ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some of the structural properties of direct and indirect quotation before exploring the main pragmatic and discursive functions of speech and thought reporting. Goffman's original speaker roles hold great explanatory power for the authoritative use of quotative sequences. While the boundaries between indirect and direct quotation are best conceptualised along a cline of evidential value or discourse function, direct quotation allows the reporting speaker to animate a range of original action or activity. While quotation is often associated with genres that favour immediacy of reporting, such as gossip and narratives, reported action sequences also proliferate in academic, journalistic and legal writing. The chapter illustrates the structural characteristics and pragmatic functions of reported action sequences. Gossip is a prime genre in which reporters draw on reported action sequences in order to highlight the distance between themselves and other people's attitudes, opinions, behaviors or ways of being.
