difference in the sincerity conditions mentioned in H97 where the sincerity conditions focus change of opinion regarding the news related to Musharraf. Preparatory as well as essential conditions are same as mentioned in the previous propositions.

Above mentioned analysis indicates that propositional content is mostly concerned with the current state of affairs except a few headlines where it is not easy to determine. In preparatory conditions the writer has got information from reliable resources for all the headlines. The sincerity conditions of the statements are to make the readers aware of the good 126

or bad states of affairs by referring to the reliable sources of information. All the essential conditions are associated with making readers sure that the information has been taken from some source other than the headline writer himself. The preparatory conditions agree with

Vanderveken (1990, p.171) preparatory conditions that an assertion is a matter of some importance. Preparatory conditions as well as propositional content conditions paly a vital role in making the decision that the given propositions are statements.

4.1.2.1.6. Conclude

This prototype has been selected for the headlines that are an effort to come out to a certain point after some discussion or analysis. The felicity conditions analysis is given below:

Table 4.1.2.1.6: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Conclude’

Headlines Propositional Preparatory Sincerity Essential (Propositions) Content Condition Condition Condition Condition Topic: Osama Bin Laden

H98. Analysis: Death may be Speculation The writer The given information An opinion turning point in U.S.- about future has done can help the reader in can be made Pakistan relations enough coming to a certain on the basis of investigation point the existing to find the background of truth the event

H99. CNN Poll: Majority in Current --do-- --do-- The U.S. say Bin Laden in conclusion is Hell based on evidence H100. CNN Poll: Bin Laden Current --do-- --do-- --do-- killing gives Obama boost on terrorism & Afghanistan

H101. For U.S., Pakistan, Bin Current --do-- --do-- Consequence Laden death presents can either be crisis and opportunity good or bad on the basis of what happened

H102. Terror threat lives Current --do-- The information can It can be beyond Bin Laden's help reader shape his concluded that death thinking the threat is still there 127

H103. Bin Laden's death may Current --do-- The given information Conclusion have little impact on war, can help reader in can be drawn terror threat coming to certain about the point effects of death Topic: Domestic affairs

H104. Analysis: Pakistan headi Current Writer has done Given information is It can be ng in the wrong enough beneficial for the deduced that direction investigation to reader to avoid any Pakistan needs to find the truth mishap change the course of an action

H105. New defection Current Writer has Reader must be Current situation leaves Pakistan with sufficient informed about the is the result of minority government knowledge to causes behind an something give such event opinion

H106. 'Domestic politics is Current --do-- --do-- It can be failing itself' concluded that the cause of failure lies in the system itself

H107. Why Pakistan is not Current Writer has --do-- The problem rising up evidence to needs a prove his point conclusive point Topic: US Pak relations

H108. Tuesday Roundup: More None --do-- The reader needs to The roundup has friction in U.S.-Pakistan be updated with the come to a relations latest info conclusion

H109. Why US-Pakistani Current The writer has The reader must be The writer wants relations are strained arguments to made aware of the to conclude defend his point causes something on the basis of arguments

Headlines or propositions mentioned under this prototype are related to diversity of contexts. The first important context is related to Osama Bin Laden. All of the propositions discuss current states of affairs except one proposition (H98) that is a speculation about the future. While mentioning the headlines the writer has given references to different sources such as ‘analysis’ and ‘CNN poll’ which affect the preparatory conditions. In all the preparatory 128

conditions sufficient information is needed to prove the logic behind giving any opinion about an event. Sincerity conditions take the readers in the need of more information to draw a conclusion or a consequence. The essential conditions are different conclusions based on the evidences in the preparatory conditions.

Headlines on the topics of Domestic affairs in Pakistan constitute second contextual category where the propositions are once again related with the current states of affairs.

Preparatory conditions vary as either the propositions are based on the investigation in H104, based on knowledge in H105 or are based on the evidence provided within the content as in

H107. Sincerity conditions also vary as the given information is beneficial for the readers in some of the propositions such as H104 while in some others the reader is being taken to the truth of a proposition such as in H105, H106 and H107. Essential conditions show different conclusions drawn on the basis of the background information behind the propositions.

US Pak relations are also included in this prototype. The propositions related to US Pak relations have an unclear state of affairs in H108 or are having current state of affairs in H109.

The preparatory conditions not only indicate evidence (H108) but also show in H109 that the writer has solid arguments to defend whatever has been said in the propositional content. The sincerity conditions emphasize to add to the information a reader is already having. The essential conditions show the conclusions drawn on the basis of knowledge, evidence as well as propositional content mentioned in the headlines.

The analysis of the propositional content indicates that most of the content is related to the present time of occurrence of events. In a few cases it is quite unclear. The preparatory conditions show that the headline writer has sufficient knowledge or information to prove his point of view. The sincerity conditions aim to inform the reader to draw conclusions or to make 129

him aware of the causes of an event. Underwood (2008: 54) defined conclude as an assertive speech act where a proposition is asserted with a preparatory condition that a conclusion has been derived through a line of reasoning. As the preparatoty conditions are based on evidence, knowledge and arguments, they help to find out the essential conditions that confirm

Underwood’s definition by aiming to draw conclusions out of the propositions.

4.1.2.1.7. Denounce

Prototype ‘denounce’ focuses on the headlines highlighting inappropriate actions taken on the behalf of people or sources. The detailed analysis is given below:

Table 4.1.2.1.7: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Denounce’

Headlines Propositional Preparatory Sincerity Essential (Propositions) Content Condition Condition Condition Condition Topic: Blasphemy

H110. Pakistan's blasphemy Current Writer Current state Inappropriate action vigilantes kill exonerated disapproves the of affairs is has been taken man current state of harmful for affairs the people

H111. Pakistani teen jailed for Past --do-- --do-- --do-- blasphemy in school exam

H112. Critic Past --do-- --do-- --do-- of Pakistan blasphemy law shot and killed

H113. Pakistani teen jailed for Current The information --do-- --do-- blasphemy, group says has been taken from a reliable resource Topic: Flood

H114. Pakistan not aware of Current Writer --do-- Lack of awareness is threats to foreign aid disapproves the Pakistan’s fault workers, official says current state of affairs

H115. Pakistan's flood victims Current Writer has an None Victims are facing give USAID chief an important lots of problems earful information to share 130

H116. Pakistan waits for help; Current --do-- None No action was taken little comes on the request of Pakistan Topic: US Pak relations

H117. Key senator lashes out at Current There is a person A change in Pakistani government Pakistan government having higher the state of has done something moral authority affairs is wrong over Pakistan desired Topic: Sports

H118. Pakistan level series as Current Writer knows that Current Pakistanis is involved 'fixing' row escalates there is an situation is in fixing the series of increase in the not in the cricket match rate of fixing interest of the concerned people Topic: Domestic affairs

H119. Soldiers mistakenly kill Current Writer has reasons Writer wants It was the mistake on themselves in Pakistan to prove that it to convince the part of soldiers was the mistake that it was only of soldiers soldiers’ mistake Topic: Parvez Musharraf

H120. Musharraf defends Current Writer knows that Writer does Pakistan has a record Pakistan’s record against Musharraf is not want of terrorism terrorism making wrong Musharraf to statement defend something wrong

There is again a variety of different contexts in the headlines functioning to denounce.

First context is related with blasphemy where the current as well as past states of affairs have been mentioned in the propositional content. Propositions H110 and H113 describe current staes of affairs whereas H111 and H112 present past states of affairs. Current states of affairs present the event as updated while past refers to the background of the news story. There are different preparatory conditions as either the state of affairs is worthy of disapproval (H110, H111, H112) or some reliable source provides the information in case of H113. Sincerity conditions indicate bad or harmful states of affairs for all the news stories related with blasphemy law in Pakistan. 131

Essential conditions shape the illocutionary act as an act of denounce by presenting the actions taken by Pakistani sources as inappropriate.

Second important context of the propositions is flood where the states of affairs are current. There are different preparatory conditions where the states of affairs either needs to be disapproved (H114) or is very important to be shared (H115 and H116). There is no sincerity conditions associated with most of the propositions except H114 as they do to play any role in the propositional content. The essential conditions denounce Pakistan for inappropriate actions such as lack of awareness and lack of responsibility on the behalf of Pakistani authorities.

Headlines on US Pak relations contain propositions having current state of affairs. The preparatory conditions indicate that the person making a statement has a higher moral authority.

The sincerity conditions demand a change in the state of affairs that is not suitable. On the basis of these conditions the essential conditions clearly indicate an action taken by Pakistani government that is morally defective.

Another important context of headlines concerns Pakistani Sports where the state of affairs is current and the preparatory conditions indicate good knowledge of the situation on the behalf of the headline author in order to make a comparison with the previous context. The sincerity conditions show harmful state of affairs. The essential conditions show an action taken without morality on the part of the Pakistani cricket team.

Only one headline has been included regarding Domestic affairs in Pakistan where the state of affairs is urgent or current. Preparatory conditions resemble the ones mentioned previously and once again indicate enough knowledge on the part of headline writer. The sincerity conditions try to convince readers about the logic mentioned in the preparatory 132

conditions. On the basis of the same logic the essential conditions denounce the soldiers for a faulty action that could be avoided.

Another headline is concerned with Musharraf where once again the state of affairs is current. The preparatory condition sates that the writer is convinced that the statement given by

Musharraf is not true. The sincerity conditions imply that a false statement must not be made whereas the essential conditions clearly mention a morally and logically false statement given by

Musharraf and adds to the act of denounce.

The above mentioned analysis indicates that the propositional content conditions describe current state of affairs except H11 and H12 focusing on a previous event. Preparatory conditions are different for different propositions. For some propositions writer disapproves a state of affairs and for some others refers to another source of information. Sincerity conditions reveal a bad state of affairs for majority of the propositions. Most of the essential conditions indicate that inappropriate actions have been taken or the state of affairs has been mishandled. The above mentioned conditions agree with Vanderveken (1990, pp.167-169) propositional content condition for ‘denounce’ which is to accuse a third party. Taking Vanderveken’s comment into account the act of denounce seems a little different than the act of accuse as all the propositions mentioned here indicate the actions that do not have any logical basis or the actions are morally defective. In order to specify the propositions for the act of denounce preparatory and sincerity conditions played an important role.

4.1.2.1.8. Criticize

The headlines classified under this heading aim to hold someone responsible for a bad state of affairs. There is a background of the event related with most of the headlines on the basis of which propositions are made. The detailed analysis is given below: 133

Table 4.1.2.1.8: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Criticize’

Headlines Propositional Preparatory Sincerity Essential (Propositions) Content Condition Condition Condition Condition Topic: Osama Bin Laden

H121. Many questions, few Past Writer believes Writer is not Pakistan’s answers answers on how that it was happy with are dissatisfactory much Pakistan knew Pakistan’s fault the reasons about Bin Laden offered by Pakistan

H122. How did Bin Laden hide Past Writer has Writer is There is a doubt just yards questions that doubtful about the event from Pakistan military need to academy? answered

H123. U.S.-born Al Qaeda Current The spokesman The state of Pakistan and spokesman slams has an objection affairs needs Afghanistan have Pakistan, Afghanistan in to be done bad things video changed

Topic: US Pak relations

H124. Cross-border campaign Past There are Existing There are objections report questioned by reasons for state of associated with the NATO, Pakistani questioning the affairs needs report that need to be diplomat report to be removed changed

H125. Analysis: NATO points Current Reasons exist --do-- Pakistan has done finger at Pakistan for the criticism something improper

H126. 'Better coordination' could Past Panel has --do-- Pakistan might have have averted Pakistani reasons to coordinated with deaths, panel says criticize NATO properly

H127. White House report None White house --do-- Pakistan performance critical of Pakistan's report has is dissatisfactory activity against militants arguments to justify

H128. Obama: Pakistan slow in Current Obama is not --do-- Pakistan is not taking fighting terror happy with proper action what Pakistan is doing Topic: Blasphemy

H129. Pakistan parties protest Current Writer has --do-- Parties are the hurdle possible blasphemy law knowledge that in the way of law changes law changes are change possible

134

H130. Pakistan elite silent after Current Some event has --do-- Elite might have Taseer assassination happened where taken action action is needed

In the headlines having illocutionary function of criticize the very first context is of the headlines on Osama Bin Laden. Two propositions (H121 and H122) have their contents related with past sates of affairs in order to relate the propositions to the situational context in past.

There is only one proposition (H123) on the current state of affairs. The preparatory conditions are different for every proposition although some of the propositions have the same state of affairs. These preparatory conditions are based on the writer’s beliefs (H121), questions (H122) as well as objections (H123). These beliefs, questions and objections are related with the previous context of the propositions. There exists variety in the sincerity conditions as well. The writer shows his unhappiness in H121, doubt in H122 whereas a desire for change in H123.

Essential conditions show dissatisfaction, doubt and blame that clearly relate with the illocutionary act of criticism.

Second important context of the headlines is related to US Pakistan relations. The propositions have current states of affairs in H125 and H128, past states of affairs in H124 and

H126 whereas none or not determinable in H127. Once again a variety can be found in the preparatory conditions. Most of the preparatory conditions emphasize the reasons for the objections or the questions mentioned inside the propositional content such as in case of the propositions H124, H125 and H126. The sincerity conditions share same components as all of them demand a change in the state of affairs. On the basis of objections and criticisms as well as the changes demanded in the sates of affairs the essential conditions criticize Pakistan for creating unfavorable sates of affairs especially regarding coordination with NATO and fight against terrorism. 135

Least frequently found propositions in the acts of criticize are on the topic of blasphemy.

Both the propositions relate with the current state of affairs. The preparatory conditions are different for both the propositions as they are related with knowledge in H129 whereas a requirement for needed action can be found in H130. Moreover, there is change needed in the state of affairs about which the author is convinced. The sincerity conditions relate with the preparatory conditions by demanding a change in the states of affairs. The essential conditions blame political parties and Pakistani Elite for creating the bad situation.

Vanderveken (1990, pp. 178-179) defined ‘to criticize’ as an assertive where a person highlights another person’s faults. Vanderveken’s propositional content condition is that the state of affairs being represented is bad whereas the sincerity condition demands that the speaker disapproves the bad state of affairs. Analysis of the propositional content conditions reveals that the content is mostly concerned with past as compared to present and in some cases it is not easy to determine. Preparatory conditions are concerned with questions, objections or arguments related to various propositions. Sincerity conditions indicate doubts and demand changes in the state of affairs. Essential conditions indicate that bad state of affairs is caused by some sources that have been highlighted. Most prominent role has been played by the preparatory as well as sincerity conditions. Essential conditions are also important as they highlight the sources responsible for the bad states of affairs.

4.1.2.1.9. Justify

This prototype is concerned with the headlines trying to justify the event associated

with the propositional content. The details are given below:

136

Table 4.1.2.1.9: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Justify’

Headlines Propositional Preparatory Sincerity Essential (Propositions) Content Condition Condition Condition Condition Topic: Osama Bin Laden

H131. Opinion: For Muslims, a None Writer has Writer thinks Muslims have a reason to rejoice logic to the argument reason to be support his would be happy argument sufficient to convince the reader to answer the question in his mind

H132. Obama watched live video Past --do-- --do-- It is a fact that Bin of Bin Laden raid, U.S. Laden was killed official says

H133. 5 reasons Abbottabad was Past --do-- --do-- Abbottabad was a great hideout chosen as there was a hidden purpose

H134. Muslim world had soured Past --do-- --do-- Even the Muslims on Bin Laden since 9/11 were tired of Bin Laden Topic: US Pak relations

H135. Mullen says Af Pak review Current --do-- --do-- There is logic shows U.S. on 'right track' behind the fact that the strategy is right

H136. Police: American Current --do-- --do-- There was a in Pakistan kills 2 after reason for killing robbery attempt

H137. Records: 'Blood money' Past --do-- --do-- The ransom has paid to kin of Pakistanis been paid, trial is killed by U.S. man over

Topic: Militancy

H138. Taliban strongholds Past There was Writer thinks 21 people were in Pakistan shelled; 21 a reason that the reader militants militants reported killed behind would be taking satisfied with action the reasons offered

H139. Pakistani Taliban leader Past --do-- --do-- The leader is not 137

targeted by U.S has long, clean ruthless record

H140. Officials: Three killed in Current --do-- --do-- They were killed Pakistan over alleged spy as they committed ties a crime

Most of the propositions present in the acts of justify are concerned with the headlines on

Osama Bin Laden. Propositional content does not indicate time in the first proposition (H131) whereas in all others (H32, H133 and H134) it is connected with past states of affairs where it attempts to give the background of the vents. All the preparatory conditions are dependent on the logic for the given argument. The sincerity conditions function to convince the reader of the truth of the propositions. The essential conditions are again emphasize the truth of propositions in order to prove the arguments given in the propositions valid.

Second important context is US Pak relations. Propositional content is related with the current state of affairs in H135 and H136 whereas it is related with past state of affairs in H137.

Preparatory and the sincerity conditions are the same as mentioned above. The essential conditions give justifications for the continuation of war on terror in H135 as well as the actions of Raymond Davis who had killed two people in Pakistan as mentioned in the propositions H136 and H137.

Last important context focuses the militancy in Pakistan. More propositions are on past sates of affairs as compared with present state of affairs. In the preparatory conditions the argument giving authority is convinced that there were reasons behind taking an action. The sincerity conditions convince the reader for what has already mentioned while the essential conditions emphasize the content mentioned in the proposition as true.

According to Munawaroh (2007) in this kind of illocutionary act, reasons are given for a certain thing or proposition. Form and function match in these kinds of utterances and the 138

listener does not need any interpretation. Propositional content of the above mentioned headlines coming under this prototype indicates that most of the propositional content is in past which shows that there is some background of the event. Preparatory conditions are associated with the logic and reasons behind the events. Sincerity conditions aim at providing the reader the satisfactory reasons behind the propositions. Essential conditions show the reasons of the action carried out by different agents. As the act of justification is based on logic or reasons the role of propositional content where it is related with past, preparatory conditions and essential conditions cannot be neglected.

. 4.1.2.1.10. Argue

This illocutionary act is just an attempt on the part of the writer to give arguments about a situation. The detailed analysis is given below:

Table 4.1.2.1.10: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Argue’

Headlines Propositional Preparatory Sincerity Essential (Propositions) Content Condition Condition Condition Condition Topic: Sports

H141. Can tennis pair pave way to Current Writer has Writer tries to There exists a India-Pakistan harmony? arguments answer situation that is in favor of questions in open to scrutiny or against a reader’s mind situation

H142. Can Cricket World Cup Current --do-- --do-- --do-- improve India-Pakistan ties?

