Spronck and Nikitina (S&N) have taken on the task of defining a linguistic phenomenon that has managed to elude definition, despite playing a key role in many subfields of linguistics. In formal semantics in particular, speech reports have been at the center of attention from the very beginning (Frege, 1892). S&N’s endeavor presupposes that there is something worth defining, i.e. that reported speech is indeed a linguistic category of its own, not an arbitrary intersection of various other, larger linguistic categories such as clausal embedding and evidentiality. In this response I want to provide additional, semantic evidence for S&N’s claim that reported speech should be treated as a linguistic category.Spronck and Nikitina (S&N) have taken on the task of defining a linguistic phenomenon that has managed to elude definition, despite playing a key role in many subfields of linguistics. In formal semantics in particular, speech reports have been at the center of attention from the very beginning (Frege, 1892). S&N’s endeavor presupposes that there is something worth defining, i.e. that reported speech is indeed a linguistic category of its own, not an arbitrary intersection of various other, larger linguistic categories such as clausal embedding and evidentiality. In this response I want to provide additional, semantic evidence for S&N’s claim that reported speech should be treated as a linguistic category.

中文翻译：

---

关于报告言论的特殊性

Spronck和Nikitina（S＆N）承担了定义一种语言现象的任务，尽管该现象在语言学的许多子领域中发挥了关键作用，但该现象已成功地逃避了定义。特别是在形式语义上，语音报告从一开始就一直是关注的焦点（Frege，1892）。S＆N的努力前提是存在一些值得定义的东西，即报告的言语确实是其自身的语言类别，而不是其他各种较大的语言类别（例如从句嵌入和证据证明）的任意交集。在此回应中，我想为S＆N的主张提供更多的语义证据，S＆N主张将报告的语音视为一种语言类别。Spronck和Nikitina（S＆N）承担了定义一种语言现象的任务，该现象设法避免了定义，尽管在语言学的许多子领域中发挥了关键作用。特别是在形式语义上，语音报告从一开始就一直是关注的焦点（Frege，1892）。S＆N的努力前提是存在一些值得定义的东西，即报告的言语确实是其自身的语言类别，而不是其他各种较大的语言类别（例如从句嵌入和证据证明）的任意交集。在此回应中，我想为S＆N的主张提供额外的语义证据，S＆N主张将报告的语音视为语言类别。报告的语音确实是其自身的语言类别，而不是其他各种较大的语言类别（例如从句嵌入和证据）的任意交集。在此回应中，我想为S＆N的主张提供额外的语义证据，S＆N主张将报告的语音视为语言类别。报告的语音确实是其自身的语言类别，而不是其他各种较大的语言类别（例如从句嵌入和证据）的任意交集。在此回应中，我想为S＆N的主张提供额外的语义证据，S＆N主张将报告的语音视为语言类别。