Reported speech, whereby we quote the words of others, is used in many different types of interaction. In this revealing study, a team of leading experts explore how reported speech is designed, the actions it is used to perform, and how it fits into the environments in which it is used. Using the most recent techniques of conversation analysis, the authors show how speech is reported in a wide range of contexts - including ordinary conversation, storytelling, news interviews, courtroom trials and medium-sitter interactions. Providing detailed analyses of reported speech in naturally-occurring talk, the authors examine existing linguistic and sociological studies, and offer some pioneering new insights into the phenomenon. Bringing together work from the most recent investigations in conversation analysis, this book will be invaluable to all those interested in the study of interaction, in particular how we report the speech of others, and the different forms this can take.

We live our lives in conversation, building families, societies and civilisations. In over seven thousand languages across the world, the basic infrastructure by which we communicate remains the same. This is the first ever book-length linguistic introduction to conversation analysis (CA), the field that has done more than any other to illuminate the mechanics of interaction. Starting by locating CA by reference to a number of cognate disciplines investigating language in use, it provides an overview of the origins and methodology of CA. By using conversational data from a range of languages, it examines the basic apparatus of sequence organisation: turn-taking, preference, identity construction and repair. As the basis for these investigations, the book uses the twin analytic resources of action and sequence to throw new light on the origins and nature of language use.

Reported speech, whereby we quote the words of others, is used in many different types of interaction. In this revealing study, a team of leading experts explore how reported speech is designed, the actions it is used to perform, and how it fits into the environments in which it is used. Using contemporary techniques of conversation analysis, the authors show how speech is reported in a wide range of contexts - including ordinary conversation, storytelling, news interviews, courtroom trials and medium-sitter interactions. Providing detailed analyses of reported speech in naturallyoccurring talk, the authors examine existing linguistic and sociological studies, and offer some insights into the phenomenon. Bringing together work from the most recent investigations in conversation analysis, this book will be invaluable to all those interested in the study of interaction, in particular how we report the speech of others, and the different forms this can take.

We live our lives in conversation, building families, societies and civilisations. In over seven thousand languages across the world, the basic infrastructure by which we communicate remains the same. This is the first ever book-length linguistic introduction to conversation analysis (CA), the field that has done more than any other to illuminate the mechanics of interaction. Starting by locating CA by reference to a number of cognate disciplines investigating language in use, it provides an overview of the origins and methodology of CA. By using conversational data from a range of languages, it examines the basic apparatus of sequence organisation: turn-taking, preference, identity construction and repair. As the basis for these investigations, the book uses the twin analytic resources of action and sequence to throw new light on the origins and nature of language use.