Topic: Blasphemy

H143. Assassin or None --do-- --do-- --do-- hero? Pakistan's great divide over killer of governor

H144. Is Pakistan a divided Current --do-- --do-- --do-- country?

Topic: Domestic affairs

H145. Are Pakistan's nukes safe? Current --do-- --do-- --do-- 139

Topic: US Pak relations

H146. Can U.S. trust Pakistan? Current --do-- --do-- --do--

Topic: Sports

H147. Can cricket survive in Current --do-- --do-- --do-- Pakistan?

Topic: Osama Bin Laden

H148. Is Pakistan protecting Bin Current --do-- --do-- --do-- Laden?

First frequently found context for the headlines coming under this prototype is Pakistani

Sports. The state of affairs is current for both the important events in cricket. The preparatory conditions indicate an unclear state of mind on the behalf of the writer where the arguments can either be in favor of or against the prevailing situation. The sincerity conditions indicate that the reader may also be unclear about the current state of affairs. On the basis of preparatory and sincerity conditions it can be deduced that the state of affairs mentioned in the proposition is still open to discussion and did not reach any conclusive point.

Second important context is blasphemy where the propositional content does not determine current or past state of affairs and has been termed as none. The preparatory, sincerity and essential conditions are same as previous.

Domestic affairs in Pakistan, cricket in Pakistan and Osama Bin Laden are other topics included in the acts of argue that are open to scrutiny and share same felicity conditions just like the other propositions.

According to Vanderveken (1990, p. 184) argumentation is intended to convince listeners or readers about something by giving reasons. It is also designed to convince the readers whether an opinion is acceptable or not. Most of the propositional content presented in the table are related 140

with the current state of affairs. The preparatory conditions indicate that the writer has arguments

to agree or disagree with a proposition. Sincerity conditions show that the arguments can be

helpful in shaping point of view of the readers. Essential conditions are an attempt to argue about

the given state of affairs. Thus the important role has been played by preparatory, sincerity and

essential conditions in order to figure out the act of argue.

4.1.2.1.11. Attribute

This prototype indicates different qualities that have been assigned to the people or

objects present inside the propositions.

Table 4.1.2.1.11: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Attribute’

Headlines Propositional Preparatory Sincerity Essential (Propositions) Content Condition Condition Condition Condition

Topic: Osama Bin Laden

H149. For America, a moment None Writer thinks that Writer wants A great thing the achievement is proper words has happened magnanimous to state his in American opinion history

H150. President Obama's 'gutsy' None --do-- Comparison is A great decision a better way to impact is present the associated situation with the decision

H151. A sleepy Pakistani city Current Writer has found --do-- Unexpected awakes to violence, a unique something different thing has place in history about the place happened

H152. Navy SEALs, the 'quiet Past Writer thinks that --do-- The navy professionals,' got Bin the Seals’ seals need to Laden achievement a be honored unique Topic: Flood

H153. Pakistan's humanitarian hot None Writer knows --do-- Pakistan is zone something bad not suitable associated with for humans Pakistan

H154. Pakistan: A flood of tears None --do-- --do-- Flood has 141

caused too much devastation

The first set of propositions linked with the acts of attribute is about Osama Bin Laden. As different qualities have been mentioned within the propositions, for the first two propositions

(H149 and H150) it is not easy to determine the current or past state of affairs. In the last two propositions H151 is about current state of affairs while H52 is related with past. Preparatory conditions have been assigned to the propositions on the basis of the perceptions of the writer. For example in H149 writer has termed the achievement as magnanimous while in other propositions the perceptions are either different or they are unique. The sincerity conditions relate with the preparatory conditions as the attributes are always assigned on the basis of how an event or a thing is perceived. As different qualities have already been assigned in the propositional content, the essential conditions mark the propositions as attributive.

Second context is flood where the propositions do not have any clear state of affairs to be marked as current or past. In the preparatory conditions the writer has a bad perception regarding

Pakistan. The sincerity conditions are again based on the same perceptions whereas essential conditions assign attributes to the events or things mentioned in the propositional content.

Martinich (1984, p. 171) explained that when a speaker uses a definite description attributively in an assertion, he wants to assert whatever or whoever fits that description. Analysis indicates that most of the propositions have unclear propositional content conditions. Preparatory conditions show that writer is sorting out similarities or differences on the basis of knowledge of the situation. Sincerity conditions show that the writer is finding out appropriate words to describe a situation whereas essential conditions show how a state of affairs can be compared with appropriate words. As it is quite unclear in the propositional content what is the time of an action, 142

similarly, the preparatory conditions are based on perceptions, the sincerity conditions also relate with the preparatory conditions. In this situation the essential conditions can be marked as attributive.

4.1.2.1.12. Irony

This prototype indicates unusual kind of state of affairs where the speaker does not seem to mean what is found in the propositional content.

Table 4.1.2.1.12: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Irony’

Headlines Propositional Preparatory Sincerity Essential (Propositions) Content Condition Condition Condition Condition Topic: Pak China relations

H155. China's premier arrives in Current Writer has None Something unusual has Pakistan bearing gifts found happened something unusual Topic: Indo Pak relations

H156. Break for the border: None --do-- None There is an unrealistic Indo-Pakistan tennis duo's effort for peace dream for peace

The above mentioned propositions have been made in two different contests. First one is related with Pak China relations where the propositional content is current. The preparatory conditions indicate the presence of an unusual situation whereas the sincerity conditions can not be determined on the basis of insufficient information provided within the propositional content.

The essential conditions indicate an unusual happening.

Second important context is Indo Pak relations where the propositional content does not indicate present or past state of affairs. The preparatory conditions relate with the previous proposition while the sincerity conditions can not be determined. The essential conditions term 143

the event as unrealistic and thus the situation is ironical as the writer perceives the situation as unrealistic and unusual.

Analysis of the propositions shows that one of the proposition concerns current state of affairs while the other one is hard to determine. Preparatory conditions can’t be easily found however it can be said that the state of affairs is unusual. Similarly, the sincerity conditions are unclear while the essential conditions indicate an unusual happening. Due to absence of preparatory conditions and the unusual situation presented in the essential conditions, the given propositions can only be termed as having ironical illocutionary forces.

4.1.2.2. Detailed analysis of the expressive Illocutionary forces

Expressives are an attempt to express psychological state of the speaker or to express a particular attitude that is represented by the propositional content possessed by an utterances.

Expressive illocutionary acts were divided into 05 prototypes following the same method used for the representatives.

Table 4.1.2.2: Expressives classification into prototypes

S.No. Expressive act prototypes Number of headlines Percentage 1. Praise 08 47.05% 2. Laud 04 23.52% 3. Regret 02 11.76% 4. Protest 02 11.76% 5. Mourn 01 05.88% Total 17 100%

Highest frequency of occurrence is found in the acts of praise and laud. Acts of regret and protest have medium frequency while least frequency is of the acts of mourn.

144

4.1.2.2.1. Praise

The headlines coming under this prototype are associated with appreciation for good

state of affairs. The detailed analysis is given below.

Table 4.1.2.2.1: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Praise’

Headlines Propositional Preparatory Sincerity Essential (Propositions) Content Condition Condition Condition Condition Topic:US Pak relations

H157. Aid flights evacuate Pakistan flood Current None Writer An expression of survivors approves the gratitude given state of affairs

H158. Medical 'A-Team' aids flood victims Current --do-- --do-- --do--

H159. U.S. Treasury targets Pakistani Current --do-- --do-- US services militants need to be appreciated

H160. Sources: U.S. finalizing aid package Current --do-- --do-- --do-- to help Pakistan fight extremists

H161. Obama approves funds to Pakistan Current --do-- --do-- --do-- as flood crisis escalates

H162. Aiding Pakistan's flood victims Current --do-- --do-- An expression of gratitude H163. U.S. helping Pakistan flood victims Current --do-- --do-- --do--

Topic: Flood

H164. Makeshift rafts bring aid to Current None --do-- --do-- Pakistanis

Most frequently found propositions are on the topic of US Pak relations. All the

propositions are linked with current states of affairs. As the there are no preparatory conditions

for the expressive acts so they are not applicable to the acts of praise. As all the events mentioned

in the propositions are related with good sates of affairs so the writer approves them. All the 145

essential conditions are the expressions of gratitude and appreciation for the sates of affairs that are beneficial to the people.

Least frequently found propositions are related to the topic of flood where the situation is urgent. The preparatory conditions are not needed in expressing feelings. The sincerity conditions are same as previous while the essential conditions are an expression of gratitude for a beneficial act for the people.

To praise is to make an assertion about someone or something while expressing approval of him or her. The propositional content condition is that the state of affairs being represented by the proposition is good. Sincerity condition requires that the speaker approves of that state of affairs, Vanderveken (1990, pp. 178-179). The propositional content of the headlines indicates current state of affairs. Preparatory conditions are not required for the expressives. Sincerity conditions imply that the writer is happy with the existing state of affairs. Sincerity conditions indicate that there is an expression of gratitude associated with the acts mentioned in the headlines. In order to mark the given propositions as acts of praise it is necessary that there must be a positive state of affairs for the benefit of the people and it must be acknowledged. Here an important role is played by the sincerity conditions as they are expressions of psychological sates.

4.1.2.2.2. Laud

The headlines included here are a little different than praise as the way appreciation for certain acts has been expressed is stronger than in praise.

Table 4.1.2.2.2: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Laud’

Headlines Propositional Preparatory Sincerity Essential (Propositions) Content Condition Condition Condition Condition Topic: US Pak relations 146

H165. How U.S. Marines help Current None Higher level of Acknowledgement flood victims praise of services

H166. U.S. wins by helping Current --do-- US needs to be Achievement needs Pakistan stabilize praised to be highlighted

Topic: Flood

H167. Covering the devastation in Current None Must be A helpful act is Pakistan appreciated being done

Topic: Indo Pak relations

H168. India offers 'hands of our Current None There exists a Appreciation friendship' to Pakistan sense of appreciation for a good action

Among the acts of laud most common topic is US Pak relations where the propositional

content is current. The sincerity conditions for both the propositions express a level of praise that

is higher as compared with the propositions mentioned in the acts of praise. The essential

conditions are the acknowledgements of services for the acts of help carried out for the benefit of

flood affected people at large.

Second important topic is flood where the state of affairs is current. The sincerity

conditions again have a higher level of appreciation whereas as the essential conditions are again

related with admiration.

Last context is about Indo Pak relations with current state of affairs. The sincerity

condition is an approval by the writer whereas the essential condition is admiration for a positive

action.

The propositional content of all the headlines mentioned above is about the current state

of affairs. Preparatory conditions are not required whereas sincerity conditions indicate a higher

degree of strength as compared to praise. Essential conditions indicate lauding the acts 147

mentioned in the propositions. Vanderveken (1990, p. 179) argued that laud is different from

praise as its degree of strength is higher than praise. Propositional content condition for laud is to

praise the hearer. It can be deduced with the help of the above mentioned data that there exists a

difference in the psychological states of the person who makes the proposition as the sense of

appreciation is greater as compared with the acts of praise.

4.1.2.2.3. Regret

Headlines included here indicate a condition of sorrow. Detailed analysis is given below.

Table 4.1.2.2.3: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Regret’

Headlines Propositional Preparatory Sincerity Essential (Propositions) Content Condition Condition Condition Condition Topic: US Pak relations

H169. Mullen issues regrets over Current State of Feeling of A bad state of deadly strike in Pakistan affairs is sadness for affairs needs to be bad current state of regretted affairs Topic: Flood

H170. U.S. aid official calls threats Current --do-- --do-- Expression of deep to flood workers 'deeply sorrow saddening'

There are only two contexts selected for the acts of regret. First context is US Pak relations

where the state of affairs is current. Preparatory conditions do not apply for expressive acts the

sincerity condition expresses sadness on part of the writer whereas the essential conditions sates

that there should be an expression of sorrow over a life claiming strike.

Second important context is of flood in Pakistan. The state of affairs is current. The

preparatory and the sincerity conditions are the same whereas the essential condition is a deep

expression of sorrow over the threat to human lives. 148

Headlines are about current state of affairs without any preparatory conditions. Sincerity conditions are an expression of deep sorrow whereas essential conditions indicate that there is a deep sorrow or regretful feelings of loss are associated with the headlines.

Above data verifies Vanderveken (1990) sincerity condition for regret which is to express remorse, sorrow or contrition. Preparatory condition is that the situation is bad. The acts of regret are a little different as compared with the acts of praise and laud as the preparatory conditions marks the bad state of affairs and then the sincerity condition expresses regrets over the bad state of affairs mentioned in the preparatory condition. When preparatory and sincerity conditions relate with one another the illocutionary force can be marked as an act of regret.

4.1.2.2.4. Protest

The headlines associated with this prototype reaction to the existing state of affairs.

The details are the following:

Table 4.1.2.2.4: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Protest’

Headlines Propositional Preparatory Sincerity Essential (Propositions) Content Condition Condition Condition Condition Topic: US Pak relations

H171. Pakistan condemns Current None Reaction to Something is not in the suspected drone strike that the current interest of the killed six state of concerned person, the affairs situation needs to be condemned H172. Pakistani leaders condemn Current --do-- --do-- --do-- suspected U.S. drone strike

The acts of protest have been made in only one context that is US Pak relations. All the propositions are associated with current state of affairs. Sincerity conditions are a reaction to the existing state of affairs whereas the essential conditions indicate condemnation of the bad state of affairs. 149

It contradicts with Vanderveken (1990, p.179) arguments that the mode of achievement for ‘to protest’ is to express a complaint with a high degree of strength and in a more formal manner. It has the presupposition that the hearer has the authority to change the state of affairs about which some one protests. Although the mode of achievement has not been considered as a criterion for to determine the illocutionary force of protest, still it can be derived on the basis of given conditions. The sincerity conditions are a reaction to the existing state of affairs and the essential conditions demand a change in the state of affairs that has been disapprove.

4.1.2.2.5. Mourn

The prototype concerns with deep expression of sorrow.

Table 4.1.2.2.5: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Mourn’

Headlines Propositional Preparatory Sincerity Essential (Propositions) Content Condition Condition Condition Condition Topic: Flood

H173. Pakistan flood victims Feelings of Expression of deep Past None mourned sorrow sorrow over loss

Only one headline comes under the context of flood. The propositional content condition expresses sates of affairs happened in the past with no preparatory condition. The sincerity condition marks the feelings of sorrow for the bad state of affairs. Essential condition resembles the sincerity condition in an expressive act.

According to Vanderveken (1990, p. 217) to mourn is to express deep sorrow over personal loss for example, the death of someone. The analysis indicates that the propositional content concerns past time with sincerity conditions of deep sorrow. Essential conditions are also similar to the sincerity conditions. As the sincerity and essential conditions are expressions of sorrow, a sense of deep grief can be associated with the propositions. 150

4.1.2.3. Detailed analysis of the directive Illocutionary forces

According to Searle (1979) directives are the attempts to get the hearer do something.

These attempts may be modest or fierce. For example, a request is a modest attempt while insist

is a fierce attempt. The direction of fit of directives is world to words and the sincerity condition

is want or desire. The propositional content is that the hearer does some future action. Directives

have five different prototypes that include demand, warn, forbid, request and suggest.

Directive illocutionary acts were classified into 05 prototypes.

Table 4.1.2.3: Prototypes associated with directives

S. No. Directive act prototypes Number of headlines Percentage 1. Warn 07 50.00% 2. Demand 04 28.57% 3. Forbid 01 07.14% 4. Request 01 07.14% 5. Suggest 01 07.14% Total 14 100%

The table indicates maximum frequencies of occurrence of the acts of warn and demand

while acts of forbid, request and suggest have least occurrences in the data.

4.1.2.3.1. Warn

This directive illocutionary act is about a bad state of affairs in the headlines that needs

to be avoided. The details are given below.

Table 4.1.2.3.1: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Warn’

Headlines Propositional Preparatory Sincerity Essential (Propositions) Content Condition Condition Condition Condition Topic: Osama Bin Laden

H174. Pakistan flooding is focus of Future event Writer Given info can Something bad is second purported Bin Laden likely to thinks the be useful for the likely to happen, message happen events flood affected reader must be likely to people to avoid warned happen is any mishap 151

not in the interest of the reader

H175. U.S. officials: Bin Laden Future event --do-- --do-- Something bad can urging Al Qaeda affiliates to likely to happen happen as a result act of urging the affiliates H176. Purported Bin Laden Future event --do-- --do-- There is a threat message urges support for likely to linked with the flood victims happen message

Topic: Domestic politics

H177. Pakistan kidnappings Future event Writer is Minorities must Reader should be highlight dangers for likely to aware of keep aware of imminent religious minorities happen the themselves safe danger consequenc es that are likely to happen

H178. Pakistan: Nuclear power in Something --do-- Threat to Nukes are in chaos wrong can nuclear assets danger happen in can be harmful future Topic: Militancy

H179. Taliban resurgence feared in Future event The writer Its in the Something bad is flood zones going to knows interest of the going to happen in happen much better people that they future about what must keep is likely to themselves safe happen from Taliban Topic: US Pak relations

H180. Embassy cautions A future Writer wants Americans Americans are Americans in Pakistan event is going Americans to need to be prone to threats to happen avoid what is cautious not in their interest

Most frequent number of the headlines coming under this heading concerns Osama Bin

Laden. The propositional content does not mark future rather shows the possibility of a future

happening in all of the propositions. Preparatory conditions have been derived from the point of

view of the author who thinks that the event that is most likely to happen and may affect the

people in a bad way. Most of the sincerity conditions have a common point that the information 152

being given before a bad state of affairs occurs is in the interest of the people concerned. The essential conditions derived in the light of propositional content, preparatory and the sincerity conditions warn the readers about unfavorable sates of affairs.

Second topic is Domestic affairs in Pakistan where the headlines are related with kidnappings and nuclear power. Here the propositions again concern possibilities of future happenings. The preparatory conditions indicate that the writer is well aware of the events that are most likely to happen. The sincerity conditions concern the information that is beneficial for the safety of the people who are getting the information given in the propositions. The essential conditions attempt to make the people aware of the bad states of affairs and thus help to make the proposition an act of warning.

Third important topic is about militancy in Pakistan where the future event is predicted in the propositional content. The preparatory conditions are dependent on the knowledge of the writer whereas the sincerity conditions emphasize to give beneficial information to the people. In this way the essential conditions make the proposition an act of warning.

Last context included in the acts of warning is related to US Pakistan relations. The states of affairs concerns future happening. The preparatory conditions are an effort on the part of the writer to keep Americans away from vulnerability to danger. The sincerity conditions emphasize the readers to be conscious of threats whereas the essential conditions relate with preparatory as well as sincerity conditions and by highlighting threats make the proposition an act of warning.

