EXPLORING THE ROLES OF ILLOCUTIONARY ACTS IN COMMUNICATION: A STUDY OF GOVERNOR CHARLES SOLUDO INAUGURAL SPEECH IN ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

This paper investigated the role of illocutionary acts in
communication with particular reference to the inaugural
speech of His Excellency, Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo
to the citizens of Anambra State on 17th March, 2022 at the
Government House Agu –Awka, Anambra State. The study
employed Searle’s (1969) Taxanomy of illocutionary acts and
Grice Cooperative Principles to unravel the underlying meaning
of the illocutionary acts embedded in the speech. The objectives
of the study are to identify the illocutionary acts used in the
speech, to explain the meaning of the illocutionary acts used by
the governor in his speech and to ascertain whether the
governor’s speech obeyed Grice Cooperative Principles.Findings
reveal that the five illocutionary acts postulated by Searle were
manifest in the speech viz… Expressive 12%, Assertive 19%,
Directive 27%, Declaratives 6%, with Commissives ranking the
highest with the frequency of 62 and 36%. The findings, among
other things, show that the governor deployed language tactically
and strategically to effectively enlighten, persuade, admonish,
encourage, appeal, reassure, inspire, persuade, express his
psychological state and to convince the people to accept his
propositions.