A speech act analysis of Harvey Specter’s conversation with the male characters in Suits
Speech acts are the most basic element of linguistic study to communicate effectively since it conveys the true intention of a word or a message to the listener. Speech acts are also crucial parts in communication since it becomes the connector between the speaker and the listener. Speech acts help listeners understand and interpret the intended meaning of utterance. This research mainly focuses on three types of speech acts; locutionary, illocutionary which will be divided into another five types according to Searle (1969) which are assertive, commissive, declarative, expressive, directive and, perlocutionary of every utterance spoken by Harvey Specter as the main character to selected characters called Louis Litt and Mike Ross in a Netflix series called Suits. The research data is obtained through a qualitative method. In Harvey Specter’s utterances to both male characters, all the three types of speech acts, locution, illocution, and perlocution, are found.