Acts that commit the speaker to future action, like promising or vowing.
Meaning is determined by a sentence's potential to play the role a speaker intended.
The broader framework of speech-act theory, which Alston refines, identifies three distinct layers of an utterance: Illocutionary Acts and Sentence Meaning
Acts like stating, describing, or predicting that something is the case.
Illocutionary Acts and Sentence Meaning by William P. Alston Acts that commit the speaker to future action,
In his seminal work , philosopher William P. Alston argues that the meaning of a sentence is fundamentally rooted in its illocutionary act potential . He defines an illocutionary act as the act of saying something with a specific "content," such as a request, an assertion, or a promise. The Core Theory: Sentence Meaning as Potential
Alston expands on the work of J.L. Austin and John Searle, categorizing illocutionary acts into five primary types: Illocutionary Acts and Sentence Meaning by William P
Utterances that express a psychological state, such as apologizing or congratulating.