Adverbial information relating to the manner of speaking is often incorporated in the verbal lexeme. These verbs simultaneously convey that some act of speech reporting takes place, but also that the speaking (or writing) was done in a particular way. Such options are exercised very frequently in fiction, where the speaking of characters is not merely reported, but the way in which they speak is encoded by the reporting verb, as part of the characterisation process and/or the presentation of non-verbal action in the unfolding narrative. The most typical use of these manner of speaking verbs in fiction is with direct speech.

An extensive range of manner of speaking meanings is attested, as shown by example (8) to (11).

• Angry and loud speaking (toesnou to snarl at, skel to scold, skreeu to shout, terugkap to retort, uitbasuin to trumpet)

• Speaking in a dampened tone, often conveying pain, unhappiness and surprise, or seduction (prewel to mutter, mompel to murmer, mor to grumble, brom to grouse, grumble).

• A begging or pleading tone (smeek to beg, soebat to implore, paai to appease).

• A joking or joyful tone (skerts to joke, lag to laugh).

A different range of adverbial meanings that are incorporated into reporting verbs conveys the way in which a particular reported statement connects to the larger context, contributing the textual cohesion, while occasionally also encoding an aspect of the manner of speaking in the same breath. These verbs are found more often in journalism and academic writing. The following are typical cohesive meanings:

• Addition of information (byvoeg to add, bysê to add, toevoeg to add).

• Responding (antwoord to answer, terugskryf to write back).

• Revealing (onthul to reveal, beken to acknowledge, bieg to confess, bekendmaak to make known).

• Steps in argumentation (aflei to deduce, argumenteer to argue, verklaar to explain).

Finally, it is also possible for a verb to hedge or profile the degree of certainty with which the reported words should be accepted. Uncertainty about the validity of the reported clause is encoded by verbs like bespiegel to speculate, skimp to hint or gis to guess, as illustrated by example (16). Certainty is encoded by verbs like stel to state, stateer to state, konstateer to place on record, bevestig to confirm, or beaam to agree, as illustrated by example (17).

The type of complement clause that a verb selects is an important determinant of the role that the reported clause plays in an exchange: declarative, interrogative, directive or commissive. The verb of the matrix clause is usually a further expression of the illocutionary effect intended for the reported speech. Most verbs therefore typically take one type of complement clause most of the time – finite declarative or interrogative, or infinitive. However, a number of verbs allow more than one complement type with some regularity, and in a few cases, a verb that typically functions in one speech reporting type may be coerced into a different type due to the selection of a different complement clause. This can best be illustrated by the verb vra to ask, which takes interrogative complement clauses when it signals an indirect question, but when it takes an infinitive or finite declarative complement clause, the speech reporting type changes into a directive, as shown by example (18).

A set of patterns of coercion observed in the data relate to a group of verbs that take finite declarative or infinitive complement clauses. In these cases, both options seem to retain a similar reading, either commissive (e.g., beloof, belowe to promise, as illustrated in (19) or directive (e.g., beveel to command, waarsku to warn, smeek to beg, soebat to implore) as illustrated in (20) and (21). The verbs beveel and waarsku are usually intended to direct the behaviours of others, while the verbs smeek and soebat typically intend to direct the other to give the speaker permission or assistance. However, with the directive verbs, if there is no addressee, it is possible to have a declarative rather than directive reading in combination with a declarative complement clause, as illustrated by example (20b).