All the headlines mentioned above concern future events which have a strong possibility of happening. In all the propositions related with the acts of warning, the propositional content, preparatory and sincerity conditions played an equally important role. The propositional content for all the peopositions presented future states of affairs. Sincerity conditions concern the fact 153

that the writer has better knowledge of the situation and can tell what is going to happen in the future. Sincerity conditions concern making the readers aware of the situation that bad events will happen in future. Similarly, essential conditions are about warning the people of bad state of affairs. Above mentioned analysis confirms Vanderveken (1990, p.174) statement that warning occurs when there is something bad for an addressee and there is still some possibility to avoid the misfortune. It has the directive purpose of suggesting someone to do something in order to avoid the threat.

4.1.2.3.2. Demand

This directive prototype is associated with certain demands on the behalf of the authorities. Details are given below:

Table 4.1.2.3.2: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Demand’

Headlines Propositional Preparatory Sincerity Essential (Propositions) Content Condition Condition Condition Condition Topic: US Pak relations

H181. Kerry: Pakistan to return Future Speaker is in US wants Pakistan is tail of chopper used in Bin need of the Pakistan to supposed to carry Laden raid action to be return chopper out the required carried out action

H182. Obama urges Pakistan to Future --do-- Obama wants --do-- free jailed U.S. Embassy the employee employee to be set free

H183. U.S. presses for release of Future Demanded US wants the The action is very diplomat accused action on the release of the necessary the in Pakistan shooting part of diplomat reader must carry it speaker out must be carried out Topic: Blasphemy

H184. Don't pardon Christian Future The Leaders The woman must not woman, Pakistan Muslim speaker strongly be forgiven leaders demand thinks that desire her the demand punishment is necessary 154

US Pakistan relations are an important topic in the acts of demand. All the propositions are concerned with future state of affairs as the illocutionary point is directive. The preparatory conditions share a common factor that the sources that are demanding something are in need of the desired action to be taken by the target. Sincerity conditions also indicate strong desires on the part of United States. These conditions compel the reader think that an action must be carried out thus constituting the act of demand.

Headline on blasphemy is another context where the act of demand has been made. The proposition concerns the future state of affairs whereas the preparatory and sincerity conditions highlight necessity and desire. The essential condition highlights that the required action must be carried out by the people or sources concerned.

To demand something is to tell the hearer to do it while expressing a strong will. In this case the speaker presupposes that there is a specific reason to perform the required action,

Vanderveken (1990, p.193). The propositional content of the headlines is concerned with the events that have the possibility to be carried out in future. The preparatory conditions indicate that the demand mentioned in the proposition must be carried out. Sincerity conditions express a strong desire on the part of the authorities. The essential conditions require that the desired task must be carried out. In the illocutionary forces of demand the propositional content, preparatory and the sincerity conditions helped to derive the essential conditions which in turn mark the force of demand.

4.1.2.3.3. Forbid

The prototype is concerned with stopping some bad state of affairs from happening. The details are as under: 155

Table 4.1.2.3.3: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Forbid’

Headlines Propositional Preparatory Sincerity Essential (Propositions) Content Condition Condition Condition Condition Topic: US Pak relations

H185. Don't burn Qurans, U.S. Present Speaker This action is The people carrying embassy in Pakistan urges has reasons not in the out an action must church that the interest of the stop themselves current reader action is not good

There is only one proposition included here having only one context that is US Pak relations. The propositional content represents present. Related to this the preparatory condition focuses bad state of affairs whereas the sincerity condition demands that the reader must avoid the aforementioned state of affairs. On the basis of these conditions it can be deuced that the proposition carries the illocutionary force of ‘forbid’.

Vanderveken (1990, p.195) termed prohibiting or forbidding as the propositional negation of ordering. To forbid a hearer to do something is to order him or her to abstain from an action. The content of the propositions is about present. Preparatory condition shows that the state of affairs is not good for certain reasons. Sincerity conditions show that the state of affairs is not in the interest of the reader whereas the essential conditions aim to forbid the concerned from the current action. It can be said that the sincerity and essential conditions helped to mark the illocutionary force of forbid more than the propositional content and the preparatory conditions.

4.1.2.3.4. Request

The headlines included here are a request fir an action to be carried out.

156

Table 4.1.2.3.4: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Request’

Headlines Propositional Preparatory Sincerity Essential (Propositions) Content Condition Condition Condition Condition Topic: US Pak relations

H186. Source: U.S. needs Present The target The The action cannot be permission to interview has authority speaker carried out till the target Bin Laden wives to allow desires the allows it certain act act to be carried out

There is only one context mentioned for the propositions coming under the act of request that is US Pak relations. According to Vanderveken (1990, p. 189) a request is a directive illocutionary act having an option of refusal. It is a modest directive as its mode of achievement is polite. The above mentioned proposition on US Pakistan Relations is also about the current state of affairs with the preparatory condition that the authority lies with the target. Sincerity condition expresses a desire on the part of the source whereas the essential condition implies that the required action needs to be carried out. These conditions make this act an act of request where an action can not be carried out without the permission of the authority.

4.1.2.3.5. Suggest

The prototype is concerned with suggestions on the part of the writer.

Table 4.1.2.3.5: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Suggest’

Headlines Propositional Preparatory Sincerity Essential (Propositions) Content Condition Condition Condition Condition Topic: US Pak relations

H187. Bergen: Time to move Current Speaker has Speaker does The continuing on from war on terror reasons that not wish war to action can no the war is continue longer benefit the not in the target interest of war bearers

157

There is only one context associated with the above mentioned proposition and focuses on

US Pak relations. The propositional content concerns current state of affairs. The preparatory condition is that the speaker has enough knowledge to suggest something. Sincerity condition wants the state of affairs to be changed while the essential condition makes the suggestion as the action may or may not be carried out by the target and is dependent on the will of the target. It goes in line with Vanderveken (1990, p. 195) statement that in a directive sense, to suggest is to make a weak attempt to get someone to do something. While marking the illocutionary force of suggestion, important role has been played by the preparatory, sincerity and the essential conditions.

4.1.2.4. Detailed analysis of the commissive illocutionary forces

According to Searle (1979) commissives are the speech acts whose illocutionary point is to commit the speaker to some future course of action. The direction of fit of the commissives is world to word. The sincerity condition is intention. The propositional content condition is that the speaker does some future action.

Commissive illocutionary acts were divided into following prototypes:

Table 4.1.2.4: Prototypes associated with commissives

S.No. Commissive act prototypes Number of Percentage headlines 1. Commitment to future actions 05 38.46% 2. Possible future actions 05 38.46% 3. Announce future actions 01 07.69% 4. Express speaker intentions 01 07.69% 5. Pledge future actions 01 07.69% Total 13 100%

The table indicates maximum occurrences of the first two acts while there is no difference in the frequencies of the last three acts. 158

4.1.2.4.1. Commitment to future actions The headlines included here show commitment to the actions to be carried out in future.

Table 4.1.2.4.1: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Commitment to future actions’

Headlines Propositional Preparatory Sincerity Essential (Propositions) Content Condition Condition Condition Condition Topic: US Pak relations

H188. Minister: Pakistan won't Future Pakistan has Pakistan is The requested action move on Taliban an authority not willing can’t be Carried out till stronghold until ready to carry out the required conditions an action are met with

H189. Pakistan threatens action Future Pakistan has Pakistan is Pakistan is committed to over NATO incursions power to ready to react react react

H190. Obama: U.S. would go Future US has US is The speaker is a after other high-profile reasons to strongly committed to carry out targets in Pakistan target high committed an action profile targets to the task

H191. Obama won't release Bin Future Obama has Obama is Speaker is committed Laden photos, White authority not committed not to do certain thing House says to release Bin Laden photos Topic: Pak Afghan and Turkey relations

H192. Report: Afghanistan, Future The There is a Speaker is clear that Turkey and Pakistan to countries possibility something will happen in hold military drills are future committed

Headlines on US Pak relations make the majority of commitments to future actions. All the propositions are linked with future states of affairs. The preparatory conditions are dependent on the authorities possessed by the concerned actors as well as reasons provided for an action.

There either exists a need as in the propositions H181 and H182 or there exists a demand as in

H183. The sincerity conditions are different for different propositions where they are either based on lack of willingness or are dependent on strong commitments on the part of the authorities who are responsible for the actions mentioned in the peopositions. The essential 159

conditions have been derived from the propositional content, preparatory and sincerity conditions and mark the illocutionary force of commitment to future actions.

There has only one proposition been included on the topic of Pakistan, Afghanistan and

Turkey relations. Being a commissive act the state of affairs is linked with future. Preparatory conditions indicate commitment whereas the sincerity condition indicates possibility. The essential condition is an attempt to show commitment on the part of the source committed to carry out an action.

According to Vanderevken (1990, p. 182) the propositional content condition for these acts is that the proposition represents a future course of action for the speaker. The preparatory condition is that the speaker is capable of carrying out a certain course of action. The sincerity condition is that the speaker intends to carry out that action. Overall review of the data reveals that the propositional content of all the propositions is about future events. Preparatory conditions indicate that the authorities or reasons are associated with the actions to be carried out. The sincerity conditions are implying that there is a commitment on the part of the persons or sources who want to carry out the action. Essential conditions show that there is a commitment to the future actions. An important role has been played by preparatory and sincerity conditions in the acts of commitment to future actions.

4.1.2.4.2. Possible future actions

The prototype is associated with the actions that have a strong possibility to be carried out in future.

Table 4.1.2.4.2: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Possible future actions’

Headlines Propositional Preparatory Sincerity Essential (Propositions) Content Condition Condition Condition Condition Topic: Musharraf 160

H193. Musharraf jumps back Current Speaker knows Willingness Musharraf will into Pakistani politics that there is a participate in politics great possibility for an event to take place

H194. Pakistan's Musharraf Current --do-- --do-- Musharraf is ready to ramps up for apparent take commando presidential run action

Topic: Sports

H195. Yuvraj Current Yuvraj is Commitment Yuvraj and Pakistan books Pakistan clash committed will be face to face as holders Australia crash out to India

H196. Pakistan crush West Future Pakistan is Commitment Pakistan will play in Indies to reach World committed the semi finals Cup semifinals

Topic: Indo Pak relations

H197. India and Pakistan Future India and Commitment Both the countries will team up for tennis Pakistan can be together in the game make a decision on their respective will

The major context in the above mentioned propositions is related with Musharraf, the former president of Pakistan. During a self imposed exile he expressed his commitment to come to Pakistan. Both the propositions are linked with current states of affairs but still indicate futurity as in the preparatory conditions sense of possibility exists. The sincerity conditions show willingness on the part of Musharraf. On the basis of these conditions the essential conditions attempt to create a situation of possible future action to be taken by Musharraf in future.

The next context for the propositions is Pakistani cricket. There are only two propositions where one is concerned with current state of affairs whereas the second one indicates future possibility. The preparatory conditions indicate possibility whereas the sincerity conditions show commitment as well as possibility. Inspite of the differences in the propositional content 161

conditions, on the basis of preparatory conditions it can be said that the given propositions show possibilities of future actions.

India Pakistan relations are the subject of final context. The propositional content represents future state of affairs. The preparatory conditions are a little different than the above mentioned preparatory conditions as the decision is based on the will of the concerned parties.

Sincerity condition is commitment. Inspite of a different preparatory condition still it can be said that there is a strong possibility of future action.

There is a difference in the propositional content. At some places it is present indicating futurity whereas at others it is future. Preparatory conditions show commitment on the part of the source or actors. Sincerity and essential conditions show commitment.

Above mentioned conditions resemble Vanderveken (1990, p.182) definition of ‘to undertake’ that is to commit oneself to perform a clearly defined action where the commitment is the propositional content condition. To engage oneself in a task is to commit oneself to an immediate action.

4.1.2.4.3. Announce future actions

This prototype is about the announcements to carry out an action openly.

Table 4.1.2.4.3: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Announce future actions’

Headlines Propositional Preparatory Sincerity Essential (Propositions) Content Condition Condition Condition Condition Topic: Domestic affairs

H198. Pakistan announces test Present Pakistan is Pakistan is The public needs to of medium-range capable to committed to know an important ballistic missile test a carry out the thing at large scale Ballistic action Missile

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The existing proposition concerns Domestic affairs in Pakistan. The proposition is about present showing capability on the part of the source or agent. Sincerity and essential conditions show commitment. Announcing future actions function to inform publicly about the actions that will take place in future. There is an important role of the essential conditions in marking the act of announcement.

4.1.2.4.4. Expressing speaker intentions

This prototype does not indicate a strong commitment rather an intention on the part of the source or agent. These acts function to express the intentions where there is a possibility to fulfill them in the future.

Table 4.1.2.4.4: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Expressing speaker intentions’

Headlines Propositional Preparatory Sincerity Essential (Propositions) Content Condition Condition Condition Condition Topic: Militancy

H199. The Taliban in Pakistan: Present US is facing a The writer An action will be We've got a bigger threat for which feels that the taken against an problem now action needs to interests of existing threat be taken US are in danger commitment

The context of the proposition is militancy in Pakistan. The proposition is about present with preparatory condition that a state of affairs exists where action needs to be taken. Sincerity conditions are intention whereas the essential condition is commitment. According to

Underwood (2008: 35) to intend is to express an intention having the propositional content condition is that the proposition represents a future course of action for the speaker. The sincerity condition is that the speaker intends to carry out that action and here is no preparatory condition.

The data mentioned in the table given above contradicts with Vanderveken’s statement as there 163

exists a preparatory as well as a sincerity condition that help to mark the current illocutionary force.

4.1.2.4.5. Pledging for future

The act has been named after the verb ‘pledge’ that is a strong performative.

Table 4.1.2.4.5: Headlines associated with the prototype ‘Expressing speaker intentions’

Headlines Propositional Preparatory Sincerity Essential (Propositions) Content Condition Condition Condition Condition Topic: Indo Pak relations

H200. India, Pakistan pledge Present India and Commitment India and Pakistan counterterrorism hotline Pakistan will take action face same against terrorism problem

The context of the proposition is Indo Pak relations. The above mentioned proposition is about the current state of affairs with the preparatory condition that a problem exists and the sincerity condition of promise. Essential condition is a commitment. Vanderveken (1990, p. 182) defined ‘to pledge’ as to commit oneself strongly to doing something. As most of the

Vanderveken’s classifications of the illocutionary acts depend on the performative verbs. Given verb ‘pledge’ is a performative verb that clearly indicates a commitment to a future action.

4.2. Role of the linguistic devices in the headlines

Second objective of the research was to discuss the role of linguistic devices especially lexical and grammatical elements in the headlines. 16 features were found that have played prominent role in marking the speech acts as well as the construction of messages associated with the speech acts. They include present tense, past tense, direct speech, active voice, passive voice, rhetorical questions, verbs, adverbs, idioms and phrases, metaphors, loaded words, infinitives, colon, inverted commas, non sentences and adjectives. Each feature has been analyzed and discussed quantitatively in terms of frequencies numbers and percentages as well as 164

qualitatively with the help of available literature. Qualitative analysis has focused on the role of linguistic devices in marking the illocutionary force as well as giving different shapes to the news stories within the speech acts.

4.2.1. Present tense

Table 4.2.1: Distribution of present tense in the speech acts Representatives Frequency Expressives Frequency Directives Frequency Commissives Frequency

No. % No. % No. % No. % Warn Commitment to Expose 16 10.25 Praise 8 47.05 5 35.71 5 38.46 future actions Demand Possible future Report 24 15.38 Laud 4 23.52 4 28.57 5 38.46 actions Announce future Accuse 16 10.25 Regret 2 11.76 Forbid 1 7.14 1 7.69 actions Express speaker Predict 5 3.20 Protest 2 11.76 Request 1 7.14 1 7.69 intentions Pledge future State 5 3.20 Mourn - - Suggest 1 7.14 1 7.69 actions Conclude 11 7.05 ------Denounce 11 7.05 ------Criticize 4 2.56 ------Justify 5 3.20 ------Argue 7 4.48 ------Attribute 1 0.64 ------Irony 1 0.64 ------Total 106 67.94 - 16 94.11 - 12 85.71 - 13 100

This table indicates that present tense has been used in every speech act. The occurrences of present tense in representatives are far greater than the expressives, directives and commissives. Inside representatives the highest frequency of occurrence can be found in the acts of report, expose and accuse. Similarly, in expressives it can be found in the acts of praise and laud. In directives the acts of ‘warn’ and ‘demand’ have used present tense more than the acts of

‘request’ and ‘suggest’ while in commissives the acts showing ‘commitment to future actions’ and ‘possible future actions’ have high frequency of occurrence of present tense. 165

As the illocutionary point of the representative speech acts is to present the actual state of affairs in the world, they have different illocutionary forces such as ‘expose’, ‘report’, ‘accuse’ and ‘predict’ as presented in the table given above. Present tense has been used where the headline writer wants to assert the truth of a proposition. In the representative acts of ‘expose’ H1,

H2, H6, H10, H11, H13, H17, H20, H22, H23, H25, H28 and H30 use present tense to highlight death of Osama Bin Laden, flood of 2010, military action against militants and the controversial blasphemy law in Pakistan. Similarly, among the acts of ‘report’ except H35, all the headlines

(H31 to H38) use present tense to report the news events. In the acts of ‘accuse’ H69 and H71 use present tense to highlight the events related to militants.

Acts of ‘predict’ are different as they indicate futurity by using present tense. H75, H76,

H78, H81, H82, H83, H86, H91, H93 and H94 are in present tense to indicate possible future events related with Osama Bin Laden, US Pakistan relations, political situation in Pakistan as well as flood and Pakistani cricket.

Assertive acts having illocutionary force of statements including H86, H91, H93 and H94 use present tense to indicate urgency and topicality of the statements given by Imran Khan, US officials and Musharraf.

Illocutionary acts functioning to conclude’ also use present tense in the headlines (H98 to

H109) that have been written in the context of Osama Bin Laden’s death and turbulent political situation prevailing in Pakistan. The use of present tense indicates the important news events have happened repeatedly and they are an outcome of something.

In order to denounce, all the headlines (H110 to H120) related with blasphemy law in

Pakistan, US Pak relations, sports especially cricket and politics in Pakistan use present tense.

‘Criticize’ is an illocutionary act used to disagree with someone on an important matter. In order 166

to maintain the importance of the headlines functioning to criticize, H123, H124, H125 and

H129 are in present tense and are related with the same topics present in the acts of ‘denounce’.

In order to give justification of facts related with the urgent matters, the headlines from

H132 to H136 and H139 use present tense. In the acts of ‘argue’ H141, 142, H144, H146, H147 and H148 are in present tense. In the acts of ‘attribute’ H151 is in present tense. H155 in the act of ‘irony’ is also in present tense.

