A quotation is the repetition of a sentence, phrase, or passage from speech or text that someone has said or written.
In oral speech, it is the representation of an utterance (i.e. of something that a speaker actually said) that is introduced by a quotative marker, such as a verb of saying. For example: John said: "I saw Mary today". Quotations in oral speech are also signaled by special
prosody in addition to quotative markers. In written text, quotations are signaled by quotation marks.
Quotations are also used to present well-known statement parts that are explicitly attributed by
citation
A citation is a reference to a source. More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose of ...
to their original source; such statements are marked with (
punctuated with)
quotation mark
Quotation marks (also known as quotes, quote marks, speech marks, inverted commas, or talking marks) are punctuation marks used in pairs in various writing systems to set off direct speech, a quotation, or a phrase. The pair consists of an ...
s.
Quotations are often used as a literary device to represent someone's point of view. They are also widely used in spoken language when an interlocutor wishes to present a proposition that they have come to know via hearsay.
As a literary device
A quotation can also refer to the repeated use of units of any other form of expression, especially parts of artistic works: elements of a
painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...
, scenes from a
movie
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
or sections from a
musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called ...
.
Reasons for using
Quotations are used for a variety of reasons: to illuminate the meaning or to support the arguments of the work in which it is being quoted, to provide direct information about the work being quoted (whether in order to discuss it, positively or negatively), to pay homage to the original work or
author
An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states:
"''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
, to make the user of the quotation seem well-read, and/or to comply with copyright law. Quotations are also commonly printed as a means of inspiration and to invoke philosophical thoughts from the reader. Pragmatically speaking, quotations can also be used as language games (in the Wittgensteinian sense of the term) to manipulate social order and the structure of society.
Common sources
Famous quotations are frequently collected in books that are sometimes called quotation dictionaries or treasuries. Of these, ''
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations
''Bartlett's Familiar Quotations'', often simply called ''Bartlett's'', is an American reference work that is the longest-lived and most widely distributed collection of quotations. The book was first issued in 1855 and is currently in its ninet ...
'', ''
The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
''The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations'', first published by the Oxford University Press in 1941, is an 1,100-page book listing short quotations that are common in English language and culture. The 8th edition was published for print and online ...
'', ''The
Columbia Dictionary of Quotations'', ''
The Yale Book of Quotations
''The Yale Book of Quotations'' is a quotations collection focusing on modern and American quotations. Edited by Fred R. Shapiro, it was published by Yale University Press in 2006 with a foreword by Joseph Epstein, . Prior to publication it was re ...
'' and ''The
Macmillan
MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to:
People
* McMillan (surname)
* Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan
* Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician
* James MacMillan, Scottish composer
* William Duncan MacMillan ...
Book of Proverbs, Maxims, and Famous Phrases'' are considered among the most reliable and comprehensive sources. Diaries and calendars often include quotations for entertainment or inspirational purposes, and small, dedicated sections in newspapers and weekly magazines—with recent quotations by leading personalities on current topics—have also become commonplace.
Misquotations
Many quotations are routinely incorrect or attributed to the wrong authors, and quotations from obscure or unknown writers are often attributed to far more famous writers. Examples of this are
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
, to whom many political quotations of uncertain origin are attributed, and
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
, to whom anonymous humorous quotations are sometimes attributed.
The ''Star Trek'' catchphrase "
Beam me up, Scotty
"Beam me up, Scotty" is a catchphrase and misquotation that made its way into popular culture from the science fiction television series ''Star Trek: The Original Series''. It comes from the command Captain Kirk gives his chief engineer, Mont ...
" did not appear in that form in the original series. Other misquotations include "
Just the facts, ma'am
Just or JUST may refer to:
__NOTOC__ People
* Just (surname)
* Just (given name)
Arts and entertainment
* ''Just'', a 1998 album by Dave Lindholm
* "Just" (song), a song by Radiohead
* "Just", a song from the album ''Lost and Found'' by Mudvayne ...
