speech-act Vs speech act

[nimsooze]

As you know we see this term in two forms: with a dash and without it . Is there any difference between these two ?In general , is it true that the overall meaning in the structures like "speech-act" is somehow equally deduced from the each part 's meaning ? is the overal meaning in this structure the sum up of two part?

[Anglika]

There is no difference in meaning - without specific examples I suspect the hyphenated version [speech-act] is where the phrase is being used adjectively:

Speech-act theory and its critiques are often articulated...

Is the overall meaning in this structure the sum of its two parts? I think the answer is yes.