Among the expressive acts, in order to perform the illocutionary acts of ‘praise’, ‘laud’,

‘regret’, ‘condemn’ and mourn; the headlines have used present tense. Headlines included in

‘praise (H157 to H164) are in present tense. Headlines related to the acts of ‘laud’ (H165 to

H168) are in present tense. Headlines functioning to regret (H169, H170) are in present tense.

Present participle has been used in H167 that shows continuous coverage given to flood reporting by CNN. In order to protest the headlines (H171, H172) are in present tense to give exigency to the news events.

Directive acts of warning ranging from H174 to H177 and H180 are in present tense.

H181 to H184 are the acts of demands using present tense as the use of present tense adds urgency to the headlines. Acts of ‘request’ H186 is in present tense in order to highlight the importance of the event mentioned in the headline. Act of ‘forbid’ (H185) is also in present tense. ‘Suggest’ (H187) is in present tense to indicate urgency of the idea mentioned in the news story.

Present tense is found in the commissive headlines (H188 to H192) where they describe the news about militancy. In order to indicate ‘possible future actions’ to be carried out by

Musharraf, Yuvraj and Indo Pak tennis pair, present tense has been used in the headlines ranging from H193 to H197. To announce future actions by Pakistan present tense has been used in H198 167

as it refers to futurity. To express speaker intentions (H199) and to pledge for future (H200) present tense has been used in pledging future actions.

The existence of present tense in all these acts indicates that the propositions are related with the current as well as future state of affairs. According to Muhammad (2005) present tense adds immediacy, urgency and freshness to the news stories. In addition, the events can be described in present or past using this tense whereas present progressive with the omission of auxiliary reports the events that are in progress. Here it serves different purposes. At some places it adds immediacy while at others it indicates futurity. For example, in all the representative acts present tense has been used to give information about the current state of affairs except the acts of ‘predict’ where speculation is also associated with present tense. Inside expressives it is associated with the similar function whereas in directives and commissives it indicates futurity.

4.2.2. Past tense

Table 4.2.2: Distribution of past tense in the speech acts Representatives Frequency Expressives Frequency Directives Frequency Commissives Frequency

No. % No. % No. % No. %

Expose Warn Commitment to 5 3.20 Praise ------future actions Demand Possible future Report - - Laud ------actions Announce future Accuse 1 0.64 Regret - - Forbid - - - - actions Express speaker Predict 1 0.64 Protest - - Request - - - - intentions Pledge future State - - Mourn 1 5.88 Suggest - - actions Conclude ------

Denounce ------

Criticize 2 1.28 ------Justify 3 1.92 ------Argue ------Attribute 1 0.64 ------Irony ------

Total 13 - - 1 5.88 ------

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Detailed distribution of past tense occurrences in the prototypes indicates that only the representative act prototypes have maximum occurrences of past tense that is 13. Acts of

‘expose’, ‘justify’ and ‘criticize’ use past tense in the headlines. Only one occurrence exists in expressives while commissives and directives do not use past tense.

Past tense that has been used in H4, H5, H7, H8 and H9 describes the role of US forces in killing Osama Bin Laden. H70 and H71 use past tense not only to accuse Pakistan of offering protection to Bin Laden, but also of disregarding US court. H72 accuses Pakistan army of killing civilians. H73 uses past tense to refer to the sufferings of Afghan refugees. In the acts of ‘justify’

H133, H134 and H137 use past tense to explain the reasons by giving reference to past events.

Past tense has also been used here to take the readers to background of the whole story.

By the use of past tense in the representatives it can be observed that the propositions are related with past or have a background of the story. Presence of past tense justifies Siposova

(2011) claim that past tense reports past events. Here some other functions of past tense can also be observed where it relates the story to certain background such as in the acts of ‘report’,

‘accuse’ and ‘justify’.

Past tense has rarely been used in the illocutionary acts. Among the representatives past tense has been used in ‘accuse’, ‘predict’, ‘criticize’ and ‘justify’ where it adds background to news stories. In the acts of ‘attribute’ past tense has been used to add background to the attribute used for a particular entity.

In the expressive act of ‘mourn’ past tense highlights the state of affairs that has already passed where it was related with the human casualties that happened during the flood.

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4.2.3. Direct speech

Table 4.2.3: Distribution of direct speech in the speech acts Representatives Frequency Expressives Frequency Directives Frequency Commissives Frequency

No. % No. % No. % No. %

Warn Commitment to Expose 2 1.28 Praise - - 2 14.28 4 30.76 future actions Demand Possible future Report 5 3.20 Laud - - 1 7.14 - - actions Announce future Accuse 1 0.64 Regret - - Forbid - - - actions Express speaker Predict - - Protest - - Request 1 7.14 - - intentions Pledge future State 7 4.48 Mourn - - Suggest 1 7.14 - - actions Conclude 5 3.20 ------Denounce ------Criticize 2 1.28 ------Justify 6 3.84 ------Argue ------Attribute ------Irony ------Total 28 17.94 - - - - 5 35.71 - 4 30.76

Direct speech has maximum frequency in the representative acts of ‘state’, ‘report’,

‘justify’, ‘report’ and ‘conclude’. It cannot be found in the expressives whereas in directive act of

‘warn’ it has 02 occurrences while among the commissives only four occurrences can only be found in the very first prototype.

In the acts of ‘expose’ H25 and H28 use direct speech to refer to the events of blasphemy and cricket in Pakistan. In ‘report’ H50 uses direct speech to report the events of killing that took place during terrorism and drone attacks. H63 and H70 use direct speech to accuse Pakistan for the unwanted acts taken during war against terrorism such as making a deal with Osama Bin

Laden by referring to the statements issued by the US officials and unknown sources. In the acts of ‘predict’ in order to present future prediction while referring to Taliban and Osama Bin Laden

H76 and H77 use direct speech. In the acts of ‘state’ H86, H87, H88, H90, H91 and H92, H93, 170

H94 and H97 use direct speech as they are the statements issued by different people such as

Nancy Grace, NATO officials and Imran Khan. As these statements concern bad states of affairs, the news stories have been mentioned by giving references to different authorities.

In the acts of ‘conclude’ H98, H99 and H100, H104, H108 use direct speech to analyze the death of Osama Bin Laden and domestic political issues in Pakistan. The analysis has been presented as given by different types of surveys such as the news round ups and the polls.

In order to denounce Pakistan H114 uses direct speech where the headline writer presents an official’s opinion about threats to the flood workers in Pakistan. In this way the writer absolves himself of the direct responsibility of making a statement. Similarly, in order to criticize

Pakistan’s role in war against terrorism, H124 and H128 use direct speech while referring to the statements given by Pakistani diplomat Hussain Haqqani as well as US President Obama about

Pakistan’s role in war on terror. In order to provide justification for the death of Osama Bin

Laden, Raymond Davis’ controversial killing of Pakistani men and American war against terror,

H131, H35, H36, H137 and H140 also use direct speech.

Direct speech has not only been used in the representative acts but also in the directive acts. Directive acts of ‘demand’ including H18, H182, H183 and H184 use direct speech to refer to the statements given by US Senator John Kerry, US President Barack Obama and other

American officials. Among the acts of ‘forbid’ H185 uses direct speech by referring to the US

Embassy where the Embassy forewarns American citizens of possible terrorist threats. In the act of ‘request’ H186 direct speech has been used to refer to an unknown source that issued information about Osama Bin Laden wives. 171

In commissive act prototype ‘commitment to future actions’ direct speech can be found in H188 and H190 while mentioning the events of militancy where the headline writer has given reference to US President Barack Obama.

It can be observed that the representative acts of ‘state’, ‘report’, ‘justify’ and conclude make maximum use of direct speech. In the representative acts of ‘expose’ direct speech has been used in order to highlight the different sources of information. The number of headlines using direct speech increases in the acts of ‘report’ where the focus of the headline writer is to refer to another source while giving information to the readers. Same kind of use can be found in the acts of ‘accuse’, ‘state’, ‘conclude’ and ‘criticize’ where the reference has been given to other sources while presenting a negative state of affairs. Once again direct speech has been used in the acts of ‘justify’ where the given reasons have been associated with certain sources in order to maintain the objectivity of the statements.

Among the directives acts of ‘warn’, ‘demand’, ‘request’ and ‘suggest’ use direct speech in order to enhance the degree of strength. Here it also helps to mark the illocutionary force.

Same kind of function has been performed by the use of direct speech in the commissive acts especially ‘commitment to future actions’ where it is necessary to indicate who will carry out an action.

The existing situation justifies the use of direct speech investigated by Obiedat (2006) where he found it making statements more authoritative than personal. In all of the above mentioned acts, references given to the speakers of the propositions indicate that although the propositions have been written by the news writer but in order to make them look objective reference has been given to some other source.

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4.2.4. Active voice

Table 4.2.4: Distribution of active voice in the speech acts Representatives Frequency Expressives Frequency Directives Frequency Commissives Frequency

No. % No. % No. % No. %

Warn Commitment to Expose 10 6.41 Praise 8 47.05 3 21.42 4 30.76 future actions Demand Possible future Report 9 5.76 Laud 2 11.76 3 21.42 4 30.76 actions Announce future Accuse 15 9.61 Regret 1 5.88 Forbid - - - - actions Express speaker Predict 1 0.64 Protest 2 11.76 Request 1 7.14 1 7.69 intentions Pledge future State 1 0.64 Mourn Suggest 1 7.14 1 7.69 actions Conclude 1 0.64 ------Denounce 5 3.20 ------Criticize 3 1.92 ------Justify 2 1.28 ------Argue 2 1.28 ------Attribute ------Irony ------Total 49 31.41 - 13 76.47 - 8 57.14 - 10 76.92

Given frequencies in the table mentioned above show that the acts of ‘expose’, ‘report’ and ‘accuse’ make maximum use of active voice as compared to other representative illocutionary acts. Among the expressive acts, the acts of praise have maximum occurrences of active voice. Among directives the acts of ‘warn’ and ‘demand’ use active voice frequently.

Among the commissives the acts of ‘commitment to future actions’ and ‘possible future actions’ have maximum frequencies of occurrences of active voice.

In ‘expose’ H1, H5, H7 and H10 give prominence to the role of US marines in killing

Osama Bin Laden and getting information about him by using active voice. H17 uses active voice to focus the destruction caused by flood. Similarly, it can be found in H20 and H21 where the agents are NATO forces and Pakistan. H23 is in active voice where the noun ‘Christian’ has been given prominence. Active voice has also been used in H28 to expose the action of Pakistani cricketer where the word ‘cricketer’ has been placed as a subject. In the acts of ‘report’ H54 uses 173

active voice to highlight the strike by Pakistani pilots. H56 highlights the role of Indian prime minister by using active voice as he had given a statement that India wanted to move forward towards making friendship with Pakistan. Similarly, in order to accuse Pakistan and Pakistani judges, all the headlines (H57, H58, H59, H60, H61, H62 and H63) use active voice. Headlines from H64 to H69 use active voice in order to accuse Taliban of militancy and terrorism in

Pakistan. H70 and H71 also use active voice to accuse Pakistan of protecting Osama Bin Laden and also of defying a court’s decision in United States regarding terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

Among the representative acts ‘state’ H86 uses active voice to highlight the role of Osama Bin

Laden as an agent of evil. In ‘conclude’ H105 uses active voice to highlight the impact of new defection on minority government as some members of the federal cabinet in Pakistan had resigned. Here the term ‘new defection’ serves as an agent.

H110, H115, H117 and H120, H125, H126 use active voice to denounce Pakistan in the cases of blasphemy, terrorism and cricket match fixing. H122 and H123 use active voice to criticize Pakistan in killing Osama Bin Laden, war against terror and blasphemy law in Pakistan.

H129 uses active voice to highlight the negative role played by Pakistani religious parties as it was possible to change blasphemy law but the parties protested. Similarly, in the acts of ‘justify’

H132 and H136 use active voice where the focus is on the sources such as ‘US officials’ and the

‘Pakistani police’.

Acts of ‘argue’ found in H141 and H142 use active voice to highlight the role of cricket and tennis in improving Indo Pak relations. H146, H147 and H148 also use active voice to emphasize the role of the agents for example, the role of Pakistan in war against terror and whether the game of cricket can survive in Pakistan or not. 174

Among the expressive acts of ‘praise’ all the headlines make use of active voice to highlight the role of agents. Headlines (H171, H172) in the acts of ‘protest’ also use active voice to give emphasis to the agents such as United States and India for the positive actions. Acts of

‘demand’ H182, H183 and H184 use active voice in order to highlight the role of John Kerry,

Barack Obama and United States respectively.

Among the commissive acts found in ‘commitment to future actions’ active voice can be found in H188 to H191 where the focus is on the agents of certain actions such as minister,

Pakistan and Obama. In the acts of ‘possible future actions’ active voice can be found in the headlines ranging from H193 to H197 where the focus is on the subjects in the sentences such as

Musharraf, Yuvraj, Pakistabni cricket team and India as well as Pakistan.

According to Bedrichova (2006) in active voice the emphasis is on the agent. Similar examples can be found in the analysis of the above mentioned headlines functioning as speech acts. Maximum use of active voice can be found in the acts of ‘expose’, ‘report’ and ‘accuse’. In the acts of ‘expose’ the emphasis is to highlight a particular person or source where the use of active voice makes it easy. Similarly, in the acts of ‘report’ the information related to the actions of the agents is highlighted. Most important use can be found in the acts of ‘accuse’ and

‘denounce’ where a particular agent has been highlighted having a role in the bad state of affairs.

Apart from the above mentioned functions of active voice, it can be deduced from the analysis that the use of active voice plays an important role in deciding the kind of illocutionary force present in the headlines functioning as speech acts. In the acts of ‘expose’, ‘report’,

‘criticize’ and many others it highlights the role of the subject where it makes clear what kind of task was done by a particular agent. Same function has been performed by the use of active voice 175

in expressives, directives and commissives where the subjects or agents need to be highlighted who carry out actions either in current state of affairs or will carry out certain actions in future.

4.2.5. Passive voice

Table 4.2.5: Distribution of passive voice in the speech acts Representatives Frequency Expressives Frequency Directives Frequency Commissives Frequency No. % No. % No. % No. %

Warn Commitment to Expose 2 1.28 Praise ------future actions Demand Possible future Report 9 - Laud ------actions Announce future Accuse 2 1.28 Regret - - Forbid - - - - actions Express speaker Predict 2 1.28 Protest - - Request - - - - intentions Pledge future State - - Mourn 1 5.88 Suggest - - - - actions Conclude ------Denounce ------Criticize 1 0.64 ------Justify 4 2.56 ------Argue ------Attribute ------Irony ------Total 20 12.82 - 1 5.88 ------

Frequencies of passive voice in the table indicate that maximum occurrences are present in the representative acts of ‘report’ and ‘justify’. Expressives have only one occurrence while the directives and commissives do not use passive voice.

The use of passive voice is also associated with a number of assertive, expressive, directive and commissive acts in marking different kinds of functions. In the representative acts of

‘expose’ agent less passives can be found only in H2 and H22 where they draw the attention to the US marines who killed Osama Bin Laden and also to the US court who denied the bail to a

Taliban funding conspirator. H25 uses passive voice in order to expose what happened to the

Christian woman. Same situation can be found in the acts of ‘report’ where H31, H32 H38 are agent less passives and the people involved in violence and gunfire exchange are unknown. H44 176

is an agent less passive that has been used to report the suspected attack on NATO convoys. H49 draws attention to the report of killing Bin Laden. Agent less passive has been used in H55 where it is not clear who released the British journalist captured in Pakistan.

Among the acts of ‘accuse’ H73 is an agent less passive where it is not clear who victimized Afghan refugees till the reader gets into the whole story. In ‘denounce’ H111, H112 and H113 also use passive voice to highlight the events concerning blasphemy law. H124 uses passive voice to criticize where the focus is on the campaign report related with war against terrorism on which objections were raised by NATO.

In the prototype ‘justify’ H139 provides justification for the targeting of a Taliban leader by US using passive voice. H137 uses passive voice to justify the action taken by US diplomat,

Raymond Davis who had killed three people in Pakistan and was arrested on the spot.

Expressive act of ‘mourn’ (H173) is an agent less passive where it is not clear who mourned the people who died during the flood.

According to Bedrichova (2006) the use of passive voice helps to shift the focus of the headline to the initial position. In this way the headline writer is at convenience to highlight a particular portion of the headline. In the above mentioned analysis it is quite clear that the use of passive voice can be found frequently in the representative acts. Passive voice does not mark the illocutionary force directly rather helps to mark it. In the acts having illocutionary force of

‘expose’, ‘report’, ‘accuse’, ‘predict’, ‘criticize’ and ‘justify’ passive voice highlights the agents of certain actions and also adds emphasis. Similarly, a number of headlines functioning as reports, justifications and accusations use passive voice. In the expressive act of mourn passive voice is agent less and it is unclear who carried out the action mentioned in the headlines.

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4.2.6. Rhetorical questions

Table 4.2.6: Distribution of rhetorical questions in the speech acts Representatives Frequency Expressives Frequency Directives Frequency Commissives Frequency

No. % No. % No. % No. %

Warn Commitment to Expose 2 1.28 Praise ------future actions Demand Possible future Report - - Laud 1 5.88 - - - - actions Announce future Accuse - - Regret - - Forbid - - - - actions Express speaker Predict - - Protest - - Request - - - - intentions Pledge future State - - Mourn - - Suggest - - - - actions Conclude 1 0.64 ------Denounce ------Criticize 1 0.64 ------Justify ------Argue 8 5.12 ------Attribute ------Irony ------Total 12 7.69 - 1 5.88 ------

Maximum occurrences of rhetorical questions can be found in the representative acts of argue. Only one occurrence exists in expressive act of laud whereas no occurrence can be found in directives and commissives.

Interrogatives play an important role in shaping the news stories and also in marking different illocutionary forces. The most prominent role of interrogatives can be found in the representative acts. In the acts of ‘expose’ interrogatives function to highlight the stories related to the assassination of Osama Bin Laden in H5, H6, H7 and H11. Act of ‘conclude’ H107 is a rhetorical question where the headline writer wants to take readers to the elaboration of the news story. Once again the headlines (H141 to H148) included in the acts of ‘argue’ are rhetorical questions. Interrogatives have been used as rhetorical questions in the headlines in order to make assertions rather than to obtain information about the news events being discussed. 178

Interrogatives have also been used as indicators of a different kind of illocutionary force associated with the representative acts. This illocutionary force has been termed as ‘expose’ where the function is just to make the news story or any element within the news story prominent. In H5, H6 and H7 the interrogatives have been used to highlight the role of US marines and also to highlight the place where Osama Bin Laden was killed. Similarly, in the acts of ‘argue’ interrogatives have helped to mark a different kind of illocutionary force in the representative acts that functions to take headlines readers towards a debatable news story. All the headlines mentioned in the acts of ‘argue’ make news headlines on India Pakistan relations, cricket in Pakistan, blasphemy law and Osama Bin Laden issue open to questions. Another important function can be found in the representative prototype ‘conclude’ where the interrogatives have been used in H107 and H109 where the topics are political turmoil and estranged diplomatic ties with United States. These questions take the readers towards conclusion instead to argument or debatable question in contrast with the previous occurrences of interrogatives in the representative acts.

