摘要

言语行为理论反映人们使用和理解语言的客观规律。根据该理论，说话者说话时可能同时实施三种行为：言内行为，言外行为和言后行为。本文将语言学家塞尔（Searle）的言语行为理论为框架，以查尔斯•狄更斯（Charles Dickens）的《雾都孤儿》为文本，对小说的人物对话进行细致分析，着重从阐述类、指令类、承诺类、表达类和宣告类这五种言语行为类型来解读小说人物的个性特征及其思想活动，让读者了解经典文学作品的魅力，并进一步验证言语行为理论可以给文学作品的解读提供崭新的视角。

关键词：言语行为理论；言语行为类型；雾都孤儿；人物对话

Abstract

Speech Acts are basic functional units to convey speakers’ meanings. According to the Speech Act theory, speakers may implement three levels of acts: locutionary act, illocutionary act and perlocutionary act at the same time when they are talking with each other. Based on Searle’s Speech Act theory，this paper explicitly analyzes the relevant conversations in Oliver Twist as Representatives , Directives, Commissives, Expressives and Declarations. These five types of Speech Acts are applied to the interpretation of characters’ personality characteristics and their thoughts so as to make readers realize the charm of the novel. What is more, this study also gives a glimpse of how conversations facilitate the portrait of characters in the novel.

Key words: speech act theory；five types of speech acts；Oliver Twist; conversations

1．Introduction
After 50 years’ development, speech act theory has become one of the most important theories in the field of pragmatics. The theory was put forward by British philosopher J.Austin in 1955 and has been developed by American philosopher John R. Searle in 1975. They all believe that language is not only used to inform or to describe things. It is often used to “do things” or to perform acts. “Speech act theory works from assumption that the minimal unit of human communication is not a sentence or other expression, but rather the performance of certain kind of acts, such as making a statement, asking a questing or giving an order.” (Yeo&Geoffrey,2010：95-96). People can implement one or more of speech acts when we are speaking or writing. The basic idea of the theory can be reduced to “do things with words”. The way we talk can be direct, indirect or implicit. Speech acts are basic functional units to convey the speakers’ meanings.