命题内容和间接引语

Propositional Content and Indirect Speech

在正常的交际过程中，人们说出一句话，同时也表达了一个命题。引述别人的话时，直接引语引述的是他的原话，间接引语引述的是他的话语所表达的命题。虽然一个语句可以表达一个命题，但同一命题内容却可用不同的语句表达，所以间接引语的表达可以有多种形式，而不应像传统语法规定的那样只有一种。间接引语采用哪种形式，取决于转述人的意图和具体的语境，以及他对受话人就转述之事的了解程度。

When a person utters a sentence in the course of normal communication, he simultaneously expresses a proposition. In quoting the person＇s utterance, direct speech is concerned with his sentence, whereas indirect speech has to do with the proposition that his sentence is used to express. Though a sentence can be used to express a proposition, the same propositional content can be expressed by using different sentences. Therefore, an indirect speech can be reptrted in more ways than is supposed by traditional grammarians, depending on the reporter＇s intention, the situalional context, and the extent to which he knows about the addressee＇s knowledge of the situation.