An important role of rhetorical question can also be found in the expressive act of ‘laud’

(H165) where it helps to mark the illocutionary force with a higher degree of strength.

Rhetorical questions play an important role in the representative acts. In the acts of

‘expose’, ‘conclude’ and ‘criticize’ they help to mark the illocutionary force. They play a key role in the acts of ‘argue’ where the function of the interrogative is not to get an answer to the question rather to make the issue mentioned in the headline debatable.

This phenomenon strengthens the statement given by Searle and Vanderveken (1985) that although a speech act may have same propositional content, still different illocutionary forces can arise out of it. 179

Existence of rhetorical questions in most of the headlines indicates that they have not been used to get answer for something, rather they have been used to put emphasis or to take the readers to whole set of arguments given by the headlines writer as in the acts of argue. The existence of rhetorical questions proves Athjanasiadou (1991) statement that such questions are used to emphasize a statement or make it prominent.

4.2.7. Verbs

Table 4.2.7: Distribution of verbs in the speech acts Representatives Frequency Expressives Frequency Directives Frequency Commissives Frequency

No. % No. % No. % No. %

Commitment to Expose 20 12.82 Praise 8 47.05 Warn 5 35.71 5 38.46 future actions

Demand Possible future Report 24 15.38 Laud 4 23.52 4 28.57 5 38.46 actions Announce future Accuse 17 10.89 Regret 2 11.76 Forbid 1 7.14 1 7.69 actions Express speaker Predict 8 5.12 Protest 2 11.76 Request 1 7.14 1 7.69 intentions Pledge future State 7 4.48 Mourn 1 5.48 Suggest 1 7.14 1 7.69 actions Conclude 11 7.05 ------Denounce 11 7.05 ------Criticize 8 5.12 ------Justify 10 6.41 ------Argue 7 4.48 ------Attribute 2 1.28 ------Irony 1 0.64 ------Total 126 80.76 - 18 100 - 12 85.71 - 13 100

The table indicates the maximum use of verbs by the acts of ‘expose’, ‘report’, ‘accuse’,

‘conclude’, ‘denounce’ and ‘justify’ among the representatives. Among the expressive acts of

‘praise’ and ‘laud’ have maximum verbs. Acts of ‘warn’ and ‘demand’ use more verbs as compared with the acts of ‘forbid’, ‘request’ and ‘suggest’ among the directives. Among the commissives maximum verbs have been used in ‘commitment to future actions’ and ‘possible future actions’. 180

Applying Biber et al. (2000) classification of verbs, a number of verbs have been used to expose the news stories prominent. Existence or relationship verbs such as unveil (H1), revealed

(H2) and reveal (H13) expose a strong relationship between US marines’ activity and Osama Bin

Laden death story. Activity verbs, killed (H5), began (H8) and reacting (H11) have been used to highlight the role of US marines and the situation created after the death of Osama Bin Laden.

‘Grips’ (H17) and ‘faces’ (H23) function to highlight the destruction caused by floods and the death penalty given to a Christian woman on the basis of blasphemy law in Pakistan. Mental verb ‘confirm’ (H7, H21, H28) has been used to highlight that the death stories of Osama Bin

Laden and militants were based on the facts. Similarly, verbs such as ‘means’ (H26) and

‘accused’ (H25), have been used to impose news writer’s own perception and views on

Blasphemy law and Indo Pak cricket match on the readers. Aspectual verbs such as ‘making’

(H9), ‘receding’ (H13), ‘speaking’ (H24), ‘slaying’ and ‘finds’ (H30) have been used to express different states of affairs during flood of 2010, blasphemy controversy in Pakistan and the death of Daniel Pearl. Facilitation or causation verbs, for example, ‘refuses’ (H20) and ‘denied’ (H22) highlight the role of Pakistan and the Pakistani Judge who denied the bail.

Among the acts of report activity verbs such as ‘killed’ (H31), ‘exchanged’ (H32), ‘kills’

(H34, H36, H39, H40, H41, H42, H49, H51), ‘arrested’ (H37), ‘charged’ (H38), ‘blocked’

(H42), ‘attacked’ ( H44, H45), ‘burns’ (H46), ‘released’ (H48), ‘injured’ (H50), ‘rafts’ (H52) and

‘find’ (H53) have been employed in the headlines. All these verbs indicate bad states of affairs associated with the propositional content.

In the acts of expose verb phrases such as ‘went down’ (H4) and ‘dig into’ (H10) can be found in the news related to Osama bin Laden’s death. 181

In the representative acts of accuse activity verbs such as ‘cripples’ (H54), ‘released’

(H55), ‘attempts’ (H56), ‘convert’ (H69), ‘blocks’ (H60), ‘bans’ (H62), ‘backs’ (H63) and

‘victimized’ (H73) have been used in the headlines. These verbs used in the acts of ‘accuse’ not only indicate that that the event is urgent but also highlight the role played by the subject of the sentence that is associated with bad states of affairs in most of the propositions. Activity verbs denote actions and events that can be associated with choice and take subject with the semantic role of an agent. Communication verbs such as ‘says’ (H43, H63) involve communicating the statements issued by others. Occurrence verbs such as ‘erupts’ (H33) report events that occur other than any volitional activity. Facilitation or causation verbs for example, ‘denies’ (H57),

‘delays’ (H58) and ‘defies’ (H71) indicate that some person or an inanimate entity brings about a bad state of affairs. The use of aspectual verbs such as ‘detained’ (H59) and ‘continues’(H61) indicates the stage of progress of an event or an activity. Here the use of aspectual verbs strengthens the sense that Raymond Davis is still detained in Pakistan and is not being freed from prison. Mental verbs such as ‘claims’ (H64, H65, H67), ‘lauds’ (H66), ‘suspect’ (H68), and

‘considered’ (H70) associated with militancy and terrorism in Pakistan are based on the activities and states experienced by humans and have cognitive, attitudinal, emotional and perceptive meanings.

In the representative acts of predict mental verbs such as ‘seeing’ (H75) and ‘predicts’

(H76) convey perceptive and cognitive meanings regarding the bad events that are expected to happen in future. Activity verbs such as ‘lived’ (H77), ‘killed’ (H72), ‘floats’ (H81) and

‘explode’ (H82) can be found. These verbs take subject in the semantic role of an agent doing a particular action (Biber, et al., 2000). Occurrence verbs including ‘bring’ (H76), ‘ease’ (H79) and ‘edge’ (H83) have been used here about Taliban resurgence, US Pak relations and sports in 182

Pakistan. Such kinds of verbs show the events taking place without the involvement of any volitional activity (Biber, et al., 2000).

Among the headlines functioning to state occurrence verbs such as ‘suffers’ (H86),

‘imploding’ ( H94), activity verb ‘halted’ (H91), mental verbs such as ‘shocked’(H95), communication verbs for example, ‘says’ (H96, H91) have been used. All of these verbs are once again associated with bas states of affairs taking place in Pakistan. Moreover, all the bad events have been portrayed by these verbs as unexpected. Phrases such as ‘shut down’ (H90) and

‘going down’ (H93) add color to the headlines.

In the acts of conclude communication verb ‘say’ (H99) indicates communication activities. Activity verbs such as ‘killing’, ‘gives’ (H100), ‘presents’ (H101), ‘lives’ (H102),

‘heading’ (H104), ‘leaves’ (H105), ‘failing’ (H106) have been used to highlight the unwanted sates of affairs by specifying the role of agents. Modal verb ‘may’ (H103, H98) has been used to show possibility.

In the representative acts of denounce activity verbs such as ‘kill’ (H110, H119), ‘jailed’

(H111), ‘shot and killed’ (H112), ‘give’ (H115) and ‘waits’, ‘comes’ (H116) highlight the actions taken by different people. Communication verbs such as ‘says’ (H113, H114) has been used to make the news look objective. Occurrence verb ‘escalates’ (H118) shows the momentum of the vent. Mental verb ‘defends’ (H120) has been used to affect the perception of the readers about the news story where Musharraf’s statement about terrorism in Pakistan has been highlighted.

In order to criticize mental verb such as ‘knew’ (H121), activity verbs such as ‘hide’

(H122), ‘avert’ (H126), ‘fighting’ (H128) and ‘protest’ (H) denote different activities related with blasphemy law and terrorism by highlighting the roles of subjects or agents. Communication verbs such as ‘says’ (H126), ‘slams’ (H123), and ‘questioned’ (H124) involve communication 183

activities involving statements and criticism. Modal verb ‘could’ (H126) has been used to indicate possibility.

In the acts of justify mental verbs such as ‘rejoice’ (H131), ‘watched’ (H132), ‘shows’

(H135) and ‘soured’ (H134) indicate perceptual meanings related with the event of the death of

Osama Bin Laden. Communication verbs such as ‘says’ (H132, H135) indicates the statements issued by someone else other than the news writer. Activity verbs ‘kills’ (H136), ‘paid’,

‘killed’ (H137, H140), ‘ shelled, killed’ (H138) and ‘targeted’(H139) have been used to highlight the roles of the agents in creating negative states of affairs. Modal verb such as ‘can’

(H141, H142, H146, and H147) has been used to indicate possibilities of the future events happenings related with Pakistani cricket, blasphemy law controversy and domestic affairs in

Pakistan.

Among the acts of argue occurrence verbs including ‘improve’ (H142) and ‘survive’

(H147) report events occurring apart from any volitional activity. Aspectual verbs ‘protecting’

(H148) and ‘divided’ (H144) characterize the stage of progress of different negative activities such as Osama Bin Laden presence in Pakistan and cricket controversies. Mental verb such as

‘trust’ (H146) shows attitude. Word US and modal verb ‘can’ have been added before the word

‘trust’ to show possibility.

In attributive acts verbs of existence or relationship report a state of affairs that exists between entities (Biber, et al., 2000). Awakes (H151) shows the relationship between violence and the city where Osama Bin Laden was killed. Verb ‘got’ (H152) shows this relationship between US marines and their achievement of killing Osama Bin Laden.

Irony H155 uses verb of activity ‘arrive’ to highlight the role of the Chinese Prime minister as a visitor to Pakistan. 184

In the expressive acts of praise activity verbs such as ‘evacuate’ (H157), ‘aids’ (H158),

‘targets’ (H159), ‘help, fight’ (H160) and ‘approves’ (H161) highlight the role of the US marines and US President as actors of different activities involving the aiding the people during floods and helping Pakistan in war against terror. Aspectual verbs such as ‘aiding’ (H62), ‘helping’

(H163) and ‘finalizing’ (H160) show helpful actions continuously taking place in Pakistan. In the acts of ‘mourn’ mental verb ‘mourn’ (H173) has been used to indicate emotional state. It is a speech act verb as well and marks the illocutionary force.

In the directive act H179 participle form of verb ‘feared’ has been used to warn against the possible threat. Communicative verbs like ‘urge’ (H175, H176), ‘highlight’ (H177), ‘caution’

(H180) have been used in the directives that clearly indicate and strengthen the sense of being directive illocutionary acts. In this way these verbs function as performatives to intensify the meaning. Communication verbs highlight communicative activities. ‘Urge’ and ‘caution’ are not only communicative verbs but also speech act verbs indicating directive speech acts and warn against possible threats. In the acts of ‘demand’ speech act verbs such as ‘urge’ (H182), ‘press’

(H183) and ‘pardon’ (H184) convey strong directive sense. In the acts of request verb ‘need’

(H186) is a verb of existence that shows relationship between the US authorities and their desire to interview Osama Bin Laden wives. In H185 speech act verb ‘urge’ has been used to emphasize the request put forward by the US embassy to stop Christian communities from burning Holy Scripture ‘The Quran’.

Commssive act ‘announce future actions’ uses performative verb ‘announce’ (H198) that indicates commitment to test of ballistic missile and announces it publicly.

Verbs have played a significant role in the identification of the illocutionary forces as well as giving different shapes to the messages contained within the headlines functioning as speech 185

acts. Representatives are the only illocutionary acts found in the data that make maximum use of verbs. Representatives functioning to expose have performative verbs marking the illocutionary force as well as indicating that the given state of affairs is about present. Similarly, in the acts of

‘report’ verbs play an important role in the propositional content conditions that are about present as well as essential conditions that are concerned with giving the latest information. In the acts having illocutionary force of ‘accuse’ verbs are performatives in some of the cases while in others the verbs function to relate the news story to the events in the background in order to make the act of accuse effective. Speech acts having illocutionary force of ‘predict’ make use of verbs in different ways. They work as performatives as well as in infinitive form to make predictions. Indicating futurity in predictions depends on the verbs functioning either in the present form or in an infinitive form. Acts of ‘state’ also make use of the verbs especially in marking propositional content conditions as present as well as indicating in the essential conditions that the given statement is of prime importance. Illocutionary acts of ‘conclude’ use verbs to indicate current state of affairs as well as possibility. Acts having illocutionary forces of

‘denounce’ have two kinds of functions associated with verbs. In these acts the illocutionary forces not only indicate propositional content as current but also connect the story with some background by using participle form of verb. Same is the case with the illocutionary force of

‘criticize’ where the verbs indicate current as well as past states of affairs in order to indicate topicality as well as background of the events. In the acts of ‘justify’ verbs indicate current propositional content while most of the verbs indicate past events to provide justification for the events that happened in the past. In the acts of ‘argue’, ‘attribute’ and ‘irony’ verbs do not have any specific function except indicating the states of affairs that are either related with present or past. 186

Among expressives the verbs not only clearly indicate the states of affairs but also help to mark the illocutionary forces at certain places. In the acts of ‘praise’, ‘laud’, ‘regret’ and ‘mourn’ performative verbs are marking illocutionary forces at certain places.

Verbs perform a range of functions in the directive acts. For example in the acts of ‘warn’ the verbs not only mark future state of affairs but also enhance the degree of strength of the illocutionary force of warning. In the acts of ‘demand’ verbs used in the present form indicate future states of affairs and also act as performatives. In the act of ‘forbid’ verbs add a stronger degree of strength to the message. In the act of ‘request’ the use of verb clearly marks the illocutionary force of request whereas in suggest the verb is only concerned with marking the current state of affairs.

Same is the case with the commissive acts where the use of verbs is once again diverse.

The verbs indicate future states of affairs that are connected with strong commitments. On the other hand verbs increase the degree of strength of commitments. In some cases the verbs act as explicit performatives such as in ‘announce future actions’.

4.2.8. Adverbs

Table 4.2.8: Distribution of adverbs in the speech acts Representatives Frequency Expressives Frequency Directives Frequency Commissives Frequency

No. % No. % No. % No. %

Warn Commitment to Expose 1 0.64 Praise ------future actions Demand Possible future Report 1 0.64 Laud ------actions Announce future Accuse 1 0.64 Regret 2 11.76 Forbid - - - - actions Express speaker Predict 1 0.64 Protest - - Request - - 1 7.69 intentions Pledge future State - - Mourn - - Suggest - - - - actions Conclude ------Denounce ------Criticize ------Justify ------Argue ------187

Attribute ------Irony ------Total 4 2.56 - 2 11.76 - - - - 1 7.69

Equal numbers of adverbs have been used by the first four prototypes of the representative acts that include ‘expose’, ‘report’, ‘accuse’ and ‘predict’. 02 adverbs have been used in the expressive act of regret whereas only one adverb can be found in commisive act expressing speaker’s intentions. Directives do not use any adverb.

A number of Bieber, et al. (1999) adverbs can be found in the headlines functioning as representatives and commissives.

Among the representative acts, the acts of expose indicate that adverb of judgment has been used in H25 (falsely) to highlight that the accusation against the woman named Asia Bibi was false. An adverb of time has also been used in H26 (when) where it expresses the controversial assassination of Salman Taseer, former Governor of Punjab Province of Pakistan in case of committing blasphemy. An adverb of limit has been found in H26 (just) where the cricket match has been termed as functioning more than a match. In the act of ‘report’ manner adverb

‘deadly’ has been used in H35 to express severity of the blast. In the acts of ‘predict’ adverb of possibility ‘likely’ has been used in H78 to indicate possibility of the selection of next Al Qaeda leader. In an act of ‘conclude’ adverb of manner such as deadly (H102) has been used that intensifies the severe effect of the bomb blast.

Adverbs of manner can be found in the expressive acts of ‘regret’ such as H169 (deadly strike) and H170 (deeply saddening). In the expressive acts the adverbs function to enhance the saddening effect associated with the news stories related with blasts and casualties. 188

Commissive act ‘Expressing speaker intentions’ has an adverb of time ‘now’ found in

H199 where it indicates that the existence of Taliban in Pakistan is a current issue and needs a solution.

Adverbs have a diversity of functions in the above mentioned illocutionary acts. In the representative acts of ‘expose’ they function to highlight the innocence of a woman accused of blasphemy. In the act of report it indicates time. In the act of ‘accuse’ it helps to mark the illocutionary force while in the act of predict it marks the illocutionary force of possibility of an action that is likely to happen in future.

Adverbs enhance the degree of strength of illocutionary forces in the expressive act of regret. Similarly, in the commisive acts they perform the same function of affecting the degree of strength.

4.2.9. Idioms

Table 4.2.9: Distribution of idioms in the speech acts Representatives Frequency Expressives Frequency Directives Frequency Commissives Frequency

No. % No. % No. % No. %

Commitment Warn Expose - - Praise - - - - to future - -

actions Demand Possible future Report 2 1.28 Laud 1 5.48 - - 4 30.76 actions Announce Accuse - - Regret - - Forbid - - - - future actions Pledge future Predict 1 0.64 - - - Request - - - - actions State 2 1.28 - - - Suggest - - - - - Conclude 2 1.28 ------Denounce 2 1.28 ------Criticize 1 0.64 ------Justify ------Argue 1 0.64 ------Attribute 1 0.64 ------Irony 1 0.64 ------Total 13 8.33 - 1 5.88 - - - - 4 30.76

189

The table indicates the maximum use of idioms in representatives especially ‘report’,

‘state’, ‘conclude’ and ‘denounce’. Expressive act of ‘laud’ has only one idiom. Directives do not have any such occurrence whereas the commissives use maximum of four idioms in the act of possible future actions.