" (attributed to
Jack Webb
John Randolph Webb (April 2, 1920 – December 23, 1982) was an American actor, television producer, Television director, director, and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Joe Friday, Sgt. Joe Friday in the Dragnet (franchise) ...
's character of
Joe Friday
Joe Friday is a fictional character created and portrayed by Jack Webb as the lead for his series ''Dragnet (franchise), Dragnet''. Friday is a detective in the Los Angeles Police Department. The character first appeared on June 3, 1949 in the ...
on ''
Dragnet''), "Heavy lies the crown" from Shakespeare's Play
Henry IV, Part 2, "
Elementary, my dear Watson
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and l ...
" (attributed to
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
; it was, however, said in the films ''
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' is a collection of twelve short stories by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle, first published on 14 October 1892. It contains the earliest short stories featuring the consulting detective Sherlock Holmes, w ...
'' and ''
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
''The Return of Sherlock Holmes'' is a 1905 collection of 13 Sherlock Holmes stories, originally published in 1903–1904, by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. The stories were published in the '' Strand Magazine'' in Britain and ''Collier's'' i ...
''), "
Luke, I am your father
''The Empire Strikes Back'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'') is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story ...
" (attributed to
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. The character is the central antagonist of the original trilogy and, as Anakin Skywalker, is one of the main protagonists in the prequel trilogy. ''Star Wars'' creator George ...
in
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
), "
Play it again, Sam" (attributed to Ilsa in ''
Casablanca
Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...
''), "
Do you feel lucky, punk?
Do, DO or D.O. may refer to:
Languages
* The English verb, ''do'', which may serve as an auxiliary verb; see do-support
* ''Do'' (kana), a mora symbol in Japanese writing
* Ditto mark
People
* Đỗ, a Vietnamese surname
* Do (surname), includes ...
" (attributed to
Harry Callahan in ''
Dirty Harry
''Dirty Harry'' is a 1971 American neo-noir
Neo-noir is a revival of film noir, a genre that had originally flourished during the post-World War II era in the United Statesroughly from 1940 to 1960. The French term, ''film noir'', translates ...
'') and "
We don't need no stinkin' badges!" (attributed to Gold Hat in ''
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
''The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'' (originally titled ''Der Schatz der Sierra Madre'') is a 1927 adventure novel by German author B. Traven, whose identity remains unknown. In the book, two destitute American men in Mexico of the 1920s join a ...
'').
Quotative inversion
Quotative inversion occurs in sentences where the direct quotation can occur before a verb of saying or after a verb of saying. It can trigger inversion of the verb and the verb's
subject
Subject ( la, subiectus "lying beneath") may refer to:
Philosophy
*''Hypokeimenon'', or ''subiectum'', in metaphysics, the "internal", non-objective being of a thing
**Subject (philosophy), a being that has subjective experiences, subjective cons ...
. Subject-verb inversion occurs most often in written works, being rare in speech.
Quotations may appear before the inverted verb, but can also appear after the subject,
such as: ''"I am going to follow you all the rest of my life," declared the man''
and ''Said the woman: "I see you with both my eyes."''
Syntax
In syntactic terms, these direct quotations can be presented in two forms. The first is as the
complement
A complement is something that completes something else.
Complement may refer specifically to:
The arts
* Complement (music), an interval that, when added to another, spans an octave
** Aggregate complementation, the separation of pitch-class ...
of a quotative verb (e.g. Marie said: "My brother has arrived"), and the second being as a head clause with a quotative
adjunct (e.g. "My brother has arrived", Marie announces).
The
verb phrase
In linguistics, a verb phrase (VP) is a syntactic unit composed of a verb and its arguments except the subject of an independent clause or coordinate clause. Thus, in the sentence ''A fat man quickly put the money into the box'', the words ''quic ...
can be further expanded to include a complement, such as: "They'll never make it!" cried John ''to Mary''. Subjects must precede the complement, otherwise the structure formed will be ungrammatical (e.g. *"They'll never make it!" cried ''to Mary'' John).
