A quotative (
abbreviated
An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...
) is a
grammatical
In linguistics, grammaticality is determined by the conformity to language usage as derived by the grammar of a particular variety (linguistics), speech variety. The notion of grammaticality rose alongside the theory of generative grammar, the go ...
device to mark
quoted speech in some
language
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...
s, and as such it preserves the
grammatical person
In linguistics, grammatical person is the grammatical distinction between deictic references to participant(s) in an event; typically the distinction is between the speaker ( first person), the addressee ( second person), and others (third pers ...
and
tense of the original utterance rather than adjusting it as would be the case with
reported speech
In linguistics, indirect speech (also reported speech or indirect discourse) is a grammatical mechanism for reporting the content of another utterance without directly quoting it. For example, the English sentence ''Jill said she was coming'' i ...
. It can be equated with "spoken
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".
Dutch
In
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
, the
preposition
Prepositions and postpositions, together called adpositions (or broadly, in traditional grammar, simply prepositions), are a class of words used to express spatial or temporal relations (''in'', ''under'', ''towards'', ''before'') or mark various ...
''
van'' can be used to introduce direct speech:
:''Ik zei er van Japie sta stil'' (a line from a
children's song
A children's song may be a nursery rhyme set to music, a song that children invent and share among themselves or a modern creation intended for entertainment, use in the home or education. Although children's songs have been recorded and studied ...
).
:I said, 'Japie
colloquial_diminutive">/nowiki>colloquial_diminutive_of_ colloquial_diminutive">/nowiki>colloquial_diminutive_of_ Jaap.html"_;"title="Jaap_(given_name).html"_;"title="diminutive.html"_;"title="/nowiki>colloquial_diminutive">/nowiki>colloquial_diminutive_of_Jaap_(given_name)">Jaap">Jaap_(given_name).html"_;"title="diminutive.html"_;"title="/nowiki>colloquial_diminutive">/nowiki>colloquial_diminutive_of_Jaap_(given_name)">Jaap_stand_still.'
Quotative_''van''_can_be_used_in_combination_with_a_Verbum_dicendi.html" ;"title="Jaap_(given_name)">Jaap.html" ;"title="Jaap_(given_name).html" ;"title="diminutive.html" ;"title="/nowiki>colloquial diminutive">/nowiki>colloquial diminutive of Jaap (given name)">Jaap">Jaap_(given_name).html" ;"title="diminutive.html" ;"title="/nowiki>colloquial diminutive">/nowiki>colloquial diminutive of Jaap (given name)">Jaap stand still.'
Quotative ''van'' can be used in combination with a Verbum dicendi">verb of speech, as in the above example, a noun designating something with message-carrying content, or a light verb, e.g. a copula (linguistics), copula (like for English quotative ''like
In English, the word ''like'' has a very flexible range of uses, ranging from conventional to non-standard. It can be used as a noun, verb, adverb, adjective, preposition, particle, conjunction, hedge, filler, and quotative.
Uses Comparisons
' ...
'').
In the specific colloquial
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 conver ...
combination ''zoiets hebben van'' (literally, "have something suchlike of"), the subsequent quoted speech conveys a (possibly unspoken) feeling:
:''De ouders hadden zoiets van laten we het maar proberen, wie weet lukt het.''
:The parents were like, let's try it, who knows it will work.
English
In English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
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 ...
, forms of the verb
A verb () is a word (part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descri ...
'' be like'' are used as a quotative:
:''He was like, 'You'll love it.' And I was like, 'You can't be serious!''
In speech, the word ''like
In English, the word ''like'' has a very flexible range of uses, ranging from conventional to non-standard. It can be used as a noun, verb, adverb, adjective, preposition, particle, conjunction, hedge, filler, and quotative.
Uses Comparisons
' ...
'' in this use is typically followed by a brief pause, indicated here with a comma. This quotative construction is particularly common for introducing direct speech indicating someone's attitude.
Georgian
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
marks quoted speech with one of two suffixes depending on the grammatical person of who made the original utterance, -მეთქი for the first person and -ო for the second and third person.
The following sentences show the use of the first person and non-first person quotative particles respectively. Note the preservation of both the person and tense of the original utterances:
First person quotative
Second and third person quotative
Note that this second sentence omits an overt verbum dicendi
A ''verbum dicendi'' (Latin for "word of speaking" or "verb of speaking"), also called verb of utterance, is a word that expresses speech or introduces a quotation. English examples of verbs of speaking include ''say'', ''utter'', ''ask'' and ''ru ...
since the original speaker is already known, and context makes it clear that the speaker was the original addressee.
