A Descriptive Course of English Grammar (Part 3)
Lecture Five. Speech Representation
An Outline of the present Lecture
1. A gist of the present lecture
2. Speech representation and its applied character
2.1. Direct reports
2.2. Indirect reports
2.3. Other ways of reporting
3. Reporting verbs
4. Punctuation
5. Tense and aspect in reporting verbs
6. Viewpoint and changes in deictic expressions
7. Tense backshift and the sequence of tenses
8. A summary and the student's gain
1. The gist of the present lecture. The basic grammar rules and restrictions in reported speech, which is a result of speech representation when someone's words have to be reported and definite formal changes made in them, are summed up in this lecture. The context of reference is basically spoken English.
2. Speech representation and its applied character. Speech communication is not always immediate. It often happens that someone else's words have to be quoted, reproduced and passed on. Someone's paper might require a brief introduction or a review. What happens in all these cases is speech reporting or representation. “Representations of speech are ways of reporting one's own or another person's speech.” (CGE, 804: 488). A discussion of this topic takes an applied rather than a purely descriptive point of view. Like in Lecture Nine on word order and focus, the present discussion draws on what is known to the students of English syntax descriptively and explains how the content of direct speech is reproduced eliminating the speaker as it were. Speech representation has two forms, those of direct reports and indirect reports.
2.1. Direct reports mean an exact representation of the words spoken by someone. That is why the words spoken are quoted as direct speech, which becomes a reported clause. The words which introduce the quotation (a reported clause) and indicate the form of the speech act by such words as ask, say, demand, shout, tell , etc. are called a reporting clause. The reported clause represents “the exact words someone used … at the moment of speaking”. The reported clause in direct reports is separated by a comma from the reporting clause. The quoted words are given in single or double inverted commas. E.g.: (1) She said, (a reporting clause) “What shall I do?” (a reported clause).
(2) “Where are you going?”(a reported clause) he asked (a reporting clause). (CGE, 804: 488).
2.2. Indirect reports are a slightly transformed representation of someone's words, i.e. converted from direct into indirect form. Indirect reports consist of a reporting clause, which is the main clause, as a rule, in a report, and of a reported clause, “which is more fully integrated as the object of the reporting verb and not usually separated by punctuation.” The reported clause reflects quite exactly the original utterance. E.g.: (3) I told him I hadn't seen it. (= a reporting statement, involving that-clause with zero-that).Questions, exclamations and directives can also be reported. E.g.:
(4) She asked who we'd been talking to. (a wh-question reported)
(5) She remarked what a beautiful house it was. (an exclamation reported)
(6) She took his hand and asked whether he had slept. (a polar (yes-no) question reported)
(7) I asked her if she was full-time or just part-time. (an alternative question reported)
(8) I told you to phone her up. (9) The doctor ordered him to rest for at least a month. (directives
reported) (CGE, 804-805: 488)
In indirect reporting, numerous changes take place in the grammar of the utterances reported. Pronouns, tenses, clause types and other components change to reflect the verbal expression of the original words at the moment of speaking. The directly reported utterance in example (1) (She said, “What shall I do?”) above would become, She asked what she should do, in an indirect report.
The changes that have taken place in an indirect report include the following: 1) I has become she; 2) Shall has become should “to reflect the time lapse since the words were uttered”, and to observe the sequence of tenses in the reported clause; 3) “The interrogative clause has become declarative as the clause is now an indirect report and is no longer a direct question; 4) Said has become asked as a question is being reported.” Example (2) above would undergo similar changes in indirect reporting and would turn into the following: He asked where I was / we were / they were going. (CGE, 805: 488).
2.3. Other ways of reporting. In direct reports, the report aims to recreate the original speaker's exact words. In indirect reports, this is not always observed. It suffices to report the content of what the speaker had said. The common words that introduce the reported words both in direct and in indirect reporting are such verbs as ask, say and tell. “There are also other, more indirect ways in which people's speech can be reported, by using nouns such as argument, comment, complaint, observation, remark to refer to someone's words, or by quoting them, especially the words of famous people: (10) I didn't like his comment that we were spending too much money. (11) Well their biggest complaint was that the room was too small. (CGE, 805: 488)
It is obvious that reporting is somewhat biased (= stronniczy) when such evaluative (= oceniacny) words are used in reporting clauses. Many speakers, including journalists, though, tend to use verbs which are not absolutely neutral in speech reporting.
