Conclusion and Future Concerns

Abstract

This chapter provides a general summary of the book. In addition, this chapter talks briefly about how indirect reporting can help us better conceptualise pragmatics. Similarly, this chapter provides a discussion on how I generally see indirect reporting, referring to a ‘generative element’ underlying its construct. Indirect reports embrace a ‘generative element’, enabling speakers to generate implicature through pragmatic opacity. As a result, the hearer should be able to distinguish between ‘what is said’ and ‘what is implied’, since indirect reports are not just about paraphrasing others’ utterances; rather, they include the evaluative load and the perspective of both the reporter and the original speaker. Finally, I make an argument for what is still missing from our knowledge of indirect reporting, and how future research can help bridge the gap.

Success in not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

(Winston Churchill)