Quotative inversion is only allowed when the verb is in the
simple present
The simple present, present simple or present indefinite is one of the verb forms associated with the present tense in modern English. It is commonly referred to as a tense, although it also encodes certain information about aspect in addition ...
or the
simple past
The simple past, past simple or past indefinite, sometimes called the preterite, is the basic form of the past tense in Modern English. It is used principally to describe events in the past, although it also has some other uses. Regular English v ...
. The most common pairing is the verb ''said'' with a
nominal
Nominal may refer to:
Linguistics and grammar
* Nominal (linguistics), one of the parts of speech
* Nominal, the adjectival form of "noun", as in "nominal agreement" (= "noun agreement")
* Nominal sentence, a sentence without a finite verb
* Nou ...
subject, such as: "That's the whole trouble," said Gwen.
Additionally,
noun phrase
In linguistics, a noun phrase, or nominal (phrase), is a phrase that has a noun or pronoun as its head or performs the same grammatical function as a noun. Noun phrases are very common cross-linguistically, and they may be the most frequently oc ...
s are not permitted in addition to the subject when inversion takes place.
They are allowed only when there is no subject-verb inversion, or when part of a preposition phrase.
:: a. "Why?" Gabrielle asked the attendant.
-
No subject-verb inversion
:: b. "Why?" asked Gabrielle of the attendant.
-
NP part of a preposition phrase
:: c. ''*''"Why?" asked Gabrielle the attendant.
-
Subject-verb inversion unlikely with an NP in addition to the subject
In English, both verb-subject and subject-verb word orders are permitted:
:: a. "Don't turn back!" warned Marcel.
-
Verb-subject order
:: b. "Who's on first?" Swami demanded.
-
Subject-verb order
This however, is not the case in all languages. For example, in Peninsular Spanish, this inversion is not allowed. Quotatives must follow verb-subject order:
:: a. ''«No, no es un enanito», rectifica el viejo.'' -
Verb-subject order
:::"No, he is not a gnome", corrects the old man.
:: b. ''*«No, no es un enanito», el viejo rectifica.'' -
Subject-verb order unlikely for introducing quotations
:::"No, he is not a gnome", the old man corrects.
Brackets in quotes in English language
Brackets
A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or 'r ...
are used to indicate an addition or a modification from the original quote. Various uses of brackets in quotes are:
* Clarification ("She
ichelleis an expert in botany.")
* Change in Capitalization ("
cording to this article, this is untrue.")
* Translation ("Hola, soy Brandon
ello, I am Brandon")
When
'sic''is added, it means that errors are present in the original text. For example,
"Domestic cats are valued by hoomans
'sic''for companionship."
In spoken discourse
Traditionally, quotations—more specifically known as direct quotations
—have been distinguished from indirect quotations. Direct quotations differ from indirect quotations in that they are reported from the perspective of the experiencer, while indirect quotations are reported from the perspective of the reporting speaker (e.g. "He said: 'I am leaving now'” versus "He said (that) he was leaving immediately"); are free in their syntactic form, while indirect quotations are subject to language-specific structural requirements (e.g. indirect quotations in many
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...
are required to have the syntactic form of a
well-formed declarative
subordinate clause
A subordinate clause, dependent clause, subclause, or embedded clause is a clause that is embedded within a complex sentence. For instance, in the English sentence "I know that Bette is a dolphin", the clause "that Bette is a dolphin" occurs as t ...
); incorporate extralinguistic material and pragmatic markers, while indirect quotations do not. Crucially, direct quotations have a performative aspect (i.e. occur simultaneously with re-enactments of previous behaviours), which indirect quotations lack.
Both direct and indirect quotations in spoken discourse are not intended to be
verbatim
Verbatim means word for word.
