Reporting The Language Of Others I.
Reporting The Language Of Others I.
The clearest modes in which language may be reported are introduced by a reporting clause.
1. Referring to the speaker and the act of communication.
2. And can refer to the person spoken to.
3. The manner of speaking.
4. The circumstances of the act.
1. Primary modes of reporting: direct and indirect speech when a reporting clause introduces the report. (refers to the utterance itself)
2. Secondary modes related to the prim. modes of reporting are free indirect speech and direct speech. In sec. modes there is no reporting clause, the act of communication is signalled by shifts in the tense form of verbs.
3. The report can be representation of mental act. (internal communication) which is unspoken. Should I tell them now I thought to myself.
Direct speech: Gives the exact words of sy. They are enclosed in quotation marks. The medial position of reporting clause is frequent. Subject verb inversionmay occur if the verb is in the simp. present or in the simp. past. Inversion is most common when the verb is SAID. The subject of a reporting clause should not be pronoun. It sounds archaic. D. S. may extend over many sentence. The rep. clause in this case is in the first sentence. Reported clauses are omitted in fiction writing when the identity of the speaker is obvious, or in playsn in formal reports.
The structural relation between the reporting and direct speech:
1. Direct speech responses to a what question.
2. We can make it the subject complement in pseudo-cleft constructions.
3.The reporting clause is is an obligatory part of the firs clause in that coordination would otherwise not be possible.
4. Reporting clause as subordinate function as an adverbial. Can be positioned variously and can be omitted.
5. The direct speech clause behaves like a main clause in that it can for example be a question or a directive. The reporting clause behaves likewise.
6. Subject and verb are separated from the object by a comma. Gradient: How much is the direct speech inegrated into the structure. Extreme: direct speech without a reporting clause.
7. Reportng verbs with say: add, admit, announce, explain. The ones indicating the manner of speaking: murmur, mutter.
Indirect speech: Conveys the words of a subsequent reporter, what has been said before. These form a that clause. Reporting verbs that are used with indirect speech include those that are frequently used with direct speech. Verbs of speaking and thinking. A reporter usin indirect speech may summarize. Changes in wording becouse of the situation. Tense form of the verb, time references, place references, personal pronouns, demonstratives.
Backshift in indirect speech: The reporting verb may be in the present tense for communications for recent past time. The present tense is also used for report attributed to famous works or authors, which have present validity. The choice of verb form in the reported clause depends on the time reference of the verb. Verbs of cognition may also be used in the present tense. When the time reference is of the original utterance no longer applies at the time that the uttereance is reported it is often necessary to change the tense forms of the verbs. Such a change of verb forms in indirect speech is named backshift. The resulting relationship of verb forms in the reporting and reported clauses is known as the sequence of tenses. Present-past, Past-past or past perfective, Present perfective and past perfective-past perfective. Backshift is optional when the time reference of the original utterance is valid at the time of the reported utterance. The appropriateness of the present forms depends on their reference at the time of the reported utterance. If a long time had elapsed between the original utterance reported or there was doubt as to as to its present validity, the past perfective would be used. Backshift is normal if the proposition in the indirect speech is considered to be false.