Abstract:The speech act theory which was first introduced by Austin tells people how to do things with words. And the application of the speech act theory can be seen around us everyday in everywhere. In the book How to Do Things with Words, Austin argued that three kinds of acts are performed while people speak, locutionary acts, illocutionary acts, and perlocutinoary acts. And illocutionary act has always been the most significant among them because it indicates what the speaker really means in his utterance. This paper is aimed to help people to get to know how illocutionary act is taken into effect in our daily lives. The analysis of the act is based on Lie to me, a very popular American TV drama.  It will be divided into three parts. The first parts will focus on the introduction of the speech act theory. The second part will illustrate the significance of the illocutionary act and the last part will present a further analysis within the framework of Searle’s taxonomy, i.e. assertives, directives, comissives, expressives, and declarations. With the analysis of the conversations in Lie to Me, this paper will help readers to get a better understanding of how the speaker attempts to express himself with illocutionary acts under various situations.

Key words: analysis, speech act theory, illocutionary acts

摘要:Austin的言语行为理论认为人们是以言行事的。言语行为理论的使用在我们日常生活中随处可见。Austin在《如何以言行事》一书中提出，人在说话的同时完成三种行为，即说话行为、施事行为和取效行为。其中，施事行为是说话人所说话中的隐含意思。它可以说是言语行为理论中最重要的理论，也是中外学者一直以来重点研究的课题。本文将对近期备受关注的美剧《千谎百计》的剧本进行分析，分为为三个部分。第一部分简要介绍言语行为理论。第二部分论述言外行为在言语行为理论中的重要地位。第三部分根据Searle对言外行为的五种分类，分别分析各类言外行为在《千谎百计》中的具体体现。通过理论与剧本中实际例子的结合，本文旨在使读者了解不同言外行为在日常生活中的应用，体会言外行为在不同环境下产生的不同效果。

关键词： 分析 言语行为 言外行为