Mykhaylova S.

‘Say’ Verbs as Communication Markers

We believe that there are two main ways of reporting people’s words, thoughts, beliefs: direct and indirect speech. Direct speech shows the reader that these are the exact words of the speaker, so the information seems more honest and reliable. In novels, direct speech is used to show conversations between characters [1: 56].

The object of the investigation is the communication marker expressed by the ‘say’ verbs in the fictional discourse. The data retrieved from the encyclopaedia dictionaries constitutes 515 units verified in 13 novels.

‘Say’, ‘tell’ and ‘ask’ are the most common verbs used in the informal spoken reports. In novels, short stories, etc., a much wider variety or reporting verbs are used [2: 73]. These include: acknowledge, add, admit, affirm, agree, announce, answer, argue, boast, brag, caution, claim, assert, assure, complaint, conclude, confess, confirm, convince, cry, declare, deny, emphasize, estimate, exclaim, explain, growl, grumble, guess, imply, indicate, inform, insist, instruct, maintain, murmur, mutter, note, notify, observe, persuade, point out, promise, protest, remark, remind, repeat, reply, report, respond, roar, say, scream, shout, shriek, sneer, stammer, state, suggest, tell, threaten, warn, whisper, write, yell, advise to, ask to, beg to, command to, direct to, forbid to, instruct to, oblige to, order to, request to, tell to, urge to, want to [1: 184].

The verbal constructions and discourse practices underlie direct reported speech in fictional discourse, especially the ways speakers/authors verbally frame their reported speech.

A reporting clause accompanies direct reports of somebody’s speech or thought. It specifies the speaker/thinker, the addressee (sometimes), the type of act (e.g. ask, say, think, etc.), and frequently also the mode of the act (e.g. abruptly, apologetically, bitterly) [1: 196]. Such clauses contain some kind of reporting verb, either a straightforward verb of speaking/thinking (e.g. say, think) or a verb identifying the manner of speaking (e.g. mutter, shriek), the type of speech act (e.g. offer, promise), the phase of speaking (an aspectual verb such as begin, continue) [3:135].

The clause containing the reporting verb is often described as the main clause, with the direct speech in object position. This analysis is obviously excluded where the verb in the reporting clause doesn’t normally take a direct object (e.g. whimper, exult, and smile).

Reported speech is commonly defined as reporting on something someone has said or written in the past. The reporting verbs ‘say,’ and ‘talk,’ have been identified as default verbal markers framing reported speech in conversational discourse. The mood- invoking reporting verbal markers are primarily used in written discourse. ‘Ask’ is the only one that occurs in the collected data [2:74]. It denotes the interrogative mode of the reported speech. Furthermore, speakers/authors of reported speech use different strategies to introduce or mark quoted speakers. Some of them are not specifically marked yet their existence can be interpreted by taking the underlying operations of the turn taking system into account. The collected data also show that speakers/authors of reported speech make use of speech-signalling verbs such as ‘promise’ and ‘consult’ to foreshadow the coming of the reported speech. In contrast to default reporting phrases mentioned earlier, these types of reporting verbs embody illocutionary forces and presuppose the performative modality of the projected reported speech.

The analysis of fictional discourse practices surrounding reported speech shows the ways in which speakers/authors of reported speech take multiple roles when reporting personal and others’ speech. Furthermore, when reporting others’ speech, the speakers index their stances toward the persons they quote and the content of their speech. An examination of reported speech also reveals that analysis of verbal markers framing reported speech cannot be isolated from surrounding discourse practices.

Some of the salient points of comparison between direct and indirect speech in fictional narratives are presented in the table below.

Table 1

Direct and Indirect Speech: Features
	(A)	(B)	(C)
	Direct speech:	Indirect speech:	Indirect speech:
Use of	Character's discourse in 1st & 3rd person narratives	Narrator's discourse in 3rd person narratives	Character's discourse in 3rd person narratives
1. Inverted Commas	Used.	Not used.	Not used.
2. Parataxis / Hypotaxis	Secondary clause is paratactically linked to the primary clause.	Secondary clause is hypotactically linked to the primary clause, and the subordinating conjunction, initiates the dependent clause.	Secondary clause is hypotactically linked to the primary clause, and the subordinating conjunction, initiates the dependent clause.
3. Pronouns	Use of 1st person and 2nd person pronouns to refer to personages existing in the discourse situation.	1st and 2nd person pronouns converted to 3rd person pronouns.	a) 1st person narratives: 1st person pronouns used by the narrator to refer to himself. b) 1st & 3rd person narratives -- reported speech embedded within direct speech in character’s discourse:  1st person pronouns are used by the character to refer to himself.  2nd person pronouns to refer to the characters who are being directly addressed to, and who were either the addressers or addressees of the original discourse.  Otherwise, all 2nd person pronouns are converted to 3rd person pronouns.
4. Tense	Use of present tense to describe circumstances or entities existing within the discourse situation.	Change of present tense verbs to their past tense equivalents.	Present tense may be used if the original speech is in the immediate past of the act of reporting, and if the circumstances or entities stated or described in the original speech still exist. Otherwise, the past tense is generally used, especially in relation to the reporting verb in the main clause.
5.Time Adverbials	When referring to events which are proximate to the act of speaking, relevant time adverbials like now, today, yesterday, may be used.	Time adverbials mentioned in 5A, are converted to then, on that day / the day before, the day after etc.	Time adverbials are used according to the currency or proximity of the reported event in relation to the act of speech or narration; i.e. either 5A or 5B may be relevant.
6.Demon- stratives: Near or Remote	The ‘near’ demonstratives this, these, and here are used to refer to entities or situations existing during the speech event.	The ‘near’ demonstratives are converted to ‘remote’ demonstratives: that, those, there.	The ‘near’ demonstratives continue to be used if the entities or situations existing during the original speech event still remain. Otherwise, the demonstratives are converted to their ‘remote’ counterparts. Again, either 6A or 6B may be relevant.

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