indirect discourse also called oratio obliqua, the use of words to report what others say, but without direct quotation. When one says ‘John said, ‘Not every doctor is honest,’ ‘ one uses the words in one’s quotation directly – one uses direct discourse to make an assertion about what John said. Accurate direct discourse must get the exact words. But in indirect discourse one can use other words than John does to report what he said, e.g., ‘John said that some physicians are not honest.’ The words quoted here capture the sense of John’s assertion (the proposition he asserted).
By extension, ‘indirect discourse’ designates the use of words in reporting beliefs. One uses words to characterize the proposition believed rather than to make a direct assertion. When Alice says, ‘John believes that some doctors are not honest,’ she uses the words ‘some doctors are not honest’ to present the proposition that John believes. She does not assert the proposition. By contrast, direct discourse, also called oratio recta, is the ordinary use of words to make assertions.
See also INTENSIONALITY , QUANTIFYING IN, REFERENTIALLY TRANSPAREN. T.M.