Perlocutionary Effects in Religious Language of Friday Congregational Prayers’ Sermons

Abstract

This research analyses the Discourse of Friday Congregational Prayers’ Sermons to investigate perlocutionary act in the Speech Acts Theory as propounded by Austin (1962) and Searle (1969). This is to determine the extent to which the presenter of the sermons adheres to the rules of the linguistic features and how that helps in the audience’s perception of the sermons. The findings of the study show that the theory of perlocutionary act was not adequately followed as the speaker’s intent does not bring about felicity of the discourse. Rather, the speaker succeeded in relying on scriptural quotations to lure the congregation into accepting his prospects.