Revisiting the reported speech as a mitigation device in the PRESEEA-Seville oral corpus

Abstract This article aims to describe the use of mitigating reported speech concerning three general mitigation functions — self-protection, prevention, and repair — identified in the works of Albelda et al. ( 2014 , 2021 ). This goal will be achieved through a review of relevant literature on this phenomenon and an analysis of 72 semi-structured interviews taken from the PRESEEA-Seville oral corpus. From a sociolinguistic perspective, we will also examine how the employ of mitigating reported speech functions is affected by three fundamental social criteria: gender, age, and level of education. Additionally, we will provide information on how frequently they are used. Generally, we observe a prevalence of the self-protection function, especially in the use of direct quotations. This helps to preserve the speaker’s face, resulting in a positive impact. In terms of social factors, this function is notable in both male and female participants with low levels of education, particularly among first-generation individuals.