On Speaking Thus: the Semantics of Indirect Discourse

Abstract

Indexical predication is possible as well as the more familiar indexical reference. ‘My curtains are coloured thus’ describes my curtains. The indexical predicate expression it contains (‘coloured thus’) stands to possible non‐indexical replacements (‘red’) as a referring indexical (‘he’) does to possible non‐indexical replacements (‘Tom’), in that it calls upon the context of utterance to fix its semantic contribution to the whole. Indexical predication is the natural resource to call upon in talk about skilful human performances, where we exhibit considerable know‐how but little explicit know‐that. Speech is among such performances. Both direct and indirect speech reports may be illuminated by seeing them in the light of this thought. A corollary of the approach is that the prospects of providing a formal semantic treatment of indirect speech do not look good.

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