Verbatim may also refer to:
* Verbatim (brand), a brand of storage media and flash memory
* Verbatim (horse), an American racehorse
* ''Verbatim'' (magazine), edited by Erin McKean
* Verbatim theatre
Documentary the ...
reproductions of an utterance that has been produced. Instead, direct quotations convey the approximative meaning of such an utterance along with the way in which that utterance was produced. From a
sociolinguistic
Sociolinguistics is the descriptive study of the effect of any or all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context, on the way language is used, and society's effect on language. It can overlap with the sociology of l ...
perspective, a direct quotation in spoken discourse can therefore also be defined as “a performance whereby speakers re-enact previous behaviour (speech/thought/sound/voice effect and gesture) while assuming the dramatic role of the original source of this reported behaviour”.
Indirect quotations are simply paraphrases of something that a reporting speaker heard.
Reasons for using
Quotations are employed in spoken discourse for many reasons. They are often used by speakers to depict stories and events that have occurred in the past to other
interlocutors. The speaker does not necessarily have to have been an original participant in the story or event. Therefore, they can quote something that they did not hear firsthand. Quotations are also used to express thoughts that have never been uttered aloud prior to being quoted. For example, while telling a story, a speaker quotes inner thoughts that they had during a specific situation. Finally, speakers use quotations to propose future dialogue for participants in a situation that may take place in the future. For example, two friends talk about their 10-year high school reunion that will take place in the future and propose what they would say. While future dialogue can be proposed for a situation that will likely happen, it can also be based on a situation that will not actually take place. In the latter usage, the proposed dialogue only exists in the conversational context.
The quoted material is usually not a verbatim replication of an utterance that someone originally said. Instead, quotations in spoken discourse reproduce what a speaker wishes to communicate to their recipients; quotations demonstrate something that someone said, the manner in which that person said it, and the current speaker’s feelings about what was said.
In this way, quotations are an especially effective storytelling device; the speaker is able to give a voice to the protagonists in their stories themselves, which allows the speaker’s audience to experience the situation in the way that the speaker themselves experienced it.
Form
In most languages, quotations in spoken discourse are introduced by a
verb of saying and a
pronoun
In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun (abbreviated ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase.
Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the parts of speech, but some modern theorists would not co ...
. For example, a quotation in English can be introduced by “She said”. In some languages, there is a
discourse marker
A discourse marker is a word or a phrase that plays a role in managing the flow and structure of discourse. Since their main function is at the level of discourse (sequences of utterances) rather than at the level of utterances or sentences, disco ...
in addition to the verb of saying that functions as verbal quotation marks.
For example, Japanese uses the quotative particle (a type of quotative marker) ''to'' along with the
conjugated verb of saying ''itta'':
Gloss: TOP=Topic Marker DAT=Dative NOM=Nominative COM=complementizer
:
Verbs of saying (known as quotative verbs when used to introduce quotations) and quotative particles are used as quotative markers, which signal quotations in utterances.
Quotative evidentials are also used in some languages to indicate quoted speech (e.g.
Cusco Quechua
Cuzco Quechua ( qu, Qusqu qhichwa simi) is a dialect of Southern Quechua spoken in Cuzco and the Cuzco Region of Peru.
It is the Quechua variety used by the Academia Mayor de la Lengua Quechua in Cuzco, which also prefers the Spanish-based five- ...
spoken in Peru,
Nanti
Nanti is an Arawakan language spoken by approximately 250 people in southeastern Peruvian Amazonia, principally in a number of small communities located near the headwaters of the Camisea and Timpía Rivers. It belongs to the Kampan branch of ...
spoken in lowland southeastern Peru,
Laal spoken in Chad).
Quotative markers
Quotative markers are used to mark a section of an utterance as quoted speech (i.e. a quotation). In oral speech, quotative markers act as quotation marks and often include a verb of saying (e.g. ''say''). A quotative marker usually appears either before or after the reported speech or thought, depending on the
syntax
In linguistics, syntax () is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure ( constituency) ...
of the language.
