跨文化言语交际的哲学基础——言语行为理论

言语行为指人们为实现交际目的而在具体的语境中使用语言的行为，是语用学研究中的重要领域，也是语言学家和哲学家共同关注的一个重要课题。它包括语言和行为两个部分。哲学家从行为研究到语言，重点是行为。语言学家从语言到行为，重点在语言。人们的言语交际是通过实施言语行为而完成的。只有正确领会言语行为所体现的说话人的意图即言外之力，受话者才能做出恰当的回应，从而顺利完成交际活动。而准确理解言语行为，尤其是在跨文化交际的语境下的言语交际行为，则需要言语行为理论作指导。本文将尝试从语言哲学视角对跨文化交际领域中的言语行为进行分析，并剖析和探索西方语言哲学研究成果 （特别是言语行为理论）对跨文化交际活动的指导作用

The Philosophical Basis of Cross-Cultural Verbal Communication: Speech Act Theory

Verbal behavior is the means which is used in concrete context to realize communicative purpose. And Speech Act Theory taking verbal behavior as its research subject, focuses on the deeds accomplished via uttering certain remarks and is one of the well-established and important fields of pragmatics, which holds the attention of both linguists and philosophers. Two parts involved in the theory are ＂speech＂ and ＂act＂, with linguists focusing on the former and philosophers on the latter respectively. Since 1953 it has been a commonly accepted assumption in English and American linguistic philosophy that speeches function as rule-governed acts. English philosopher Austin is a path-breaker in this aspect for the Speech Act Theory he put forward, which is a significant breakthrough in pragmatics. The gist of the theory is that in uttering sentences, one is also doing things. According to Austin, there are three senses in which in saying something one is doing something; hence three kinds of acts are simultaneously acted. An American philosopher John Searle, also a student of Austin, holds Austin＇s Speech Act Theory only critically, and he revised it, and this theory becomes one of the core theories in pragmaties. Both Austin and Searle attach great importance to the understanding of the speaker＇s intention or force, for listeners can respond in an expectant manner only when he understands the intention or the force expressed through the illocutionary act performed by the speaker concerned. To achieve this, people involved in verbal communication, especially in cross-cultural context, should be armed with the knowledge of Speech Act Theory. Therefore, the paper makes a tentative endeavorto analyze speech acts in cross-cultural context from the perspective of linguistic philosophy and explore the steering function of the western research findings in linguistic philosophy, Speech Act Theory in particular, in cross-cultural communicative activities.