Reported Direct Speech in the Hebrew Bible and in the Andersen-Forbes Morphology and Syntax Database

Abstract

The article outlines the phenomenon of direct reported speech in the Hebrew Bible and presents some of the guiding principles for the recently undertaken revision of the speech level markup in the Andersen-Forbes Morphology and Syntax Database. For the revised version of the markup, a higher number of unusual forms of direct speech has been included, such as implied direct speech and direct speech introduced by quotative frames without verbs of speech. The article argues that a simplified markup strategy is often both methodologically and theoretically appropriate for texts that are vague, ambiguous, and/or generally underspecified with respect to direct speech. The simplified markup strategy means that when there is uncertainty as to whether a given point of transition in the text marks either the beginning or the end of a unit of reported speech, one should assume that the current state of affairs continues.