Act of ‘expose’ H29 uses idiom (inside downward spiral) that functions to exaggerate the bad condition of domestic affairs in Pakistan. In ‘predict’ an idiom ‘to step up’ (H78) has been used to refer to the possibility of the selection of Al Qaeda successor after Bin Laden’s death.

Another idiom ‘quick fix and long haul’ (H74) has been used in the context of the problems faced by NGO’s while fixing flood damages. H81 uses idiom ‘floating of hope’ while predicting future situation in Pakistan after the flood. Among the act of ‘state’ propositions such as H93 and H94 make use of idioms such as ‘going down’ and ‘imploding’ while discussing Domestic affairs in

Pakistan.

Among the acts of ‘conclude’ idioms such as ‘turning point’ (H98) and another idiom in

H107 (rising up) have been used to convey double meaning. The idiom ‘turning point’ has been used for indicating the change of the situation of diplomatic ties between Pakistan and United

States. Idiom ‘rising up’ has been used in the context of the burden of different issues faced by

Pakistan. In the act of ‘criticize’ idiom ‘lashes out (H117)’ gives a strong sense of criticism made by a US senator on Pakistani government. The term ‘points finger’ (H125) has been used to highlight the NATO’s criticism on Pakistan in war against terrorism. In the acts of ‘argue’ an idiom (pave way) has been used in H141 to add color to the headline referring to India Pakistan relations. Similarly, the act of ‘irony’ H156 uses idioms to convey double meaning. The idiom

‘break for the border’ has been used in the context of an effort to improve the relationship 190

between India and Pakistan. On the other hand the idiom ‘dream for peace’ has been used to make fun of the efforts being carried out for peaceful relationship between India and Pakistan.

Among ‘Commitment to future actions’ in H193 term ‘jump back’ has been used to refer to former president of Pakistan General Musharraf’s political comeback. Similarly, in the acts of possible future actions found in H194 term ‘ramp up’ adds color to the meaning once again by referring to Musharraf’s comeback in Pakistani politics.

Just like the idioms found in Vrbinc & Vrbinc (2011) research, in the above mentioned analysis the idioms do not mean what they appear to mean rather they are peculiarity of phraseology and its meaning cannot be inferred from the meanings of the individual words.

This peculiarity can be found in the prototypes of the representative acts.

Presence of idioms in the illocutionary acts indicates that they have been mostly used to enhance degree of strength instead of marking the illocutionary force. In the acts of report idioms have been used to increase the degree of strength of message associated with the report. In the acts of predict idiom has been used where the state of affairs is not in the interest of the people concerned. In the acts of state, conclude, denounce and criticize the idioms have been used to indicate bad states of affairs and also to affect essential conditions where the act conveys something negative. In the acts of argue, attribute and irony the idioms have been used to enhance the degrees of strength only. In the expressive acts idiom has only been used in the act of laud where its degree of strength is greater than praise. In the commissive acts the idioms indicate that there is a strong possibility of an action that is likely to happen in future.

191

4.2.10. Metaphors

Table 4.2.10: Distribution of metaphors in the speech acts Representatives Frequency Expressives Frequency Directives Frequency Commissives Frequency

No. % No. % No. % No. %

Warn Commitment to Expose 3 1.92 Praise ------future actions Demand Possible future Report - - Laud 1 5.88 - - - - actions Announce future Accuse - - Regret - - Forbid - - - - actions Express speaker Predict - - Protest - - Request - - - - intentions Pledge future State 4 2.56 Mourn - - Suggest - - - - actions Conclude ------Denounce ------Criticize ------Justify ------Argue ------Attribute 2 1.28 ------Irony 1 0.64 ------Total 10 6.41 - 1 5.88 ------

Metaphors have maximum instances in the acts of expose and report whereas there is only one instance in the act of laud. Commissives and directives do not have any such occurrence.

In the representative acts of expose metaphor used in H16 (ghost town) highlights the destruction caused by 2010 floods in Pakistan. Similarly, H24 uses the word ‘crime’ as a metaphor referring to speaking against religion.

In the representative acts of state metaphor ‘evil’ has been used for Osama Bin Laden in

H86 in order to associate negative image with his personality. In H88 the term ‘recruitment bonanza for Al Qaeda’ has been used for the situation that would take place in reaction to Quran burning in different regions of the world. In H89 metaphor ‘epicenter of terror’ has been used for

Pakistan and Al Qaeda. Headlines included in the acts of ‘attribute’ use metaphors in H149 192

(humanitarian hot zone) and H151 (a moment). These metaphors function to exaggerate the situations of crises and terrorism in Pakistan.

According to Steinhert & Kittay (1997) metaphor is a trope through which one thing is expressed as if it were some other thing. In the above mentioned data occurrences of metaphors are mainly found in the representative acts where they function to ‘expose’, ‘state’, ‘attribute’ or function inside the ironical propositions. In the acts of ‘expose’ and ‘state’ they are not the markers of the illocutionary force rather function to strengthen the message contained within the speech act. In the acts of ‘report’ the metaphors have been used to intensify the message contained within the speech act as most of the reports are concerned with the events related with the bad state of affairs. In the ironical acts the metaphors do not convey what has been stated in the propositional content thus they are the indicators of the illocutionary force.

Expressive acts of ‘laud’ have metaphors where they help to decide that the acts of laud are different than the acts of praise.

They are the markers of illocutionary force in the acts of attribute as it is not easy to decide that some quality is being assigned to an object till a metaphor is present.

4.2.11. Loaded words

Table 4.2.13: Distribution of loaded words in the speech acts Representatives Frequency Expressives Frequency Directives Frequency Commissives Frequency

No. % No. % No. % No. %

Warn Commitment to Expose 1 0.64 Praise - - - - 2 15.38 future actions Demand Possible future Report 1 0.64 Laud 1 5.88 1 7.14 2 15.38 actions Announce future Accuse - - Regret 1 5.88 Forbid - - - - actions Express speaker Predict 5 3.20 Protest - - Request - - - - intentions Pledge future State 3 1.92 Mourn - - Suggest - - - - actions Conclude 3 1.92 ------Denounce 2 1.28 ------Criticize ------193

Justify 2 1.28 ------Argue 1 0.64 ------Attribute ------Irony ------Total 19 12.17 - 2 11.76 - 1 7.14 - 4 30.76

Loaded words have maximum frequencies in the representative acts of ‘predict’ as well as

‘state’ and ‘conclude’. Expressives have equal frequencies for loaded words in the acts of ‘laud’ and ‘regret’. Similarly, only one instance occurs in the act of ‘demand’. Commissives have maximum of 2 occurrences each for the first two prototypes.

In the acts of ‘expose’ loaded words H17 (desperation) and H18 (woes) have been used in the context of the flood. In the acts of ‘report’ loaded word ‘blitz’ (H43) has been used while reporting the drone attacks. In ‘predict’ loaded word ‘collapse’ has been used in H75 in order to represent the disastrous political and economic situation faced by Pakistan. In H83 word ‘tense’ has been used in the context of the World Cup cricket match between Pakisan and India. In H84 word ‘dire’ has been used to refer to the situation created after the floods. In ‘conclude’ loaded words have been used in H99 (hell), H100 (boost) and H101 (crisis) in the context of Osama Bin

Laden’s death. In the context of US Pak relations word ‘friction’ (H108) and ‘strained’ (H109) have been used that indicate turmoil in US Pak relations. Loaded words can be found in H195

(clash), H196 (crush), where they have been used in the context of Pakistan’s cricket competition.

Commenting on the use of loaded words in headlines Siposova (2011) said that they are used to appeal the feelings of the readers. They have been used in the representative act while reporting the events of turmoil and unrest such as in US Pak relations, militancy and domestic politics to add intensity to the message. 194

Loaded words do not mark illocutionary force in any of the above mentioned illocutionary acts rather they have been used to enhance the degrees of strength. Representaitve acts use them in the acts of ‘predict’ especially where the prediction concerns a state of affairs not in favor of the audience. In the acts of ‘state’ loaded words have been used to add colour to the statements that increases their importance. In the acts having illocutionary force of ‘conclude’ loaded words help to create an impact that the state of affairs needs to be taken into consideration and may affect the lives of the people concerned.

A different use of loaded words is in the expressive acts of ‘laud’ and ‘regret’. ‘Laud’ can be differentiated from praise in having a greater degree of strength as more loaded words have been used in the acts of laud as compared with the acts of praise. Similarly, in the acts of ‘regret’ word ‘regret’ itself is a strong marker of illocutionary force. This word functions as a performative verb as well as affects the sincerity and essential conditions by implying that the given state of affairs is not in the interest of the people concerned.

In the act of demand use of loaded word adds to the degree of strength of illocutionary force. Same function can be found in the commissive acts of ‘commitment of future actions’ and

‘possible future actions’.

4.2.12. Infinitives

Table 4.2.12: Distribution of infinitives in the speech acts Representatives Frequency Expressives Frequency Directives Frequency Commissives Frequency

No. % No. % No. % No. %

Warn Commitment to Expose - - Praise ------future actions Demand Possible future Report - - Laud - - 2 14.28 1 7.69 actions Announce future Accuse 4 2.56 Regret - - Forbid - - - - actions Express speaker Predict 3 1.92 Protest - - Request 1 7.14 - - intentions Pledge future State - - Mourn - - Suggest 1 7.14 - - actions Conclude 1 0.64 ------195

Denounce ------Criticize ------Justify ------Argue 1 0.64 ------Attribute ------Irony ------Total 8 5.12 - - - - 4 28.57 - 1 7.69

Maximum number of infinitives can be found in the representative acts of ‘accuse’ and

‘argue’. There is no infinitive in expressive. Directive act of ‘demand’ has only 2 occurrences while commissive act of possible future actions has only one occurrence.

In the acts of accuse infinitives such as ‘to release’ (H60), ‘to hold’ (H61) and ‘to convert’ (H69) have been used to express modality. Prototype ‘predict’ involves infinitives such as ‘to step up’ (H78), ‘to ease tensions’ (H79) and ‘to explode’ (H82) that indicate futurity as well as possibility. In the acts of justify infinitive such as ‘to rejoice’ (H131) has been used to indicate futurity as well as possibility of being happy at Osama Bin Laden’s death.

Directive act ‘warn’ in H175 also uses infinitive. In the acts of ‘demand’ H181 (to return) and H182 (to free) are infinitives that make the act directive. Suggest uses infinitive ‘to move’

(H187) that indicates modality as well as futurity in the context of war on terror.

Among commissives in ‘Possible future actions’ H196 uses an infinitive to indicate futurity.

Keeping in view Muhammad (2005) research infinitives have been chosen as a simple way to indicate futurity as well as possibility in directives and representatives.

Infinitives play an important role as markers of illocutionary force. There is diversity in their role with respect to different illocutionary forces. They have been observed only in the representative, directive and commissive acts whereas no infinitive was found in the expressive 196

acts. In the representative acts of accuse the infinitives have been used to mark a state of affairs that is in progress. Similarly, in the acts having illocutionary force of prediction the infinitives have been used to indicate an event likely to happen in future thus they are the markers of illocutionary force of prediction. In the acts of ‘justify’ the infinitive has been used to indicate possibility of an action.

There is a clear indication of futurity by using infinitives in the directive and commissive acts. Acts of ‘warn’ and ‘demand’ use infinitives to mark illocutionary force as well as to indicate strong possibility of an action that is likely to happen. Acts of ‘suggest’ also use infinitives but have a weaker degree of strength as compared with the acts of ‘warn’ and

‘demand’.

Infinitives have a key role in marking the commissive force of taking an action in future in the prototype ‘possible future action’ where the degree of commitment is stronger as compared with the directive acts.

4.2.13. Colon

Table 4.2.13: Distribution of colons in the speech acts Representatives Frequency Expressives Frequency Directives Frequency Commissives Frequency

No. % No. % No. % No. %

Warn Commitment to Expose 5 3.20 Praise 1 5.88 1 7.14 3 23.07 future actions Demand Possible future Report 4 2.56 Laud - - 1 7.14 - - actions Announce future Accuse 1 0.64 Regret - - Forbid - - - - actions Express speaker Predict 1 0.64 Protest - - Request 1 7.14 1 7.69 intentions Pledge future State 8 5.12 Mourn - - Suggest 1 7.14 - - actions Conclude 3 1.92 ------Denounce ------Criticize 2 1.28 ------Justify 4 2.56 ------Argue ------Attribute ------197

Irony 1 0.64 ------Total 29 18.58 - 1 5.88 - 4 28.57 - 4 30.76

Representatives have maximum occurrences of colons in the acts of ‘expose’, ‘report’,

‘state’ and ‘justify’. Expressives carry only one occurrence in the act of praise. Frequencies remain equal in directives except for the act of ‘forbid’. In commissives ‘commitment to future actions’ has maximum of 3 occurrences.

Maximum use of colons can be found in the representative acts especially where the illocutionary forces of ‘expose’, ‘report’, ‘accuse’, ‘state’ and ‘criticize’ are present. Their function is much similar to the use of commas where the focus of the headline writer is on the objectivity of the given information. Commas have been used where the news story or a particular component of a headline does not need to be highlighted much whereas the colons have been used in the news headlines that need to be given much prominence such as in case of the expressive acts of praise, directive acts of ‘forbid’ and the commissive acts of ‘commitment to future actions’.

In the acts of ‘expose’ colons have been used in H4, H12, H25 and H28 where the news headlines refer to the other sources or narrators of the news stories such as reports, videos and newspapers. In order to present the acts of ‘reports’ as objective in H31, H39, H40 and H50 colons have been used to give a sense credibility and objectivity by giving reference to officials.

In accuse H70 uses colon to refer to an unknown source accusing Pakistan. In ‘predict’ H77 uses colon to refer to the reporter of the news stories such as ‘Sen Feinstein’. Colons have been used in the quotations where the statement seems to be issued by someone else instead of the news reporter. Similarly, in the acts of ‘state’ H86, H87, H88, H92, H93, H94 and H97 use colons where the headline writer has referred to the statements of the official bodies. In ‘conclude’ H98, 198

H99, H100, H104 and H108 use colons to refer to different surveys. Here the colons have been used to show the statements issued by other sources instead of the news reporter and they help to put emphasis on the objectivity of analysis. In the acts of ‘criticize’ H125 and H128 use colons to refer to ‘analysis report’ given by NATO and Obama’s statement about Pakistan’s role in war on terror.

In the directive acts of ‘demand’ colon has been used in H181 to highlight the word

‘Kerry’.

Among commissives ‘commitment to future actions’ colons have been used in H188,

H190 and H192 where they perform the function of presenting information as said by someone else.

According to Bedrichova (2006) use of colons enhances credibility of the news as well as their objectivity. The analysis of the data indicates that maximum occurrences can be found in the acts of ‘expose’, ‘report’, ‘state’ and ‘justify’ where the headlines mostly state someone else’s opinions. There can be found two kinds of roles related to the colons. One is to make the news headline look objective while the other is to highlight a news headline source in order to make it look credible.

4.2.14. Inverted commas

Table 4.2.14: Distribution of inverted commas in the speech acts Representatives Frequency Expressives Frequency Directives Frequency Commissives Frequency

No. % No. % No. % No. %

Warn Commitment to Expose - - Praise 1 5.88 - - - - future actions Possible future Report 1 0.64 Laud 1 5.88 Demand - - - - actions Announce future Accuse - - Regret 1 5.88 Forbid - - - - actions Express speaker Predict 3 1.92 Protest - - Request - - - - intentions Pledge future State 7 4.48 Mourn - - Suggest - - - - actions Conclude 1 0.64 ------199

Denounce 1 0.64 ------Criticize 1 0.64 ------Justify 1 0.64 ------Argue ------Attribute 1 0.64 ------Irony ------Total 16 10.25 - 3 17.64 ------

Maximum frequencies of inverted commas can be found in the representative acts of

‘predict’ and ‘state’ whereas expressives have same frequencies for the acts of ‘praise’, ‘laud’ and ‘regret’. Directives and expressive do not have any such instance.

Among the representative acts of ‘state’ inverted commas function to emphasize some words and phrases. In H88the term ‘recruitment bonanza for Al Qaeda’ has been placed in inverted commas. In H93 and H94 inverted commas surround idiomatic expressions such as

‘going down’ and ‘imploding’. In H56 the term ‘cricket diplomacy’ is covered by inverted commas. In H89 and H96 commas have been used around the metaphors such as ‘epicenter of terror’ and ‘slow motion Tsunami’ while in H92 they cover term ‘frank discussion’. To criticize

H118 uses inverted commas to highlight the term ‘fixing’. In H126 inverted commas have been used around the term ‘better coordination’. In the act of justify (H135) the term ‘right track’ is in inverted commas. Similarly, inverted commas used around ‘blood money’ (H137) highlight the ransom paid by Raymond Davis for his release from jail after killing two Pakistanis. In attributive acts certain terms such as ‘gusty’ (H150) and ‘quite professionals’ (H152) are surrounded by inverted commas to emphasize as well as to highlight the deeds of US marines and Obama in killing Bin Laden.

Expressive act of praise in H158 ‘A team’ has been kept inside the inverted commas in order to highlight that the aid is being provided by ‘A’ team. In the act of ‘laud’(H168) the term 200

‘hands of our friendship’ has been kept inside inverted commas to lay emphasis on the statement given by the Prime Minister of India ‘Manmohan Singh’. In the act of ‘regret’ inverted commas have been used to highlight the effects of sorrow. Similarly, in H170 the term ‘deeply saddening’ has been kept inside inverted commas.

As the representative acts focus on the truth of a proposition, the acts of ‘predict’ and

‘state’ have the same illocutionary point. The acts of ‘predict’ have an illocutionary force of speculating something that is likely to happen in future. Inverted commas do not act as markers of the force of speculation rather they have been used to create an impression that the prediction has been given by some authentic source. Similarly, in the acts of ‘state’ where the illocutionary function is to describe a statement given by someone else, the inverted commas placed after the name of the person or source giving a statement make it convenient to decide that the illocutionary act is about an opinion that is not of the headline writer only.

A different illocutionary function of inverted commas can be observed in the expressive acts of ‘praise’, ‘laud’ and ‘regret’ where they have been used to highlight the agents of an action that is worthy of ‘praise’, ‘laud’ or ‘regret’. In this way they increase the degree of strength of an illocutionary force instead of playing a role in deciding the illocutionary force contrary with the representative acts of statements. Just like colons inverted commas have also been used to enhance objectivity of the headlines. Here highlighting specific words have also made use of the inverted commas.

