Preface; Acknowledgments; List of Figures; Chapter 1 Situations and Speech Acts 1.0. Introduction 1. Situations and Situation-Types 1.2 Discourse Situations 1.3 Speech Acts 1.4 Desiderata for a theory of Speech Acts; Chapter 2 Speech Acts Types 2.0. Introduction 2.1. Effect and Intentionality 2.2. Moves in Discourse Situations 2.3. Some Speech Act Types; Chapter 3 A Theory of Speech Act Interpretation 3.0. Introduction 3.1. Interpretive Constituents 3.2. Illocutionary Mode functions 3.3 Reconciliation with Context 3.4. Matching Types and Implementing Choices; Chapter 4 Speech Acts, Meaning, and Truth 4.0. Introduction 4.1. Orientation in the World 4.2. Assertion and Truth 4.3. Questions and Responses 4.4. Lies; Chapter 5 Summary and Evaluation 5.0. Introduction 5.1. The Thesis Summarized 5.2. The thesis Evaluated 5.3. Directions for Future Research; Notes; Bibliography; Appendix A; Definitions of Concepts; Appendix B: The Speech Act Types; Appendix C: The Formal Apparatus