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek can mark quoted speech in prose with the subordinating conjunction
In grammar, a conjunction (abbreviated or ) is a part of speech that connects words, phrases, or clauses that are called the conjuncts of the conjunctions. That definition may overlap with that of other parts of speech and so what constitutes a ...
ὅτι:
Japanese
In Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
, the quotative と ois used to indicate direct speech in this sentence:
The following example shows the preservation of both grammatical person and the tense in a quoted utterance using the quotative particle:
See Japanese grammar
Japanese is an agglutinative, synthetic, mora-timed language with simple phonotactics, a pure vowel system, phonemic vowel and consonant length, and a lexically significant pitch-accent. Word order is normally subject–object–verb with parti ...
for more examples of when と (to) is used.
Korean
In Korean, the marker ''rago'' follows the quoted sentence clause, marking direct quotation as follows:
The verb ''malhada'', "to say", is often shortened to ''hada'', meaning "to do". This is because the quotative marker alone makes it obvious the quote was said by someone, so saying the whole verb is redundant.
Indirect quotation works similarly, albeit using different markers. When quoting a plain sentence, the marker ''n/neundago'' ( ''ndago'' after vowels, ''neundago'' after consonants) is attached to the quoted verb. When quoting adjectives, ''dago'' is used:
When quoting the copula ''ida'', the marker ''rago'' is used instead:
Question sentences are marked with the quotative marker ''nyago'', which changes to ''neunyago'' after verbs ending in a consonant and to ''eunyago'' after adjectives ending in a consonant.
Sanskrit
In Sanskrit, the quotative marker ''iti'' is used to convey the meaning of someone (or something) having said something.
Sinhala
In the following English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
sentence, no word indicates the quoted speech.
''John said, "Wow,"''
That is indicated only typographically. In Sinhala, on the other hand, here is the equivalent sentence:
''John Wow kiyalaa kivvaa''
It has an overt indication of quoted speech after the quoted string ''Wow'', the quotative ''kiyalaa''.
Telugu
In Telugu, traditionally the words ''andi'' (for female and neuter singular), meaning ''she said that'' or ''it said'', ''annāḍu'' (for male singular), meaning ''he said that'' and ''annāru'' (for plural), meaning ''They said'' are used as quotative markers. However, in recent times, many Telugu speakers are resorting to use the Latin quotation marks ("...") to convey speech.
For Example,
తను ఇంటికి వెళదాము అన్నాడు (''tanu iṃṭiki veḻadāmu annāḍu'')
means, ''He said that we will go to home'', literally, ''He Said, "We'll go home"''.
Turkish
In Turkish
Turkish may refer to:
*a Turkic language spoken by the Turks
* of or about Turkey
** Turkish language
*** Turkish alphabet
** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
*** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey
*** Turkish communities and mi ...
, direct speech is marked by following it by a form of the verb '' demek'' ("to say"), as in
:''Hastayım' dedi.''
:'I am ill', he said.
In particular, the word '' diye'' (literally "saying"), a participle
In linguistics, a participle () (from Latin ' a "sharing, partaking") is a nonfinite verb form that has some of the characteristics and functions of both verbs and adjectives. More narrowly, ''participle'' has been defined as "a word derived from ...
of ''demek'', is used to mark quoted speech when another verb of utterance than ''demek'' is needed:
:''Hastayım mı?' diye sordu.''
:'Am I ill?', he asked.
In contrast, indirect speech uses the opposite order. The reported utterance is preceded by the verb of utterance and introduced by the conjunctive particle '' ki'', comparable to English "that":
:''Dedi ki hastaydı.''
:He said that he was ill.
See also
* Verbum dicendi
A ''verbum dicendi'' (Latin for "word of speaking" or "verb of speaking"), also called verb of utterance, is a word that expresses speech or introduces a quotation. English examples of verbs of speaking include ''say'', ''utter'', ''ask'' and ''ru ...
* Quoted speech
* Reported speech
In linguistics, indirect speech (also reported speech or indirect discourse) is a grammatical mechanism for reporting the content of another utterance without directly quoting it. For example, the English sentence ''Jill said she was coming'' i ...
References
{{Reflist
Parts of speech