3. Reporting verbs. What has been said so far invites a comment on reporting verbs. In direct reports, the verb say in its past tense form said is the most frequent reporting verb in everyday spoken English: (12) `So you're too busy for me,' he said. `I feared it had come to that.'
Say and tell are also the most frequent verbs in indirect reporting in everyday spoken English: (13) And after a moment he said that he had been there before. (14) Mrs Johnson told her that Robert had joined the army. In informal English, ask is a frequent verb in indirect reports: (15) They asked me what I thought about the food. But in direct reports, ask is used only in written fictional styles, as a rule: (16) `Will you not tell me the truth now?' he asked. (CGE, 806: 489)
IMPORTANT! There are semantic and structural restrictions on the use of the verbs say and tell in speech reports, and these verbs are not interchangeable. Say focuses on the words someone said (17) `Hello,' she said.) and can introduce direct reports (18)He said, `I'm not paying 50 pounds for that.'). Tell is not used this way. Tell focuses on the content of what was said and tends to report the result of someone's words as it were (19) She told him they were going on holiday.).
Different rules of complementation apply to the use of say and tell. Say is often used as a single unit like in examples (17 & 18) above. Say can also be used with an optional prepositional complement and an object, which, in speech reporting, is the reported clause: (20) I said to her, `When I'm ready I'll tell you.' The prepositional complement is often omitted, as in: (21) She said she didn't know anything about it.
Tell can be used with an indirect object to refer to the person addressed while reporting, while the reported clause appears as a direct object: (22) And then they told us we had to do it.
It is possible to specify a speech act by using specific verbs in the reporting clause. These verbs are quite numerous. They include: add, admit, agree, argue, assert, claim, comment, complain, confirm, continue, deny, explain, hint, inform, maintain, note, observe, offer, plead, point out, repeat, state, suggest and others. These verbs introduce indirect reports, as a rule. E.g.: (23) We warned them we were doing it in advance. (24) I pointed out yesterday that sales so far this year are down. (CGE, 817: 499)
It is also possible to introduce speech reports by nouns. Nouns used in this way include: advice, answer, claim, comment, complain, explanation, observation, remark, response, statement, suggestion and others. These nouns may be used in direct and indirect reports. “The noun may be the subject of a clause with be, with the reported clause as complement.” E.g.: (25) And the answer's probably, `No, we wouldn't.' (26) His explanation was that he didn't have time to inform them. “The report may be the complement of the reporting noun: (27) The excuse that the computer was down was a bit weak.” (CGE, 815: 497)
4. Punctuation in speech reporting varies. The typical use of punctuation has been employed in the examples above: direct speech is enclosed in single or double inverted commas and separated from a reporting clause by a comma. The reported direct speech begins with a capital letter, as in the examples above. “Where a reported sentence is interrupted …, the continuation of the report does not have a capital letter: (28) `Okay, come on Pat,' she said, `let's go and have some tea.'”A colon (= dwukropek) is also used to separate the reporting and reported clause, especially in quotations and in written English: (29) He said: `If we want to maintain our global role, we must be a leading player in Europe.' (CGE, 807: 490a)
IMPORTANT: When the reporting clause comes first in indirect speech, it is not separated from the reported clause by a comma (! No comma before that !): (30) The captain simply said that his cargo (= ladunek) was licensed. “When the reporting clause is in end position, which is a rarer case in English, a comma is used to separate the clauses: (31) It had been painted with love, he said.
Questions do not have question marks in indirect reports: (32) So people complained and asked him why we were waiting. (CGE, 808: 490b)
5. Tense and aspect in reporting verbs. The past simple tense is the most frequent tense in direct and indirect reports, in spoken and written contexts: (33) `Well,' he said, `you're not 21.' (34) They said that was exactly what they wanted. The present simple may be used in indirect speech reports “if the reported speech is seen as always true or relevant: (35) He's saying it was a Head Office decision…. The past progressive is frequent in indirect reports in spoken language: (36) He was suggesting I should travel. (37) Don was telling me the Magdeburg students have lectures at seven o'clock in the morning. “ (CGE, 809: 492a-d)
6. Viewpoint and changes in deictic expressions in speech reporting. Deictic expressions are words and expressions that are related to the immediate external situation in which something was spoken. They include adverbs of time (today, ago, etc.), place indexes (here, this shop, etc.), personal pronouns (I, you) and tenses. Deictic meanings are relative (= wzgledny) and undergo changes in indirect speech reports. I may become he, she, you may become they, now - then, today - that day, tomorrow - the next day, here - there, etc.
