[OED entries having determiners feel the section of message adj. (determiner), given that historically there is certainly in some cases indeterminacy ranging from adjective and you will determiner. In some grammars, the definition of determinative is used.]
direct concern
A direct question is a question which is quoted as actually spoken (that is, in head address), rather than being reported.
For example, in ‘“What did the doctor say?” asked Sue’, what did the doctor say? is a direct question because it is quoted. As an secondary matter this would be: ‘Sue asked what the doctor said.’
- At Query chatspin v. 3a, examples are given of uses ‘with indirect or direct question as the second object’. An example with a direct question is: ‘then I asked him, “Is this so long?”.’
direct address
Direct speech is speech which is quoted as actually spoken, rather than being reported (see indirect message). Speech of this type is typically indicated using quotation marks.
For example, in ‘“I demand my rights,” roared Paul’, I demand my rights is direct speech because it is quoted without modification. In secondary speech this would be: ‘Paul roared that he demanded his rights.’
- MISGUESS v. 2a is described as sometimes occurring ‘with clause or direct speech as object’. An example with direct speech is: ‘“You might be having a baby!” her mother, longing for a grandchild, joyously mis-guessed.’
double target
In some contexts, a verb may take both a head object and an secondary object. For example, in ‘I gave the children their dinner’, their dinner is the direct object and the children is the indirect object. This pair of objects may be referred to as a double object.
- Inquire v. 3 is defined as ‘With double object (the person and the matter in question).’ An example is ‘I ask him what that entailed’: what that entailed is the direct object, and him is the indirect object.
In modern English, nouns and pronouns may be either one, referring to one person or thing (child, table, I, he, etc.) or plural, referring to more than one person or thing (children, tables, we, they, etc.). Some languages also have a dual category which distinguishes two people or things as opposed to one or to more than two. In Old English and early Middle English, there was a dual category of pronouns: for example, the pronoun Wit pron. was a dual pronoun meaning ‘we two’.
element
An element is a word, consolidating setting, prefix, or suffix which is a component part of a larger construction (a material word, a clause, etc.).
- In the OED, element most often refers to a component part of a compound. For example, ABIDING adj. 3 describes uses of abiding ‘As the second element in compounds forming adjectives’, with the sense ‘remaining true to, standing by (what is denoted by the first element)’. The quotation paragraph includes the compound adjectives Constitution-abiding, rule-abiding, and code-abiding.
ellipsis | elliptical
Ellipsis happens when a keyword otherwise group of words are excluded away from a phrase otherwise utterance it is understood on framework. A sentence or access to terms and conditions connected with ellipsis is described as elliptical.
- Understand v. 11g(b) is defined as ‘In elliptical use: to have knowledge of a fact previously mentioned or contextually implied.’ An example is ‘I do not care the way they take a trip, and I do not want to know.’ The fuller form of this sentence would be ‘I do not care how they travel, and I do not want to know how they travel‘: the final clause is omitted as it can be understood from the context.