For example, compare the following languages:
=English
=
In English, the quotative verb ''say'' occurs before the quotation:
:: a. She said “Will you answer the phone, will you answer the phone”
[Frederica Barbieri. ''Quotative Use in American English'', Journal of English Linguistics, Vol. 33/No.3, September 2005.]
In American English, verbs such as ''be like'', ''go'', and ''be all'' are non-standard quotatives that are commonly used in
colloquial speech
Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom normally employed in conversa ...
.
They are observed in the speech of young people not only in American English, but in other
varieties
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
of English as well (e.g. ''be like'' in New Zealand English, ''be like'' and ''go'' in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
English
).
Though not semantically considered verbs of saying, they are used to convey the same meaning as such verbs. Like ''say'', ''be like'', ''go'', and ''be all'' occur before the quotation:
:: b. I'm like "I'm so sorry you had to wait"
:: c. She went "Who are you going with?"
:: d. He's all "Okay, come with me come with me"
In conversational speech, the use of ''say'' and ''be like'' occurs at about the same frequency,
though ''say'' tends to be used in more formal contexts (e.g. office hours between professors and students) and ''be like'' tends to occur in more informal contexts (e.g. a conversation between two young people).
In African American Vernacular English, ''talkin' 'bout'' occurs as a verb of quotation, introducing both direct and indirect quotes, as in:
:: e. They come talkin' 'bout they is scared of ''me''!
=Japanese
=
In Japanese, the quotative particle ''to'' along with the verb of saying ''iu'' (say) occur after the quotation; the conjugated form of ''iu'' (say) is ''itta'':
Gloss: TOP=Topic Marker ACC=Accusative COM=Complementizer HON=Honorific/Polite form
:
The quotative particle ''to'' can also occur with verbs of thinking, such as ''omou'' (think). Like ''to'' and ''iu'' (say), ''to'' and ''omou'' occur after the quotation.
=Laal
=
In
Laal, the quotative evidential ''mɨ́'' is used for non-self quotation
(i.e. quotation in which the speaker quotes someone else, not themself); it is used with a quotative verb ''ɓɨ́lá''. The use of ''mɨ́'' results in an indirect quotation translation. The quotative verb ''bɨ́lá'' occurs before the quotation, while the quotative evidential ''mɨ́'' occurs within the quoted speech ''já mɨ́ nyàg tāā wó'':
Gloss: QEV=Quotative Evidential NEG=Negation
:
As the above sentence involves a non-self quotation, ''à'' (he) and ''já'' (I) have different indices to show that they refer to different
referent
A referent () is a person or thing to which a name – a linguistic expression or other symbol – refers. For example, in the sentence ''Mary saw me'', the referent of the word ''Mary'' is the particular person called Mary who is being spoken of, ...
s; only this interpretation is
well-formed. The interpretation in which they share identical indices is ill-formed (i.e. ungrammatical), as indicated by the asterisk.
In addition to quotative markers, speakers also use
prosodic
In linguistics, prosody () is concerned with elements of speech that are not individual phonetic segments (vowels and consonants) but are properties of syllables and larger units of speech, including linguistic functions such as intonation, str ...
shifts, pauses, pronominal choices, and
tense to detect the occurrence and boundaries of quotations in spoken utterances.
Syntax
Different versions of quotative verbs, particles, and evidentials can be used to express the same idea with varying nuances, often to frame how the primary speaker, or the person who is quoting, feels about a quotation. The syntax of quotations varies cross-linguistically. A primary speaker may use the tense and linguistic idiosyncrasies of the speech at the time it was uttered in a quotation, independent from the tense in the main clause in some languages, or use the same tense in both the main clause and quotation in other languages. They will also use
coreference
In linguistics, coreference, sometimes written co-reference, occurs when two or more expressions refer to the same person or thing; they have the same referent. For example, in ''Bill said Alice would arrive soon, and she did'', the words ''Alice'' ...
d pronouns to the direct quotation's first-person subject in the main clause: She
x said, "I
x..."; they
y said "we
y ..." In many languages, the primary speaker may also attempt to quote an utterance in the same language the original speaker used, even if an interlocutor does not understand it; however, it is mainly context-dependent such as when telling stories.
