In his Treatise on Argumentation, Perelman suggests there is a relationship between certain linguistic forms and some argumentative strategies. The central question we discuss here is the possibility to systematize Perelman’s linguistic intuitions. This couple opinion/truth was chosen as an example because of the interest Reported Speech has aroused among grammarians. Concretly we propose an inventory of linguistic structures prototypically used to express an opinion/truth dissociation. Taking as a starting point an argumentative strategy (and therefore a discourse strategy), the viewer is led to address grammatical issues from this particular angle. Despite obvious difficulties (adaptation of grammatical approaches to the study of a particular discourse strategy), this specificity may be the value of the approach. For instance, the inventory of the language means which realize an argumentative strategy could present some interest for rhetoric and argumentation teaching.

In his Treatise on Argumentation, Perelman suggests there is a relationship between certain linguistic forms and some argumentative strategies. The central question we discuss here is the possibility to systematize Perelman’s linguistic intuitions. This couple opinion/truth was chosen as an example because of the interest Reported Speech has aroused among grammarians. Concretly we propose an inventory of linguistic structures prototypically used to express an opinion/truth dissociation. Taking as a starting point an argumentative strategy (and therefore a discourse strategy), the viewer is led to address grammatical issues from this particular angle. Despite obvious difficulties (adaptation of grammatical approaches to the study of a particular discourse strategy), this specificity may be the value of the approach. For instance, the inventory of the language means which realize an argumentative strategy could present some interest for rhetoric and argumentation teaching.