4.2.15. Non sentences

Table 4.2.15: Distribution of non sentences in the speech acts Representatives Frequency Expressives Frequency Directives Frequency Commissives Frequency

No. % No. % No. % No. %

Warn Commitment to Expose 8 5.12 Praise 1 5.88 2 14.28 - - future actions 201

Demand Possible future Report 3 1.92 Laud 1 5.88 - - - - actions Announce future Accuse 1 0.64 Regret - - Forbid - - - - actions Express speaker Predict 2 1.28 Protest - - Request - - - - intentions Pledge future State 2 1.28 Mourn - - Suggest - - - - actions Conclude ------Denounce 1 1.28 ------Criticize 1 1.28 ------Justify 1 1.28 ------Argue ------Attribute 4 2.56 ------Irony 1 1.28 ------Total 24 15.38 - 2 11.76 - 2 14.28 - - -

Non sentences have maximum frequencies in the representatives. Acts of ‘expose’,

‘report’ and ‘attribute’ have maximum instances as compared with other acts. Among expressives there are equal frequencies of non sentences in ‘praise’ and ‘laud’ whereas directive act of ‘warn’ carries 02 instances of non sentences. Commissives do not have any such sentence.

Among the representative acts of ‘expose’ H2, H3 and H12, H14, H24, H26 and H27 are non sentences. Here they have been used to draw the attention of the readers to the whole story of Osama Bin laden’s death and the role played by US marines in killing him.

In the acts of ‘report’ non sentences have been used in H32, H35 and H50 to draw attention of the readers to the whole stories related with the acts of terrorism in Pakistan. In

‘state’ H89 is a non sentence to take the readers to the whole story. Act of ‘justify’ (H131) is a non sentence to take the readers to the logic associated with being happy for Osama Bin Laden’s death. Attributive acts in H153 and H154 are non sentences that attempt to associate the news stories with the details related with violence and flood in Pakistan. Act of ‘irony’ in H156 is also a non sentence. 202

Among the directives H178 and H179 are the acts of warning that have been performed by non sentences. The non sentences used here also attempt to make reader read the whole logic associated with the dangers mentioned for nuclear power in Pakistan as well as fear of Taliban uprise.

Above mentioned data reveals that the existence of non sentences in the headlines creates interest, strengthens the already existing illocutionary force, although, non sentences do not act as indicators of that illocutionary force. Representative acts such as ‘expose’ and ‘attribute’ have two different illocutionary forces associated with them although illocutionary point and direction of fit are the same. Illocutionary force in the acts of ‘expose’ is associated with highlighting a news story. In the representative acts of ‘report’ and ‘state’ the non sentences have been used just to strengthen the illocutionary forces. The existence of non sentences functions to capture reader’s attention. Illocutionary force in the acts of ‘justify’ also carries a non sentence where it has been used to highlight the fact that the given opinion is objective. In the act of ‘irony’ there is always a difference between what has been said and what has been meant, use of a non sentence helps to create ambiguity although it does not mark the illocutionary force. On the other hand in the acts of ‘attribute’ non sentences have been used to focus reader’s attention only on an attribute given to a particular entity.

In the directive acts of warning the non sentences function to enhance the degree of strength of the illocutionary force by giving insufficient information.

According to Bedrichova (2006) headlines having no verb at all can be called non sentences. Here they function to make the propositional content difficult to determine as present, past or future time cannot be indicated in absence of a verb. At the same time it can also be inferred that an illocutionary act can be performed even if a performative verb is absent. 203

4.2.16. Adjectives

Table 4.2.16: Distribution of adjectives in the speech acts Representatives Frequency Expressives Frequency Directives Frequency Commissives Frequency

No. % No. % No. % No. %

Warn Commitment to Expose 7 4.48 Praise - - - - 1 7.69 future actions Demand Possible future Report 4 2.56 Laud - - - - 1 7.69 actions Announce future Accuse 1 0.64 Regret - - Forbid - - 1 7.69 actions Express speaker Predict 2 1.28 Protest 1 5.88 Request - - 1 7.69 intentions Pledge future State 1 0.64 Mourn - - Suggest - - - - actions Conclude ------Denounce ------Criticize 3 1.92 ------Justify 2 1.28 ------Argue 1 0.64 ------Attribute ------Irony 1 0.64 ------Total 20 12.82 - 1 5.88 - - - - 4 30.76

This table shows the frequencies of adjectives in the prototypes of representatives, directives, commissives and expressive. Acts of ‘expose’, ‘report’ and ‘criticize’ have maximum adjectives. Act of ‘protest’ in expressive carries only one instance whereas directives do not have any such element. Commissives have an equal number of adjectives in every prototype except the last one not having any adjective.

In the acts of ‘expose’ adjectival compounds for example ‘videos of Bin Laden’(H1),

‘hungry and homeless’ (H15), ‘death of 5th militant leader’ (H21) ‘Pakistani Christian woman falsely accused of blasphemy’ (H25), ‘hands backed up Pearl’(H30) occur frequently in the headlines. Participle adjectives in the form of ‘trusted courier’ (H8) and ‘alleged Pakistani’

(H22) can also be found. Descriptive adjective ‘new offensive’ (H20) shows state of affairs associated with a noun. Comparative adjective such as ‘most dangerous man’ (H19) and ‘more than just a match’ (H26) are also there. Affiliative adjective such as ‘Pakistan's Role’ (H12) 204

shows strong national or religious affiliation. All these adjectives give qualities to the nouns and function to highlight them in the propositional content.

In the acts of ‘report’ a number of attributive adjectives in the form of classifiers and participle adjectives have been found. Participle adjectives such as ‘alleged spy ties’ (H31),

‘suspected drone strike’ (H39) and ‘suspected U.S. drones’ (H41) have been derived from verbs.

Here they function to add doubts to the news stories as well as indicate that something happened in the past. Biber, et al., (2000) explained that participle adjectives are hard to distinguish from verbs. Affiliative adjectives have also been used. For example, ‘key Pakistani Taliban leader’

(H38) and ‘politician's death’ (H33) show strong affiliation with the associated nouns. Classifiers describe qualities of the nouns such as ‘notorious insurgent’ (H37), ‘brave floods’ (H52) or give quantity such as in ‘some relief’ (H53).

In the acts of ‘accuse’ topical adjective such as ‘diplomatic’ shows relationship with the noun ‘immunity’ in H57. Adjectival compounds for example, ‘Pakistan protection deal’ (H70) and ‘top military official’ (H76) can be found. In H70 the adjectives show a sense of possession and in H76 they highlight the role of the military official in order to enhance the credibility of the statement given in the headline. In the acts of predict affiliative adjectives such as ‘Taliban resurgence’ (H76), ‘Al Qaeda succession’ (H78), ‘Af Pak strategy’ (H80) and ‘Parvez

Musharraf’s comeback’ (H85) can be found. Predicative adjectives such as ‘optimistic about Af

Pak strategy’ (H80), and ‘a chance to ease tensions’ (H89) can be found where the headlines predict some positive sates of affairs. An example of attributive adjective is ‘tense World Cup win’ (H83) where the adjective has been used to indicate the possibility of crucial sates of affairs. In the acts of ‘state’ post modifier has been used in H97 where Obama has been termed as arrogant. 205

Applying Biber, et al., (2000) taxonomy of adjectives in the acts of ‘denounce’, a number of compound adjectives such as ‘Pakistan's blasphemy vigilantes’ (H110), ‘Pakistan's record against terrorism’ (H120) show multiple attributes associated with the nouns. Participle adjective such as ‘exonerated man’ (H110), classifier of quantity such as ‘little’(H116), descriptive adjective ‘key senator’ (H117) act as attributive adjectives giving the sense of quantity as well as quality. Qualifying adjective ‘not aware’ (H114) limits the meaning of a proposition by denoting some negative property. All these adjectives associate negative meanings with the propositions wherever the states of affairs are unwanted.

In the representative acts of criticize a number of Biber, et al., (2000) adjectives have been found. Adjectives have been used as classifiers describing quantity such as ‘many questions, few answers’ (H121). Here the use of adjective highlights the contradiction associates with what is desired and what has been given regarding the information provided by Pakistan about the death of Osama Bin Laden. Comparative adjectives show degree of an assigned attribute such as

‘better coordination’ (H126). Here the use of adjective once again highlights the comparison between better and worse coordination and highlights bad coordination that lead to the death of the soldiers. Intensifiers such as ‘critical’ (H127) emphasize a quality of a noun. Descriptive adjectives such as ‘slow’ (H128) and ‘silent’ (H130) describe the state of a noun. The use of these descriptive adjectives adds to the negative roles performed by the subject. Adjective of certainty possible (H129) shows the possibility in case of changing the existing situation.

In the representative acts of justify keeping in view Biber, et al., (2000) a number of classifiers can be found in the headlines. Descriptive classifier adjectives such as ‘live video’

(H132), quantifiers (5 Reasons, H133) and ‘right track’ (H135) describe the attributes associated with the nouns such as quality and quantity. In marking the illocutionary force of 206

justification, these adjectives have an important role. Word live enhances the credibility of the statement about Obama’s knowledge about Osama Bin Laden’s killing. Quantifier such as ‘five reasons’ used in H133 enhances the logic. Phrase ‘right track’ indicates that whatever is being done is for the benefit of the concerned people. Gradable descriptive adjectives such as ‘great hideout’ (H133) show the degree of comparison by exaggerating a quality. Compound adjective such as ‘Pakistani Taliban leader targeted by U.S has long, ruthless record’ in H139 shows compressed information embedded in a single clause where the function is to exaggerate a situation. Participle adjective ‘alleged spy ties’ used in H140 functions as an attributive adjective and gives justification that killing the people may be wrong as there was doubt about their espionage activities.

In the acts of argue descriptive adjectives such as ‘great divide’ (H143), ‘safe’ (H145), post modifier such as ‘killer of governor’, participle adjective ‘divided country’ (H144) and affiliative adjective such as ‘Pakistan's nukes’(H145) have been used where the emphasis is once again related with assigning the negative attributes as well as exaggeration. In H143 and H144 the news headline indicates a sense of contradiction and division where the cause of division is not clear.

In the acts of attribute a number of Biber, et al., (2000) classifications of adjectives can be found in the headlines. Descriptive adjectives such as ‘hot zone’ (H149), ‘sleepy Pakistani city’

(H153) and quite professionals (H154) function as attributive adjectives of quality as well as state of a noun. In H109 the attribute assigned to Pakistan is negative whereas in the others it has just been used to add colour to the proposition. Non gradable adjective such as ‘a unique place in history’ (H153) has been used to show that a person, place or thing stands out of the rest. Post 207

modifier ‘a flood of tears’ (H154) serves as a predicative adjective where the role of the adjective is expressive.

Among the acts of irony, H155 uses participle adjective ‘bearing gifts’ where it functions attributively. Post modifiers ‘break for the border’, ‘dream for peace’ (H156) have been used as predicative adjectives. In these acts the adjectives have helped to mark the illocutionary force of irony.

Among the expressive acts of ‘protest’ H171 (suspected drone strike) and H172

(suspected U.S. drone strike) use participles as pre modifiers adding doubt to the existing proposition.

In the directive acts of warn pre modifier ‘purported Bin Laden message’ (H174 and

H176) gives attribute to the noun using participle. Affiliative adjective ‘religious minorities’

(H177) shows religious affiliation. In the acts of demand adjectives have been used to defend

Raymond Davis and to highlight the importance of chopper used in Osama Bin Laden raid.

Compound adjective have also been used in H181 (chopper used in Bin Laden raid), H182 (jailed

U.S. Embassy employee) and H183 (diplomat accused in Pakistan shooting). Affiliative adjective has been used in H184 (Pakistani Muslim leaders) where the strong religious affiliation has been highlighted. The compound adjectives used in all these propositions have shown compact information in a few words about a noun. On the other hand the affiliative adjectives have indicated strong religious or national affiliation.

Among the commissive acts of ‘commitment to future actions’ H188 (Taliban stronghold), H189 (NATO incursions), H190 (high profile targets) are compound adjectives that are combinations of multiple attributes as well as exaggeration especially in H190. H192 uses affiliative adjective ‘Pakistani politics’ that shows national affiliation. In the acts of ‘expressing 208

speaker intentions’ gradable adjective such as bigger problem (H199) functions to exaggerate the threat posed by Taliban in Pakistan.

From the analysis of the above mentioned data it is quite clear that the adjectives perform a number of functions not only in marking the illocutionary forces but also shaping the propositions in different ways. As the function of the representative acts is to emphasize the truth of a proposition, maximum number of adjectives can be found in them. In the acts of ‘expose’ they function to highlight the states of affairs. In the acts of ‘report’, ‘accuse’, ‘predict’ and

‘state’ they exaggerate an already presented state of affairs. In the acts of ‘criticize’ the adjectives add more to the bad state of affairs. In the acts of ‘justify’ the use of adjectives helps to prove that whatever has been mentioned is correct. In the acts of ‘argue’ the adjectives either exaggerate a state of affairs or show possession. In the acts of ‘irony’ the adjectives have been used to associate unusual qualities or expressions with the agents of certain actions where they affect the sincerity conditions and the given proposition does not mean what it is supposed to mean. Expressive acts also use adjective in the act of ‘protest’ in order to indicate possibility of an action.

209

Chapter 5 CONCLUSION Current study attempted to identify and classify speech acts in the news headlines of CNN representing Pakistan. The study also aimed to explore the role of linguistic devices in the headlines functioning as speech acts.

First question of the research was to explore the speech act functions of CNN headlines representing Pakistan. A series of illocutionary functions were found in the headlines after data analysis that are mentioned below.

The findings of the quantitative results indicate that representatives are the most frequently found acts in the data that constitute 78% of the total of 200 headlines. This number is quite large as compared with the expressive, directive and commissive acts. It can be inferred from this finding that the focus of headline writer is to assert the truth of propositions in most of the headlines.

Large number of headlines related with Osama Bin Laden, militancy and US Pak relations come under the heading of representatives. It implies that the asserted beliefs regarding these topics are greater than the other topics. Expressive, directive and commissive acts also have greater number of headlines on US Pak relations. Current finding shows that during the period of

January 2010 and May 2011 more importance was given to the issue of Osama Bin Laden and US

Pak relations.

Third important finding of the research indicates that headlines are associated with multiple illocutionary forces or prototypes in spite of having same illocutionary points and directions of fit. The existence of prototypes means that the headline writer wants to convey more than what is stated in the headlines. Among the representative act prototypes the speech acts 210

functioning to expose, report and accuse is far greater than the others. Similarly, among the expressive prototypes more speech acts come under praise and laud as compared with regret protest and mourn. In case of directives more speech acts are associated with the acts of ‘warn’ and ‘demand’ as compared with forbid, request and suggest. Inside commissives number of speech acts associated with commitment to future actions and possible future actions is greater than announcing future actions, expressing speaker intentions and pledging future actions.

Results of the qualitative analysis conducted after applying felicity conditions indicate that the news stories have been portrayed in different ways by the headlines having different illocutionary functions. Inside the prototype ‘expose’ the role of US forces in killing Osama Bin

Laden has been highlighted whereas it is difficult to determine the role played by Pakistan.

Similarly, more exposure has been given to the devastation causes by flood in Pakistan, punishment under blasphemy, corruption and the killing of journalists. Similarly, in the prototype

‘report’ more news stories are concerned with militancy in Pakistan, drone attacks and US

Pakistan relations.

Headlines functioning to accuse are mostly related with US Pakistan relations and militancy in Pakistan. The preparatory conditions clearly indicate that the writer or the source have evidence. Majority of the sincerity conditions indicate bad state of affairs. Similarly, almost all of the essential conditions hold Pakistan responsible for the bad state of affairs.

‘Predict’ has large number of headlines on militancy and Osama Bin Laden. Most of the predicted events share sincerity conditions indicating that the events are not in the favor of the reader and there are predictions about bad events that are likely to happen.

‘State’ has more headlines on Osama Bin Laden and US Pak relations where different resources have been quoted to make the statements look objective. There are a sufficient number 211

of headlines reporting bad state of affairs with the essential conditions that the information is reliable.

In ‘conclude’ there are three most important news topics including Osama Bin Laden, US

Pakistan relations and Domestic affairs. The essential conditions indicate that most of the conclusions have been drawn on the basis of confusing and negative state of affairs.

In denounce more headlines are related with blasphemy and flood. Sincerity conditions for most of the headlines show a harmful state of affairs. Inside the essential conditions Pakistan has been indicated as taking inappropriate actions and inappropriate activities.

Headlines functioning to criticize put more emphasis on Osama Bin Laden and US Pak relations. It can be deduced from the available data that objections, doubts and dissatisfactions coming under essential conditions are largely related with these two topics.

In the headlines functioning to justify the important topics are about Osama Bin Laden,

US Pakistan relations and militancy. Reasons have been given for the events mentioned in the headlines. Positive justifications have been given where actions are related the headlines are on

US Pak relations while the events related to militancy have been negatively justified.

In the acts of ‘argue’ questions have been raised about different situations in Pakistan where the most important ones are Pakistani cricket, Domestic affairs and blasphemy.

In the acts of ‘attribute’ the headlines writer has given different attributes the event of killing of Osama Bin Laden and flood. It can be clearly observed that positive attributes have been associated with the events related to US whereas negative attributed have been associated with the events related with Pakistan.

There are two ironical headlines where the writer portrays Pak China relations and Indo

Pak relations as unusual states of affairs. 212

Among expressive the acts of praise are related to the achievements of the united states.

In Laud once again the topics are about the achievements of US. In regret Pakistan activities against militants and flood have been regretted. Protest is again about the situations prevailing in

Pakistan. Mourn is about deaths in flood.

Among directives the acts of warn give warning about the presence of Osama in Pakistan, threats in Pakistan and militancy. All the sincerity conditions are not in favor of the reader while all the essential conditions portray imminent threats.

The acts of demand are concerned with the actions that need to be taken on the behalf of

Pakistan in future. The essential conditions indicate that the actions are very much necessary and must be taken.

Acts of forbid are associated with US Pak relations where the emphasis is on the bad state of affairs that can be avoided. Acts of request again indicate a desire or want US needs Pakistan to fulfill. Acts of suggest indicate the action that can be beneficial for the concerned people.

Among the commissives all the commitments are related with US Pak and Pak Turkey relations where the commitments have been shown to continue the state of war and show reaction if a bad state of affairs happens. Possible future actions are related with Musharraf’s comeback, cricket and Indo Pak relations where willingness and commitment exist. The announcement is again related with the test of a ballistic missile by Pakistan where Pakistan’s commitment has been shown to a negative action. Intentions and pledges show actions against threats of Taliban and terrorism.