Quotative verbs
Quotative verbs are lexical verbs that indicate the speech, thoughts, or perceptions of the original speaker.
Quotations can be introduced as the complement to a quotative verb or as the head phrase to an adjunct phrase containing a quotative verb in some languages like English and French.
:
English also displays
verb-second
In syntax, verb-second (V2) word order is a sentence structure in which the finite verb of a sentence or a clause is placed in the clause's second position, so that the verb is preceded by a single word or group of words (a single constituent). ...
(V2) order vestige only in quotation contexts (quotative inversion), requiring the finite verb to appear in the second position of a clause. For example: "No no no" ''says'' Harry.
Direct and indirect quotations are sometimes not distinguishable. Traditionally, English uses an overt complementizer ''that'' after a quotative verb to indicate indirect quotation, but it is also seen to prompt direct quotation in some English varieties like Indian English, Hong Kong English, and Kenyan English.
:
![Aaronx was like ix hate you](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Aaronx_was_like_ix_hate_you.png)
The newer quotative verb ''be like'' in English is used to only introduce direct quotations. ''Be like'' includes the use of the demonstrative ''that'', which is null in most English varieties, but can be optionally overt in some varieties like Glasgow English. Dutch's quotative verb ''hebben zoiets van'' has a similar structure to Standard American English in that it has a null demonstrative that precedes the quotation. It differs from the English structures in that it uses an overt quantifier ''zoiets'' to be
well-formed.
:
Quotative particles
Quotative or hearsay particles are grammatical markers equivalent to full lexical verbs with meanings of ''"say, mention, tell, etc."'' In many languages, they are
grammaticalized
In historical linguistics, grammaticalization (also known as grammatization or grammaticization) is a process of language change by which words representing objects and actions (i.e. nouns and verbs) become grammatical markers (such as affixes or ...
to different extremes from their previously lexical form. Common patterns of grammaticalization trajectories include verb to complementizer in many African and Asian languages and verb to
tense-aspect-mood markers primarily in African languages, but also in Australian languages and multiple other
language families
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The term "family" reflects the tree model of language origination in hi ...
.
![Quotative Particle Ashita hareru tteto yo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Quotative_Particle_Ashita_hareru_tteto_yo.png)
Japanese, for example, uses a sentence-final quotative particle ''tte'' verbally to mean "I heard (quote)" with some uncertainty. In sentence-medial position, ''tte'' is sometimes regarded along with ''to'' to be either a quotative particle or complementizer meaning "I heard (quote)" with less uncertainty and often more knowledge of the origin of the quote.
Gloss: QP=Quotative Particle FP=Final Particle
:
:
Verbs of saying are highly restricted in Australian languages and almost always immediately proceed the complement verb.
Gloss: PL=Plural FUT=Future Tense PST=Past Tense OBL=Oblique Case IRR= Irregular
:
Quotative evidentials
Quotative or hearsay evidentials provide knowledge of who or where information originated from in speech based on logical assumption. Languages indicate this in various ways: through grammatical marking, additional words and phrases, prosody, gestures, or systematic affixes of verbs. Quotative readings of evidentials are typologically rare. For example, English can express evidentials with an optional adverb, "''Allegedly'', Annie pulled the trigger." The interlocutor then knows the source of the quotation is from elsewhere, but this is not a quotative reading as there is no direct performative quoting or verbs of saying. Languages including Cusco Quechua, Kham, Tagalog, and Kaalallisut are documented as containing quotative evidentials. In languages with "true" quotative evidentials (which usually introduce quoted statements), it is also possible for them to occur with interrogatives and imperatives, yielding quoted interrogatives and quoted imperatives.
