PREFACE

 

This is a practical reference handbook, which describes a verbal representation of communication acts. Two major ways of denoting such acts are the use of direct speech and indirect speech; halfway between them is free indirect speech. Apart from these, there are also various lexical elements that are widely used to refer to situations in which people communicate with one another. The emphasis in the handbook is on the correspondences and transformational relationships between the above kinds of speech.

The handbook comprises three parts. The first part deals with general points of grammar and usage. It describes the nature of different types of speech and provides a set of rules for their use in context. The second part contains sample reported versions of a number of conversations, which illustrate the theoretical framework of the preceding part. The third part is concerned with ways of reporting utterances that perform particular functions in situations in which verbal communication takes place. Five categories of functions are analysed. These functions are represented by specific sets of reporting verbs and phrases, which are listed and discussed in the respective sections of the book.

In preparing the handbook, I greatly benefited by the following publications.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. Longman, 1995.

Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English. Oxford University Press, 1980.

Random House Webster’s College Dictionary. Random House, 1992.

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992.

R. Courtney. Longman Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Longman, 1983.

M. Benson, E. Benson, R. Ilson. The BBI Combinatory Dictionary of English. John Benjamins Publishing Company, 1986.

R. Quirk, S. Greenbaum, G. Leech, J. Svartvik. A University Grammar of English. Longman, 1973.

G. Leech, J. Svartvik. A Communicative Grammar of English. Longman, 1975.

R.A. Close. A Reference Grammar for Students of English. Longman, 1975.

M. Swan. Practical English Usage. Oxford University Press, 1980.

A.J. Thomson, A.V. Martinet. A Practical English Grammar. Oxford University Press, 1986.

J. Eastwood. Oxford Guide to English Grammar. Oxford University Press, 1994.

G. Leech. An A-Z of English Grammar and Usage. Nelson, 1989.

R. Murphy. English Grammar in Use. Cambridge University Press, 1986.

D. Biber, S. Johansson, G. Leech, S. Conrad, E. Finegan. Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Longman, 1999.

P. Brown, J. Allison. Business Partners. LTP, 1991.

J.F. de Freitas. Survival English. The Macmillan Press, 1978.

D. Ware. Intermediate English Course. Linguaphone Institute Limited, 1976.