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Speech-act poem

Concept
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A poem that performs an action through its utterance, per speech-act theory

Detailed Definition
A speech-act poem is one that functions as a performative utterance—where the act of speaking enacts a change in reality, such as a vow, curse, blessing, or declaration—rather than merely describing or reflecting; drawing on J.L. Austin’s theory, such poems derive power from their illocutionary force, making language itself an agent of transformation within the poem’s world.
Example
Example in poetry:
Shakespeare’s sonnets perform courtship as speech acts; Hughes’ “Harlem” (“What happens to a dream deferred?”) enacts social questioning; Plath’s “Daddy” performs exorcism through address; Auden’s “Funeral Blues” (“Stop all the clocks”) enacts public mourning as command.
Additional Notes
A speech-act poem performs an action through its language—such as apologizing, declaring, or invoking—making the utterance itself the poem’s primary function.
Also Known As
Performative utterance poem linguistic act verse functional speech poem pragmatic poetry Illocutionary poem
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