Similar to quotative particles, quotative evidentials are usually
grammaticalized
In historical linguistics, grammaticalization (also known as grammatization or grammaticization) is a process of language change by which words representing objects and actions (i.e. nouns and verbs) become grammatical markers (such as affixes or ...
from full lexical verbs.
Nhêengatú, a Tupí-Guaraní
lingua franca
A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...
of North-West Amazonia, has a reported evidential marker ''paá''. An example scenario is as follows: X saw John go fishing. Mary then and asks X where John went. X replies “u-sú u-piniatika” (he went fishing). Later, Peter asks Mary where John went. She replies to Peter that she did not see John go herself, but rather heard it from a different source using the evidential marker “u-sú u-piniatika ''paá.''”
[Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y (2014). The grammar of knowledge: a cross-linguistic view of evidentials, and the expression of information source. Oxford University Press. p.4-5. ]
Gloss: REP=Reported Evidential Marker
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Tagalog's quotative evidentials are used with imperative quotations.
Gloss: INF=Infix REP=Reported Evidential Marker
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Cusco Quechua
Cuzco Quechua ( qu, Qusqu qhichwa simi) is a dialect of Southern Quechua spoken in Cuzco and the Cuzco Region of Peru.
It is the Quechua variety used by the Academia Mayor de la Lengua Quechua in Cuzco, which also prefers the Spanish-based five- ...
's quotative evidential comes as a derivation of a
clitic
In morphology and syntax, a clitic (, backformed from Greek "leaning" or "enclitic"Crystal, David. ''A First Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics''. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1980. Print.) is a morpheme that has syntactic characteristics of a w ...
, ''=si'', for interrogative quotations.
Gloss: ACC=Accusative REP=Reported Evidential Marker TOP=Topic PST=Past Tense
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See also
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Block quotation
A block quotation (also known as a long quotation or extract) is a quotation in a written document that is set off from the main text as a paragraph, or block of text, and typically distinguished visually using Indentation (typesetting), indenta ...
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Escape character
In computing and telecommunication, an escape character is a character (computing), character that invokes an alternative interpretation on the following characters in a character sequence. An escape character is a particular case of metacharac ...
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Fallacy of quoting out of context
Quoting out of context (sometimes referred to as contextomy or quote mining) is an informal fallacy in which a passage is removed from its surrounding matter in such a way as to distort its intended meaning. Contextomies may be either intentional o ...
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Musical quotation Musical quotation is the practice of directly quoting another work in a new composition. The quotation may be from the same composer's work (self-referential), or from a different composer's work (appropriation).
Sometimes the quotation is done for ...
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Nested quotation A nested quotation is a quotation that is encapsulated inside another quotation, forming a hierarchy with multiple levels. When focusing on a certain quotation, one must interpret it within its scope. Nested quotation can be used in literature (a ...
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Scare quotes
Scare quotes (also called shudder quotes,Pinker, Steven. ''The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century''. Penguin (2014) sneer quotes, and quibble marks) are quotation marks that writers place around a word o ...
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Sic
The Latin adverb ''sic'' (; "thus", "just as"; in full: , "thus was it written") inserted after a quoted word or passage indicates that the quoted matter has been transcribed or translated exactly as found in the source text, complete with any e ...
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Use–mention distinction
The use–mention distinction is a foundational concept of analytic philosophy, according to which it is necessary to make a distinction between a word (or phrase) and it.Devitt and Sterelny (1999) pp. 40–1 W.V. Quine (1940) p. 24 Many phil ...
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Quotation mark
Quotation marks (also known as quotes, quote marks, speech marks, inverted commas, or talking marks) are punctuation marks used in pairs in various writing systems to set off direct speech, a quotation, or a phrase. The pair consists of an ...
References
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