Who Invented Performative Utterance?

The term derives from the founding work in speech act theory by ordinary language philosopher J. L. Austin. In the 1950s, Austin gave the name performative utterances to situations where saying something was doing something, rather than simply reporting on or describing reality.

Who introduced the concept of performative utterances?

The term "Performative" was introduced by John Langshaw Austin (1911 - 1960) in his philosophical lectures How to do things with words (1962), which was published two years after his death.

Who is John langshaw Austin speech act theory?

Austin was the creator of speech act theory: He made clear that by saying something we do perform an action or just state things. He also stated that there are differences in perceiving a speech act by differentiating a speech act into locution, illocution and perlocution.

Sarah Jenkins

Sarah Jenkins

Senior Technology Editor & AI Specialist

Sarah Jenkins is a veteran tech journalist with over 12 years of experience covering artificial intelligence, mobile innovations, and digital ethics. Her insights have appeared in leading technology publications worldwide.