This article examines the phenomenon of reported speech in German linguistics, focusing particularly on the grammatical, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic features of indirect speech. By comparing theoretical approaches developed by scholars working in German linguistics and related fields, the study explores the relationship between direct speech (direkte Rede), indirect speech (indirekte Rede), and free indirect discourse (erlebte Rede). Particular attention is paid to the role of the subjunctive moods (Konjunktiv I and Konjunktiv II), deictic shifts, syntactic integration, reporting clauses, and conjunctions. The article also considers the question of whether constructions containing direct speech should be analysed as compound sentences or as independent, integrated syntactic constructions. The study employs descriptive, comparative, and syntactic-pragmatic methods to examine representative German examples in relation to established theoretical approaches. The analysis demonstrates that reported speech cannot be explained solely as a syntactic transformation of an original utterance. Rather, it involves the reconstruction of linguistic content within a new communicative context, with grammatical choices reflecting the relationship between the original speaker, the reporting speaker, and the reported proposition. The findings highlight the importance of distinguishing the general phenomenon of reported speech from its individual grammatical and discourse-related forms.
Features of Indirect Speech in German: A Theoretical and Syntactic Analysis
DOI:
Keywords:
Abstract
Downloads
References
Breslauer, Christopher. Satzgliedstellung im Deutschen und Französischen. Eine kontrastive Analyse anhand gesprochener Sprache. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1996.
Coulmas, Florian (ed.). Direct and Indirect Speech. Berlin; New York; Amsterdam: Mouton de Gruyter, 1986. 345 p.
Duden. Die Grammatik. Unentbehrlich für richtiges Deutsch. 9., vollständig überarbeitete und aktualisierte Auflage. Band 4. Berlin: Dudenverlag, 2016.
Engelberg, Stefan; Fortmann, Christian; Rapp, Irene. Rede- und Gedankenwiedergabe in narrativen Strukturen – Ambiguitäten und Varianz. Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag / Linguistische Berichte Sonderheft 27, 2019.
Fabricius-Hansen, Cathrine. Der Konjunktiv und die Redewiedergabe. In: Duden. Die Grammatik. Mannheim: Dudenverlag, 2002.
Fortmann, Christian; Lübbe, Anja; Rapp, Irene. Situationsargumente im Nominalbereich. Berlin / New York: Walter de Gruyter (Linguistische Arbeiten, Band 562), 2015.
Günthner, Susanne. Argumentieren im Gespräch. Linguistische Berichte, H. 181, 2000, S. 20–42.
Jumayev, Erkin. Hozirgi o‘zbek tili (Morfologiya va sintaksisning nazariy masalalari). Toshkent: "Nodirabegim" nashriyoti, 2021.
Nespital, Helmut. Das futurische Tempussystem im Hindi und Urdu. Heidelberg: Julius Groos Verlag, 1986.
Plank, Frans. Das Genitivattribut als Gegenstand morphosyntaktischer Ökonomie. Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft, Band 5, Heft 1, 1986, S. 38–62.
Pütz, Heinz. Über die Syntax der deutschen Gegenwartssprache. 2., überarbeitete Auflage. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag, 1989.
Ro‘ziyev, Yarash. O‘zbek va nemis tillarida so‘z va ularning grammatik xususiyatlarini qiyosiy-tipologik o‘rganish. Toshkent: "Muharrir" nashriyoti, 2024.
Thieroff, Rolf. Das finite Verb im Deutschen. Tempus – Modus – Distanz. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Studia Linguistica Germanica, Band 32 / Studien zur deutschen Grammatik, Band 40), 1992.
Zikrillayev, G‘aniy. O‘zbek tili grammatikasi (Iboralar, morfologiya, sintaksis). Toshkent: "Fan va texnologiya" nashriyoti, 2018.