The second question of the research focused on the role of the linguistic devices in the headlines functioning as speech acts. A number of linguistic devices were found associated with the headlines that not only played role in the construction of the speech acts but also to give 213

specific meanings to the message contained in the headlines. It was found that the linguistic devices used within the headlines not only act as markers of illocutionary forces but also give a different shape to the message contained within the speech acts. As markers of illocutionary forces they not only mark the primary speech act categories such as representatives, expressive, directives and commissives but also mark different illocutionary forces associated with them.

The present tense was found in abundance in the headlines. Its function was not only to determine the propositional content of the speech acts but also to add immediacy and freshness to the news stories. In the representative and expressive acts it presented propositional content related with the current state of affairs whereas in directives and commissives present tense functioned to relate the propositional content to the future state of affairs. Moreover, present tense also functioned as a marker of illocutionary forces such as representative, directive and commissive. In assertive the illocutionary force was marked by presenting current sates of affairs whereas in directives and commissives present tense indicated futurity.

Past tense expressed distal events in the speech acts. It also related the stories to the background as in the acts of expose, justify and criticize. It did not play any role in the directives and commissive acts related to the future state of affairs.

Function of direct speech was found related with the news stories where the propositions were being presented as objective and impartial. It was found abundantly in the representative acts of state, report, justify and conclude where the headline writer presented the state of affairs as narrated or stated by someone else and absolved himself of the direct responsibility of the content presented within the headlines. 214

Active voice was found functioning as highlighting the role of agents involved in various activities. It was mainly found associated with the acts of representative acts of expose, report and accuse where it highlighted the role of Pakistan in creating bad states of affairs.

Passive voice was mainly found in the representative acts of report and justify. It functioned to change the positions of subject and object. It was not clear to determine the respective roles of agents in most of the passives that were agent less such as attacks on NATO convoys, victimization of Afghan refugees and mourning of flood affectees.

Rhetorical questions in the headlines were associated with the acts of argue where they functioned to give prominence to the news events or open a news event to scrutiny instead of putting a direct question.

Verbs performed multiple functions in the headlines. They not only helped to determine the propositional content of the headlines related with present, past or future state of affairs but also functioned as mental, occurrence, existence, communication and reporting verbs. In addition phrasal verbs conveyed double meanings in the headlines.

Adverbs showed possibility, intensity and time of the news messages within the headlines functioning as speech acts. They also indicated attitude of the writer or reporter towards the news events mentioned inside the propositions.

Idioms were mainly found in the representative acts of report, state, conclude and denounce. Idioms conveyed double meanings while reporting the state of affairs in the propositions. Most of the idioms were found associated with the news related with the bad states of affairs and they functioned to enhance their severity.

Metaphors not only functioned to describe one thing as another but also added intensity to the news related with the disasters and mishaps in Pakistan. 215

Same kind of functions were found in the loaded words where they added intensity and color to the news stories in the representative acts of predict, state and conclude as well as in the expressive acts of laud and regret. Except the acts of laud all the loaded words found in all other acts add forceful meaning to the bad states of affairs.

Infinitives were not only found associated with the acts of accuse, predict and conlude but also in the directives and commissives. In representatives they presented a state of affairs in practice or to speculate about future state of affairs whereas in directives and commissives infinitives functioned to determine the propositions related with the future state of affairs.

Colons were found having maximum occurrences in the representative acts of expose, report, state and justify where the main aim of the news writer was to present the news as objective or to highlight the news stories.

Inverted commas functioned similar to the colons. They were mostly found in the representative acts where they functioned to enhance the credibility of the news stories. They also aimed to highlight certain aspects of the news headlines.

Non sentences were mostly found in the representative acts of expose, report and attribute where they functioned to highlight the news story or provided incomplete information to take the readers to the details of the news story. Incomplete propositions made it difficult to determine the propositional content.

Adjectives were found in almost all the speech acts. Representative acts of expose, report and criticize had most of the adjectives. They functioned to give attributes to the nouns as well as the associated propositions on the whole. Comparative, descriptive, attributive and compound adjectives were found abundant in the headlines where they were found related with the state of minds, emotions and exaggerations. 216

The research raises some questions in need of further investigation. First the speech act theory cannot be taken as an adequate account of research on the headlines until the prototypes of the speech acts are well defined. Further investigation is needed to investigate the illocutionary forces having a variety of felicity conditions. Second, the speech acts cannot be studied independent of the linguistic devices associated with them. There is a need for further research to explain the roles of grammatical and lexical components of speech acts. Third, the media discourse has complicated series of pragmatic functions that are never independent of the context in which an utterance is made. There is a need for further investigation to determine the role of context in the pragmatic functions.

217

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APPENDIX A

Analysis of headlines according to illocutionary point and direction of fit

Headlines (Prepositions) Illocutionary Direction of fit point H1. U.S. officials unveil videos of Bin Laden rep words-to-world H2. Osama Bin Laden hideout revealed rep words-to-world H3. Pakistan's role in Bin Laden death rep words-to-world H4. Latest updates: How the raid against Osama Bin Laden went down rep words-to-world H5. How U.S. forces killed Osama Bin Laden rep words-to-world H6. Where is Abbottabad, Pakistan? rep words-to-world H7. How did U.S. confirm the body was Bin Laden's? rep words-to-world H8. Trail leading to Bin Laden began with his trusted courier rep words-to-world H9. Attack on Osama Bin Laden was years in the making rep words-to-world H10. U.S. spies dig into data from Bin Laden raid rep words-to-world H11. How jihadis are reacting to Bin Laden's death rep words-to-world H12. Video: Pakistan's role in Bin Laden death rep words-to-world H13. Receding flood waters reveal destruction rep words-to-world H14. The Back Story on Pakistan flooding rep words-to-world H15. Hungry and homeless in Pakistan rep words-to-world H16. Pakistani ghost town after flood rep words-to-world H17. Desperation grips Pakistan rep words-to-world H18. Post-flood farming woes in Pakistan rep words-to-world H19. Ilyas Kashmiri: the most dangerous man on Earth? rep words-to-world H20. Pakistan refuses new offensive rep words-to-world H21. Coalition forces confirm death of 5th militant leader rep words-to-world H22. Bail denied for alleged Pakistani Taliban funding conspirator rep words-to-world H23. Christian faces blasphemy death sentence rep words-to-world H24. When speaking against religion is crime rep words-to-world H25. Official: Pakistani Christian woman falsely accused of blasphemy rep words-to-world H26. When cricket means more than just a match ... rep words-to-world H27. World update: Pakistan cricketers out of England tour rep words-to-world H28. Newspaper: Cricket player confirms corruption rep words-to-world H29. Inside Pakistan's downward spiral rep words-to-world H30. Photos of hands backed up Pearl slaying confession, report finds rep words-to-world H31. Officials: Three killed in Pakistan over alleged spy ties rep words-to-world H32. Gunfire exchanged near U.S. Consulate in Pakistan rep words-to-world H33. Violence erupts in Pakistan after politician's death rep words-to-world H34. Pakistan blast kills 7 rep words-to-world H35. Deadly Pakistan blast rep words-to-world H36. Pakistan bomb kills peace committee members, child rep words-to-world H37. Pakistani sources: Son of notorious insurgent leader is arrested rep words-to-world H38. Key Pakistani Taliban leader charged in U.S. rep words-to-world H39. Intelligence officials: Suspected drone strike kills 4 in Pakistan rep words-to-world H40. Pakistan: 5 German nationals killed in drone strike rep words-to-world H41. Suspected U.S. drones kill 13 in Pakistan rep words-to-world H42. Drone strikes kill 18 in Pakistan; supply route still blocked rep words-to-world H43. U.S. intensifies drone blitz in Pakistan, source says rep words-to-world H44. 28 oil tankers carrying fuel for NATO forces attacked rep words-to-world H45. NATO convoys attacked in Pakistan rep words-to-world H46. Convoy burns in Pakistan rep words-to-world 225

H47. Pakistan convoy attacks rep words-to-world H48. CIA contractor released after Pakistan killings rep words-to-world H49. Osama Bin Laden, the face of terror, killed in Pakistan rep words-to-world H50. Official: Bin Laden's wife injured rep words-to-world H51. U.S. troops kill Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan rep words-to-world H52. Pakistan rafts brave floods rep words-to-world H53. Flood victims find some relief on Eid rep words-to-world H54. Strike cripples Pakistan's national airline rep words-to-world H55. British journalist released in Pakistan rep words-to-world H56. Indian prime minister attempts 'cricket diplomacy' with invite rep words-to-world H57. Pakistani court denies diplomatic immunity for CIA contractor rep words-to-world H58. Pakistani judge delays hearing for jailed U.S. diplomat rep words-to-world H59. American citizen reportedly detained in Pakistan rep words-to-world H60. Pakistani judge blocks move to release U.S. consular employee rep words-to-world H61. Pakistan continues to hold U.S. diplomat rep words-to-world H62. Pakistan bans NATO supply convoys after troop deaths rep words-to-world H63. US officials say Pakistan agency backs terror fight, despite rogues rep words-to-world H64. Taliban claims responsibility for Pakistan attack rep words-to-world H65. Taliban claims responsibility in blasts at shrine in Pakistan rep words-to-world H66. Pakistani Taliban claims convoy strike, lauds performance rep words-to-world H67. Pakistani Taliban claims responsibility for suicide attack at funeral rep words-to-world H68. Blasts strike 3 schools in Pakistan; officials suspect Taliban link rep words-to-world H69. Pakistan tries to convert militants rep words-to-world H70. Source: Bin Laden considered Pakistan protection deal rep words-to-world H71. Pakistan defies U.S. court in lawsuit over Mumbai attacks rep words-to-world H72. Pakistani air strikes said to have killed civilians rep words-to-world H73. Afghan refugees victimized again rep words-to-world H74. Collision at intersection of quick fix and long haul in Afghanistan, Pakistan rep words-to-world H75. 'You're seeing a collapse in Pakistan' rep words-to-world H76. Spring will bring Taliban resurgence, top military official predicts rep words-to-world H77. Sen. Feinstein: ‘Bin Laden and his family could have lived there up to six years’ rep words-to-world H78. Inside Al Qaeda succession: Who is likely to step up rep words-to-world H79. With Pakistani visit to the U.S., a chance to ease tensions rep words-to-world H80. Pentagon optimistic about Af Pak strategy rep words-to-world H81. Hope for future floats for Pakistan rep words-to-world H82. Pakistan 'ready to explode' rep words-to-world H83. Pakistanis edge tense World Cup win rep words-to-world H84. Economic outlook dire for Pakistan flood victims rep words-to-world H85. Pervez Musharraf's comeback chances rep words-to-world H86. Nancy Grace: Evil suffers a mortal blow rep words-to-world H87. NATO official: Bin Laden in northwest Pakistan rep words-to-world H88. Obama: Quran-burning plan is 'recruitment bonanza for Al Qaeda' rep words-to-world H89. Mullen on 'epicenter of terror' rep words-to-world H90. U.S.: Only one supply route shut down by Pakistan rep words-to-world H91. Pakistani official says intel cooperation with U.S. is halted rep words-to-world H92. Official: 'Frank discussion' between US, Pakistan intelligence chiefs rep words-to-world H93. Imran Khan: Pakistan is 'going down' rep words-to-world H94. Imran Khan: 'Pakistan is imploding' rep words-to-world H95. Khan 'shocked' over cricket scandal rep words-to-world H96. Pakistan crisis a 'slow-motion tsunami,' UN chief says rep words-to-world H97. Musharraf: Obama is arrogant rep words-to-world H98. Analysis: Death may be turning point in U.S.-Pakistan relations rep words-to-world 226

H99. CNN Poll: Majority in U.S. say Bin Laden in Hell rep words-to-world H100. CNN Poll: Bin Laden killing gives Obama boost on terrorism & Afghanistan rep words-to-world H101. For U.S., Pakistan, Bin Laden death presents crisis and opportunity rep words-to-world H102. Terror threat lives beyond Bin Laden's death rep words-to-world H103. Bin Laden's death may have little impact on war, terror threat rep words-to-world H104. Analysis: Pakistan heading in the wrong direction rep words-to-world H105. New defection leaves Pakistan with minority government rep words-to-world H106. 'Domestic politics is failing itself' rep words-to-world H107. Why Pakistan is not rising up rep words-to-world H108. Tuesday Roundup: More friction in U.S.-Pakistan relations rep words-to-world H109. Why US-Pakistani relations are strained rep words-to-world H110. Pakistan's blasphemy vigilantes kill exonerated man rep words-to-world H111. Pakistani teen jailed for blasphemy in school exam rep words-to-world H112. Critic of Pakistan blasphemy law shot and killed rep words-to-world H113. Pakistani teen jailed for blasphemy, group says H114. Pakistan not aware of threats to foreign aid workers, official says rep words-to-world H115. Pakistan's flood victims give USAID chief an earful rep words-to-world H116. Pakistan waits for help; little comes rep words-to-world H117. Key senator lashes out at Pakistan government rep words-to-world H118. Pakistan level series as 'fixing' row escalates rep words-to-world H119. Soldiers mistakenly kill themselves in Pakistan rep words-to-world H120. Musharraf defends Pakistan's record against terrorism rep words-to-world H121. Many questions, few answers on how much Pakistan knew about Bin Laden rep words-to-world H122. How did Bin Laden hide just yards from Pakistan military academy? rep words-to-world H123. U.S.-born Al Qaeda spokesman slams Pakistan, Afghanistan in video rep words-to-world H124. Cross-border campaign report questioned by NATO, Pakistani diplomat rep words-to-world H125. Analysis: NATO points finger at Pakistan rep words-to-world H126. 'Better coordination' could have averted Pakistani deaths, panel says rep words-to-world H127. White House report critical of Pakistan's activity against militants rep words-to-world H128. Obama: Pakistan slow in fighting terror rep words-to-world H129. Pakistan parties protest possible blasphemy law changes rep words-to-world H130. Pakistan elite silent after Taseer assassination rep words-to-world H131. Opinion: For Muslims, a reason to rejoice rep words-to-world H132. Obama watched live video of Bin Laden raid, U.S. official says rep words-to-world H133. 5 reasons Abbottabad was a great hideout rep words-to-world H134. Muslim world had soured on Bin Laden since 9/11 rep words-to-world H135. Mullen says Af Pak review shows U.S. on 'right track' rep words-to-world H136. Police: American in Pakistan kills 2 after robbery attempt rep words-to-world H137. Records: 'Blood money' paid to kin of Pakistanis killed by U.S. man rep words-to-world H138. Taliban strongholds in Pakistan shelled; 21 militants reported killed rep words-to-world H139. Pakistani Taliban leader targeted by U.S has long, ruthless record rep words-to-world H140. Officials: Three killed in Pakistan over alleged spy ties rep words-to-world H141. Can tennis pair pave way to India-Pakistan harmony? rep words-to-world H142. Can Cricket World Cup improve India-Pakistan ties? rep words-to-world H143. Assassin or hero? Pakistan's great divide over killer of governor rep words-to-world H144. Is Pakistan a divided country? rep words-to-world H145. Are Pakistan's nukes safe? rep words-to-world H146. Can U.S. trust Pakistan? rep words-to-world H147. Can cricket survive in Pakistan? rep words-to-world H148. Is Pakistan protecting Bin Laden? rep words-to-world H149. For America, a moment rep words-to-world H150. President Obama's 'gutsy' decision rep words-to-world 227

H151. A sleepy Pakistani city awakes to violence, a unique place in history rep words-to-world H152. Navy SEALs, the 'quiet professionals,' got Bin Laden rep words-to-world H153. Pakistan's humanitarian hot zone rep words-to-world H154. Pakistan: A flood of tears rep words-to-world H155. China's premier arrives in Pakistan bearing gifts rep words-to-world H156. Break for the border: Indo-Pakistan tennis duo's dream for peace rep words-to-world H157. Aid flights evacuate Pakistan flood survivors exp None H158. Medical 'A-Team' aids flood victims exp None H159. U.S. Treasury targets Pakistani militants exp None H160. Sources: U.S. finalizing aid package to help Pakistan fight extremists exp None H161. Obama approves funds to Pakistan as flood crisis escalates exp None H162. Aiding Pakistan's flood victims exp None H163. U.S. helping Pakistan flood victims exp None H164. Makeshift rafts bring aid to Pakistanis exp None H165. How U.S. Marines help flood victims exp None H166. U.S. wins by helping Pakistan stabilize exp None H167. Covering the devastation in Pakistan exp None H168. India offers 'hands of our friendship' to Pakistan exp None H169. Mullen issues regrets over deadly strike in Pakistan exp None H170. U.S. aid official calls threats to flood workers 'deeply saddening' exp None H171. Pakistan condemns suspected drone strike that killed six exp None H172. Pakistani leaders condemn suspected U.S. drone strike exp None H173. Pakistan flood victims mourned exp None H174. Pakistan flooding is focus of second purported Bin Laden message dir world-to-words H175. U.S. officials: Bin Laden urging Al Qaeda affiliates to act dir world-to-words H176. Purported Bin Laden message urges support for flood victims dir world-to-words H177. Pakistan kidnappings highlight dangers for religious minorities dir world-to-words H178. Pakistan: Nuclear power in chaos dir world-to-words H179. Taliban resurgence feared in flood zones dir world-to-words H180. Embassy cautions Americans in Pakistan dir world-to-words H181. Kerry: Pakistan to return tail of chopper used in Bin Laden raid dir world-to-words H182. Obama urges Pakistan to free jailed U.S. Embassy employee dir world-to-words H183. U.S. presses for release of diplomat accused in Pakistan shooting dir world-to-words H184. Don't pardon Christian woman, Pakistan Muslim leaders demand dir world-to-words H185. Don't burn Qurans, U.S. embassy in Pakistan urges church dir world-to-words H186. Source: U.S. needs permission to interview Bin Laden wives dir world-to-words H187. Bergen: Time to move on from war on terror dir world-to-words H188. Minister: Pakistan won't move on Taliban stronghold until ready com world-to-words H189. Pakistan threatens action over NATO incursions com world-to-words H190. Obama: U.S. would go after other high-profile targets in Pakistan com world-to-words H191. Obama won't release Bin Laden photos, White House says com world-to-words H192. Report: Afghanistan, Turkey and Pakistan to hold military drills com world-to-words H193. Musharraf jumps back into Pakistani politics com world-to-words H194. Pakistan's Musharraf ramps up for apparent presidential run com world-to-words H195. Yuvraj books Pakistan clash as holders Australia crash out to India com world-to-words H196. Pakistan crush West Indies to reach World Cup semifinals com world-to-words H197. India and Pakistan team up for tennis com world-to-words H198. Pakistan announces test of medium-range ballistic missile com world-to-words H199. The Taliban in Pakistan: We've got a bigger problem now com world-to-words H200. India, Pakistan pledge counterterrorism hotline com world-to-words