Латын тіліндегі жанама сөйлеу: ōrātiō oblīqua

Latin Speech
Oratio obliqua as a topic in philosophy

Indirect speech, also known as reported speech, indirect discourse (US), or ōrātiō oblīqua (/ə//'//r//eɪ//ʃ//ɪ//oʊ// //ə//'//b//l//aɪ//k//w//ə/ or /oʊ//'//r//ɑː//t//ɪ//oʊ// //ɒ//'//b//l//iː//k//w//ə/), is the practice, common in all Latin historical writers, of reporting spoken or written words indirectly, using different grammatical forms. Passages of indirect speech can extend from a single phrase to an entire paragraph, and this style was generally preferred by Roman historians to the direct speech commonly found in Greek authors. The main types of indirect speech in Latin are indirect statements, indirect commands, and indirect questions. Indirect statements in classical Latin usually use the accusative and infinitive construction. In this the main verb of the quoted sentence is changed to an infinitive, and its subject to the accusative case; this construction is also sometimes used for commands and rhetorical questions. Indirect questions, most indirect commands, and most subordinate verbs in indirect statements use the subjunctive mood. Subjunctive mood tenses are divided into two groups, primary (present and perfect) and historic (imperfect and pluperfect). The historic tenses are used when the context is past time, although it is also possible sometimes to use a primary tense in a past context, a practice referred to as repraesentātiō tempōrum. Although the term ōrātiō oblīqua strictly speaking refers to the reporting of spoken or written words, the same grammatical constructions are also used in sentences introduced by other verbs such as those of perceiving, showing, remembering, and thinking. These are also included in this article. In some cases, especially in longer passages of ōrātiō oblīqua, the verb of speaking is omitted, and the grammatical form alone shows that the words are indirect.

The sentence which is made indirect can be a wish, e. g. "may it (not) happen!" This is expressed in sentences like those below.

Roman writers, especially historians, often use quite extensive passages of indirect speech. An example is the following, which is from a letter by an ex consul Servius Sulpicius Rufus to Cicero:

circiter hōrā decimā noctis P. Postumius, familiāris eius, ad mē vēnit et mihī nūntiāvit M. Mārcellum, conlēgam nostrum, post cēnae tempus ā P. Magiō Cīlōne, familiāre eius, pugiōne percussum esse et duo vulnera accēpisse, ūnum in stomachō, alterum in capite secundum aurem; spērārī tamen eum vīvere posse; Magium sē ipsum interfēcisse posteā; sē ā Mārcellō ad mē missum esse, quī haec nūntiāret et rogāret utī medicōs eī mitterem. (Servius Sulpicius Rufus)

'To this embassy Ariovistus replied: if he himself had been in need of Caesar, he would have come to him; if Caesar were to require anything of him, he, Caesar, ought to come to him. Besides, he did not dare to come without an army into those parts of Gaul which Caesar possessed, nor was it possible for him to gather an army into one location without a large supply train and effort. Moreover, it seemed to him strange what business either Caesar or the Roman People as a whole had in his own part of Gaul, which he had conquered in war.' The passage consists of five indirect statements with infinitive verbs (two of which, oportēre 'it is fitting' and vidērī 'it seems' are impersonal and have no subject), and an indirect question with the subjunctive (quid esset). Interleaved with these are two conditional clauses (sī esset sī velit) and two relative clauses (quās possidēret quam vīcisset), all of which use the subjunctive mood. All the subjunctive verbs are imperfect or pluperfect, except for velit, which is present subjunctive and thus breaks the sequence of tenses rule.

In Latin historians, ōrātiō oblīqua is very common. In Caesar's commentaries, there are some 190 instances of indirect speech, but only 21 examples of direct speech (ōrātiō rēcta). The direct speeches tend to be quite short, although there are some longer ones, such as Curio's speech to his troops before a battle. Quite often they mark dramatic moments, including several speeches made just before a battle, such as Caesar's own speech before the battle of Pharsalia, or the eagle bearer's encouragement to his comrades before leaping into the sea when Caesar's invading force reached the coast of Britain. In some cases they are accompanied by phrases such as vōce magnā 'with a great voice'. It is likely that during a public recitation of the work, such passages allowed the reciter to add extra drama to the recitation. In Livy too, direct speech is found sparingly but at dramatic moments. These include the words of the Delphic oracle announcing the future ruler of Rome, the words of the heroines Lucretia and Sophoniba before they committed suicide, and the announcement to the people of the tragedy of Lake Trasimene.