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A-I asked my dad that we (he and me and may-be my sister too) leave.
B-I asked my dad for us to leave.
If these two are acceptable, then I wonder whether:
D-"I asked that we leave."
and:
E-"I asked for us to leave."
could not be acceptable.
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A- is okay, only iff,
I asked my dad this. (wherein 'this' stands for 'that we leave'. In that way, "I" and "we" are not bound reflexibly).
B- is not okay. 'for' is a problem.
D- is okay, only iff,
I asked this. (wherein 'this' stands for 'that we leave'. Again, same as A-. 'this' represents a phrase or sentence spoken.)
E- is not okay. 'for' is a problem.
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Imagine a child who says to his father: "Dad, let's go, please." How can you put that into indirect speech? Would you use, "He asked his dad if they could leave." in this context?
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Yes
Notice that 'if' also stands for 'this':
He asked his dad this: if they could leave.
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"If" gives the impression to me that the person is asking for permission, but "that" implies to me that he is suggesting that they leave, but he is in a sort of inferior position.
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Well, given the context ('asked'), I'd say a) both 'that...' and 'if' function as the object of "asked", b) 'that' expresses words spoken, and c) 'if...' expresses a condition. That is, 'that...' is nominal in form, whereas 'if...' is sentencial in form.
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I might be completely wrong of-course, in which case don't hesitate to tell me.
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"I asked my dad this: that we leave" does indeed sound rather odd for a child to utter to his dad. The reason being, I believe, is that 'asked that', which, by the way, is a polite request, is adult speech and hence not something we'd expect to hear a child utter.
:D