Depending on the speaker's viewpoint, tenses may be chosen to reflect his viewpoint. For example, a direct utterance `I've read Tony's book and I don't understand it' may have the following transformations and express different shades of meaning:
a) Jim says (now) he's read Tony's book and didn't understand it. (then, while he was reading)
b) Jim said (then) he's read Tony's book (now) and didn't understand it. (then)
c) Jim said (then) he'd read Tony's book (then) and doesn't understand it. (now)
d) Jim said (then) he'd read Tony's book (then) and didn't understand it. (then)
(Alexander, 1992, 293.15.15)
It is possible to use the present simple in the reported clause which follows a reporting clause with a verb in the past simple: (38) Copernicus concluded that the earth goes round the sun. However, minding the rule of the sequence of tenses that the present tense should not follow the past tense, it is possible to say, (39) Copernicus concluded that the earth went round the sun. If this rule is applied too rigidly with factual statements, a change in tense can lead to ambiguity. Cf.: (40) He told me he works as a builder. (at present) (41) He told me he worked as a builder. (at present or in the past?) (Alexander, 1992, 293: 15.16)
7. Tense backshift and the sequence of tenses. “When the direct report is perceived as referring to the past, the tense in the reported clause usually changes to a past form of the tense of the original speech. This process is known as tense backshift” and it causes the use of the sequence of tenses. E.g.:
(42) `Robert is a member of the Association,' Mrs Johnson said to her.
(42a) Mrs Johnson told her that Robert was a member of the Association.
(43) He said , `I'm just leaving for the airport.
(43a) He said he was just leaving for the airport.
(44) She said, `We've lived here fifteen years and we've never met him.'
(44a) She said they had lived there fifteen years and they had never met him.
(45) `I will go,' he said.
(45a) He said he would go. (CGE, 811: 493b)
If there is no obvious ambiguity like in example (41) above, tense backshift should be observed in indirect speech reporting.
Speech reporting is widely used. It occurs in interpreting direct speech, in oral reporting, in reporting everyday conversation, in passing on instructions, in giving the gist of a lecture and in written reporting. With its currency so wide, speech reporting should be accurate. “Consistency in such matters as the sequence of tenses is therefore carefully maintained, particularly in formal reporting.” (Alexander, 1992, 297-298).
8. A summary of the present lecture and the student's gain.
The basic grammar rules and restrictions in reported speech, which is a result of speech representation when someone's words are reported and definite formal changes are made in them, are summed up in this lecture. Before focusing on the formal rules in speech representation, this phenomenon, and its ways (direct reports = a precise representation of someone's words; indirect reports = a formally altered representation of someone's words and other indirect reports = a formally altered representation of someone's words accompanied by commenting verbs) are defined. While describing how reporting verbs are used, the most frequent verbs say and tell are in focus; their use is obvious, but their subtle semantic differences, respective grammatical restrictions and punctuation have been recorded as these are often overlooked by foreign students. Reporting verbs specifying the speech act and the nouns in this function have also been recorded. The note on punctuation is identical with the rules that apply in the punctuation of direct speech in English.
As the past tenses dominate in reported speech in English, only the use of the present simple is added in the introductory note on tenses. The logically conditioned changes in deictic expressions (those of person and of indexes of time and place) are summed up further. Changes in the tenses include a note on the subtleties of meaning expressed by the present tenses, which follow the past simple in the reporting clause. But the principal rule is that of the sequence of tenses, which is generally observed in speech representation in English. This rule is further particularised in an explanation of tense backshift, which is the process causing the use of the sequence of tenses. An enumeration of contexts in which speech representation occurs concludes this lecture.
The student's gain is in a combination of the logic of grammar (tense backshift, the sequence of tenses and changes in deictic expressions, the meaning of reporting verbs and tenses, etc.) and its efficient application when considering or using reported speech. A delicate point is the distinction between a reporting verb/clause and a reported clause, which has to be grasped at the very beginning to show one's intellectual quickness and readiness.
Essential Reading
Ronald Carter and Michael McCarthy. The Cambridge Grammar of English. - CUP, 2007.
L.G. Alexander. The Longman English Grammar. - Longman, 1992.
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