TO QUOTE OR NOT TO
QUOTE
Interpreting Direct Address and
Indirect Address into ASL and
Spoken English
NAOBI 2010
1
Objectives
• Define direct and indirect address in English
and ASL
• Recognize the use of direct address in
spoken discourse
• Recognize the use of indirect
address/reported speech in spoken discourse
• Take direct address and reported speech in
English and interpret it into direct address in
ASL
NAOBI 2010
2
Objectives, continued
• Recognize the use of direct address in ASL
• Take direct address in ASL and interpret it
into direct address in English
• Take direct address in ASL and interpret it
into reported speech in English
• Determine which situations are best suited
for which type of discourse: direct address
or reported speech
NAOBI 2010
3
What We Will Cover
ASL Direct
Address (in constructed
English Direct Address,
also called “Direct
Speech”
dialogues)
A SL Indirect Address (almost never
used)
English Indirect
Address, also called
“Reported Speech”, commonly used
NAOBI 2010
4
Defining Direct and Indirect
Address
• Direct Address consists of the use of a term
or name for the person spoken to, as in
securing the attention of that person.
• Indirect Speech (also referred to as 'reported
speech') refers to a sentence reporting what
someone has said. It is almost always used
in spoken English.
NAOBI 2010
5
English has 3 ways of conveying
what someone said:
• Dramatic rendition: “I can’t pay the rent;
you must pay the rent”. Almost never used.
• Direct address: The teacher asked Ann,
“Where is your homework,” to which Ann
replied, “I must have left it on the bus.”
• Indirect/reported speech: The teacher
asked Ann where her homework was.
NAOBI 2010
6
Defining Direct Address in ASL
Direct address in ASL occurs during a
constructed dialogue* when a signer
assumes the role of one or more people,
delivering a message from the first person
perspective. Characters are distinguished
through pausing and role shift.
*This includes monologues, dialogues, trialogsue, etc.
NAOBI 2010
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Interpreting from English to ASL
• Reported speech will almost always be
interpreted as direct address in ASL
• ASL does have reported speech, but usually
for very short segments of discourse
• For longer discourse, direct address is
needed.
NAOBI 2010
8
Direct Address in English
Practice
• Mom said, “Hey, Ken, take out the trash.”
• The child wailed, “I don’t want a shot!”
• The waiter said, “Our special tonight is grilled
trout.”
• The actress complained, “It’s too stinkin’ hot in
this theatre!”
• The lawyer informed us, “Your uncle has left you
everything.”
NAOBI 2010
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Reported speech to ASL practice
• Kevin said his father always wanted to
publish a novel.
• Pam said that when they first got married
her husband would open doors for her and
call her everyday at work.
• I told my husband that it was raining too
hard to play golf, that he’d get sick. He said
he didn’t care and went anyway.
NAOBI 2010
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More practice
• A woman, sounding desperate, pleaded that
she couldn’t wake her husband.
• She explained to investigators that she had
told her husband just a few days before that
she was moving out. She said he had gotten
angry, then drunk, and that very day had
taken some of her old prescription drugs to
help him sleep.
NAOBI 2010
11
Yet more practice
• Kim told her brother that the man had come
into the bank and taken $12,900 from her
cash drawer before fleeing.
• Erin Miller reported that even though her
son was in a safety seat at the time of the
crash, he suffered a skull fracture from a
loose cell phone in the car.
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And more
• On May 28, 1973, Jacobson received a
telephone call from an old Kennedy friend,
Chuck Spalding, saying it was extremely
important that he see him.
• Jackie asked what I would say if the White
House came up during the medical board
hearings. I assured her there was no reason
for concern.
NAOBI 2010
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Almost finished…
• Spalding told Mrs. Kennedy that his costs,
including lawyers’ fees, had reached almost
$50,000, and he was broke. She told him he had
nothing to worry about, but no money ever came.
• My parents explained that their time alone wasn’t
about us kids; it was about putting their marriage
first. A good marriage, they said, made for happy
parents and therefore a stronger family. They said
that we were lucky and that some day would
understand.
NAOBI 2010
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Not quite there yet
• Sadeq said he studied international relations
for two years in France, but he is quick to
admit that his credentials are thin.
• During the four nights of questioning, the
Arab captives steadfastly refused to say
where Bin Laden was at the time.
NAOBI 2010
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Pah!
• The president routinely asks the FBI
director the status of the important al Qaeda
investigations and wants to ensure they are
getting top priority
• Appearing gaunt, Bin Laden talked of his
own demise, called on others to carry on the
battle against the US, and suggested
strongly that he had advance knowledge of
the September 11 attacks.
NAOBI 2010
16
Taking on the Role of NonHuman Entities
• The bank requires a minimum deposit of
$300 to open an account.
• The brain craves stimuli or its functioning
will decay.
• A poppy seed can remain alive underground
for up to three years.
• The iceberg awaited the approach of the
Titanic.
NAOBI 2010
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When interpreting direct address from
ASL to English, there are two options:
• Using direct quotes (and introducing
each speaker)
• Using reported speech (and introducing
each speaker)
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Which form to use?
• Emotionally laden content
• Expletives and name calling
• Genderless third-person pronouns
NAOBI 2010
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The tense issue in reported speech
• If the communication occurred in the past,
all verbs must be spoken in the past tense.
• Relative time words must remain relative:
YESTERDAY becomes “the day before”
TOMORROW becomes “the next day”
NAOBI 2010
20
More tense
LAST-WEEK becomes “the week before”
NEXT-WEEK becomes “the next/following
week”
LAST MONTH becomes “the month before”
NEXT MONTH becomes “the next/following
month”
LAST-YEAR becomes “the previous year”
NEXT-YEAR becomes “the next year”
NAOBI 2010
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