Direct vs. indirect speech
In many languages, including English, speakers have two different ways of reporting the words of another person. A DIRECT QUOTE contains (at least in theory) the exact words spoken by the other person, embedded in a simple clause (the QUOTE FORMULA) such as “John said . . .” An INDIRECT QUOTE expresses the content of what was said, but not the speaker’s exact words. The following examples illustrate the difference between direct and indirect statements, questions, and commands.
(20) Direct quotation:
a John said, “I do not want this kind of ice cream.”
b Mary asked, “Can you help me?”
c Father asked Mother, “Who has been calling me?”
d Mother told John, “Stop pinching that elephant!”
(21) a Indirect statement:
John said (that) he did not want that kind of ice cream.
b Indirect Yes–No question:
Mary asked whether I could help her.
c Indirect content question:
Father asked Mother who had been calling him.
d Indirect command:
Mother told John to stop pinching the elephant.
In comparing the direct quotes in (20) with the corresponding indirect quotes in (21), we immediately notice changes in several kinds of words: pronouns (first person replaced by third person and second person replaced by first person); verbs (present tense becomes past tense); and other deictic elements (this changes to that, here to there, etc.). The seemingly complex “sequence of tenses” which is often memorized by students of English as a foreign language is just one part of this wider pattern of changes.
We can explain all of these changes in terms of the shift in pragmatic REFERENCE POINT which occurs in indirect speech. In a direct quote, the reference point is the time and place of the original (reported) speech event, and the point of view is that of the original speaker (John in (20a), Mary in (20b), etc.) .In an indirect quote, the reference point is the time and place of the second speech event (the one which reports the first),and the point of view is that of the second speaker (the one doing the reporting). So, all of the deictic elements (those which refer to something in the speech context) must be adjusted to fit the new reference point.
