Indirect discourse as mixed quotation? An experimental investigation

Authors

  • Sebastian Walter Goethe University Frankfurt

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3765/elm.3.5845

Keywords:

perspective-taking, gesture semantics, indirect discourse, mixed quotation

Abstract

The results of an experimental rating study are reported suggesting that self-pointing gestures aligned with a third-person pronoun are acceptable in German indirect discourse (ID) utterances. Following a proposal by Ebert & Hinterwimmer (2022) for self-pointing gestures in free indirect discourse (FID), self-pointing gestures in ID are interpreted as character viewpoint gestures (CVGs) quoted from the matrix subject. Crucially, it is argued that in ID, a perspective shift to the matrix subject can take place. It is proposed that ID is an instance of mixed quotation involving a demonstration (cf. Clark & Gerrig 1990, Davidson 2015) where self-pointing is quoted from the matrix subject’s original utterance.

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Published

2025-01-24

Issue

Section

Articles