Decoding the wordplay: Speech act analysis of headlines predicting the future

Authors

  • Dr. Mian Shah Bacha
  • Dr. Rabiah Rustam

Keywords:

Pragmatic markers, , Speech acts, CNN, Pakistan

Abstract

Present article attempts to analyze the role of the pragmatic markers or illocutionary force indicating devices in the speech acts of prediction. The headlines play a significant role in making a news story readable and approaching large number of audience. The headlines used in the present article were taken from CNN website. These headlines cover a variety of stories related with Pakistan. As the headlines communicate more than what is said they have been treated as speech acts. Searle (1969) defines speech act as a minimum unit of communication which is illocutionary in nature and creates an impact on the mind of the reader. Keeping, this definition in view, the headlines are speech acts that affect the readers. Current study is limited to the headlines that are related to prediction or forecasting the future state of affairs.The detailed analysis of the speech acts finds that the interpretation of the headlines depends on the language devices which help in shaping the illocutionary functions of the speech acts in collaboration with the context. It has also been found that the headlines use negative words more often than the positive ones in an attempt to take the reeaders to the detailed stories.

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Published

2021-07-15

How to Cite

Dr. Mian Shah Bacha, & Dr. Rabiah Rustam. (2021). Decoding the wordplay: Speech act analysis of headlines predicting the future. Journal of Peace, Development and Communication, 5(1), 303-314. Retrieved from http://pdfpk.net/ojs/index.php/jpdc/article/view/188