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TO THE PROBLEM OF THE DESCRIPTION OF INTERJECTIONS IN THE LIGHT OF THE THEORY OF SPEECH ACTS // Tomsk State Pedagogical University Bulletin. 2017. Issue 3 (180). P. 42-46

The paper considers interjections in the framework of the theory of speech acts. Different approaches of foreign linguists to the description of the illoсutionary purpose in interjection’s utterances are analyzed. The ideas of Anna Wierzbicka about the absence of illocutionary purpose in this type of utterances as consequence of their spontaneity was criticized by D. Wilkins and T. Wharton. These researchers adduce arguments in favor of illocution’s presence in interjections and argue that the extent of illocution varies from interjection to interjection, depending on the degree of it’s linguistics or paralinguistics. On the basis of discursive analyses data I argue that above-mentioned regularity contradicts the obvious language facts. The first fact is that the same interjection can be used in various types of speech acts, and another one is that the subclass of volitive interjections has an evident illocutionary purpose in spite of its strong extent of paralinguistics. In this paper I propose new solution to the interpretation of interjections within the speech acts theory, which is based on the understanding that non-controversial description of interjections can be achieved on the base of recognition of their interactional character. An interactional character is understood in this case as subject-subject or object-subject forms of speech behavior which take place at the moment of interjections uttering. Such approach allows to overcome the restrictions of numeral interpretative theories which are relevant only for prototypical emotive interjections. The understanding of interactional nature of interjections speech acts allows us to elaborate the theory that can be used as theoretical basis for all subclasses of interjections. Under this approach all types of interjections could be qualified as behabitives that had been characterized by J. Searle as reactions to behavior of other people. Within the offered classification there is a need of a reinterpretation of the term “behabitives”. This category has to be expanded from traditional etiquette speech acts to all types of utterances containing emotive and volitive interjections.

Keywords: interjections, speech acts theory, illocutionary purpose, expressive speech acts, behabitives, emotive interjections