Free indirect speech

The free indirect speech is a type of indirect speech implicit.

Construction

Its characteristic is not to use a verb introducer, in other words, the Subordinate clause containing the quoted statement, finds private Main clause: consequently, the quoted statement becomes main clause. It is the exact transcription of the marked or written words, but without the Embrayeur S of the quoting speech. In the same way, the speaker is not identified explicitly.

Effect

In the free indirect speech, the voice of the character and that of the narrator tangle up , so that it is never known perfectly if it is the narrator or the character who speaks (one speaks besides on this subject about superpositions of voice , or, of Polyphonie ). Nevertheless, it is not introduced using punctuation, which causes fluidity of the account and the voices.

the professor was put then in anger. Il did not support any more the idleness of its pupil. He would end up more occupying himself some if this one found without stop of the excuses not to make its devoirs…

It low puts its faggot, it thinks of its malheur. /Quel pleasure did it have since it is in the world? (Jean of the Fountain - Death and the Logger )

The underlined texts are in the free indirect speech.

DIL (free indirect speech) is not located on the same plan as the indirect Speech or the direct Discours, it however accumulates the advantages of these two speeches. It cannot be characterized like such except context since it does not present any mark of linguistics. One thus has to expect many cases of ambiguity.

Comparison

Let us compare these various speeches:

In bound indirect speech, one could have had:

It low puts its faggot, it thinks of its malheur. /He wonders which pleasure he had since he is in the world.

In the dependant direct speech, one could have had:

It low puts its faggot, it thinks of its misfortune: /“Which pleasure did I have since I am in the world? ” he wonders.

In the free direct speech, one could have had:

It low puts its faggot, it thinks of its malheur. /Which pleasure did I have since I am in the world?