Hi,
Usually what I see is this form whenever quoting is involved:
He said, "I need your help." You could say He wrote, "I need your help" or He wrote that / said that "I need your help". These are all valid ways of introducing a direct quotation. There are many ways to introduce such quotations.
But then, I seem to see these kinds of quoting styles (if I can call them that) -- one seems to be in indirect quoting style: No, they are still direct quotations, as noted above.
1. He told reporters that this is a bad way to deal with the situation and that "this should not be the policy of this great nation." -- how is this done? Is it being quoted directly or indirectly or what? What is the exact word he said? The quotation marks enclose the direct words.
2. He gave his endorsement of "positive reinforcement" and warm nurturing. -- What is the rationale for putting some words in quotes? To highlight the message it conveys? Or highlight the term?
The quotation marks may indicate that he used these direct words. However,quotation marks, usually single ones, are also sometimes used to highlight that the writer is using a term in an unusual way.
Eg I think that Tom loves Mary. Here, I am simply stating my opinion to you.
eg I think that Tom 'loves' Mary. here, I am indicating that I am sceptical. I am indicating that I have some doubts about whether the word 'love' is appropriate here.
3. ... Matisoff wrote in his doctoral dissertation that the "Lahu language is strikingly similar to Korean in grammatical structure." -- As noted above, these are his direct words.
Why did he resort to an indirect method of quoting? Can I replace "write" with "said" to make my question more in line with other questions?
Best wishes, Clive