What is direct speech?

Definition
	Direct speech is quoted speech that is presented without modification, as it might have been uttered by the original speaker.

Example (English)
	“Patrick Henry said, ‘Give me liberty or give me death’.”

Sources
	Crystal 1985 95
	Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik 1985 1021

Concept module: direct speech
In overview module: Glossary (Linguistics): D
In modular book: Glossary of linguistic terms, by Eugene E. Loos (general editor), Susan Anderson (editor), Dwight H., Day, Jr. (editor), Paul C. Jordan (editor), and J. Douglas Wingate (editor)
In bookshelf: Linguistics

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 5 January 2004