Quotative

A quotative (abbreviated QUOT) is a grammatical device to mark quoted speech. When a quotation is used, the grammatical person and tense of the original utterance is maintained, rather than adjusting it as would be the case with reported speech. It can be equated with "spoken quotation marks."

Dutch

In Dutch, the preposition van can be used to introduce direct speech:

Ik zei er van Japie sta stil (a line from a children's song).

I said, 'Japie [colloquial diminutive of Jaap], stand still.'

Quotative van can be used in combination with a verb of speech, as in the above example, a noun designating something with message-carrying content, or a light verb, e.g. a copula (like for English quotative like).

In the specific colloquial 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

See also: Like § As a colloquial quotative

In English the most common quotative has historically been the verb say:

He said, 'You'll love it.'  And I said, 'You can't be serious!'

Starting in the late 20th century, the expression be like began to be used frequently as a quotative in colloquial speech:

He was like, 'You'll love it.'  And I was like, 'You can't be serious!'

In speech, the word like 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 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

მოხუცმა

Mokhutsma

he-ERG

იტირა,

it'ira

cry-AOR

როცა

rotsa

when

ვუთხარი,

vutkhari

I told-AOR him

რომ

rom

that

თქვენი

tkveni

your

ვაჟიშვილი

vazhishvili

son-NOM

ჯარში

jar-shi

in the army

უნდა

unda

must

წავიდეს

ts'avides

he goes-OPT

-მეთქი.

metki.

1st person QUOT

 

 

მოხუცმა იტირა, როცა ვუთხარი, რომ თქვენი ვაჟიშვილი ჯარში უნდა წავიდეს -მეთქი.

Mokhutsma it'ira rotsa vutkhari rom tkveni vazhishvili jar-shi unda ts'avides metki.

he-ERG cry-AOR when {I told-AOR him} that your son-NOM {in the army} must {he goes-OPT} {1st person QUOT}

"The old man cried when I told him that his son had to enter the army" lit. "that 'your son has to enter the army.'"

Second and third person quotative

კახეთში

K'akhet-shi

to Kakheti

კი

k'i

but

ინტურისტის

int'urist'is

Intourist-GEN

ექსკურსიას

eksk'ursias

excursion-DAT

უნდა

unda

must

გაყვე

gaqve

you accompany-OPT it

ო.

o.

3rd person QUOT

 

 

კახეთში კი ინტურისტის ექსკურსიას უნდა გაყვე ო.

K'akhet-shi k'i int'urist'is eksk'ursias unda gaqve o.

{to Kakheti} but Intourist-GEN excursion-DAT must {you accompany-OPT it} {3rd person QUOT}

"But (they said) that I had to accompany an Intourist excursion to Kakheti" lit. "that 'you must accompany'"

Note that this second sentence omits an overt verbum dicendi 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 ὅτι:

οἱ

hoi

they

δὲ

dè

but

εἶπον

eîpon

said-AOR

ὅτι

hóti

QUOT

ἱκανοί

hikanoí

ready

ἐσμεν.

esmen

we are-PAI1P

 

 

οἱ δὲ εἶπον ὅτι ἱκανοί ἐσμεν.

hoi dè eîpon hóti hikanoí esmen

they but said-AOR QUOT ready {we are}-PAI1P

"They said that they were ready" lit. "that 'we are ready'"

Japanese

In Japanese, the quotative と [to] is used to indicate direct speech in this sentence:

石田さん

Ishida-san

Mr. Ishida

は

wa

TOP

「トマトが

"tomato ga

tomato-NOM

好きじゃない」

suki janai"

like-NEG

と

to

QUOT

言いました。

iimashita.

say-PAST-POL

石田さん は 「トマトが 好きじゃない」 と 言いました。

Ishida-san wa {"tomato ga} {suki janai"} to iimashita.

{Mr. Ishida} TOP tomato-NOM like-NEG QUOT say-PAST-POL

"Mr. Ishida said that he didn't like tomatoes" lit. "that 'I don't like tomatoes'"

The following example shows the preservation of both grammatical person and the tense in a quoted utterance using the quotative particle:

彼女

Kanojo

She

は

wa

TOP

僕

boku

I

に

ni

DAT

「あなたが

"anata ga

you-NOM

好き

suki

like

だ」

da"

COP

と

to

QUOT

言った。

itta.

say-PAST

 

 

彼女 は 僕 に 「あなたが 好き だ」 と 言った。

Kanojo wa boku ni {"anata ga} suki da" to itta.

She TOP I DAT you-NOM like COP QUOT say-PAST

"She told me that she liked me" lit. "that 'I like you'"

See Japanese grammar for more examples of when と (to) is used.

Korean

In Korean, the marker 라고 rago follows the quoted sentence clause, marking direct quotation as follows:

주현 씨

Joohyun sshi

Ms. Joohyun

는

neun

TOP

저

jeo

I

에게

ege

DAT

"니가

"niga

"you-NOM

좋아"

joha"

like"

라고

rago

QUOT

말했어요.

malhaesseoyo.

say-PAST-POL

{주현 씨} 는 저 에게 "니가 좋아" 라고 말했어요.

{Joohyun sshi} neun jeo ege "niga joha" rago malhaesseoyo.

{Ms. Joohyun} TOP I DAT "you-NOM like" QUOT say-PAST-POL

"Joohyun told me that she liked me." lit. "that 'I like you.'"

The verb 말하다 malhada, "to say", is often shortened to 하다 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 ㄴ/는다고 n/neundago (ㄴ다고 ndago after vowels, 는다고 neundago after consonants) is attached to the quoted verb. When quoting adjectives, 다고 dago is used:

주현 씨

Joohyun sshi

Ms. Joohyun

는

neun

TOP

저

jeo

I

에게

ege

DAT

제가

jega

I-NOM

좋다고

johtago

like-QUOT

했어요.

haesseoyo.

say-PAST-POL

{주현 씨} 는 저 에게 제가 좋다고 했어요.

{Joohyun sshi} neun jeo ege jega johtago haesseoyo.

{Ms. Joohyun} TOP I DAT I-NOM like-QUOT say-PAST-POL

"Joohyun told me that she liked me."

When quoting the copula 이다 ida, the marker 라고 rago is used instead:

경수 씨

Kyungsoo sshi

Mr. Kyungsoo

는

neun

TOP

저

jeo

I

에게

ege

DAT

아직

ajik

still

학생이라고

haksaeng-irago

student-COP-QUOT

했어요.

haesseoyo.

say-PAST-POL

{경수 씨} 는 저 에게 아직 학생이라고 했어요.

{Kyungsoo sshi} neun jeo ege ajik haksaeng-irago haesseoyo.

{Mr. Kyungsoo} TOP I DAT still student-COP-QUOT say-PAST-POL

"Kyungsoo told me that he's still a student."

Question sentences are marked with the quotative marker 냐고 nyago, which changes to 느냐고 neunyago after verbs ending in a consonant and to 으냐고 eunyago after adjectives ending in a consonant.

저

Jeo

I

는

neun

TOP

윤아 씨

yoona sshi

Ms. Yoona

에게

ege

DAT

망고

mang-go

mango

를

reul

SUBJ

먹어본

meogeobon

eat-try-PAST-ATTR

적이

jeogi

experience-SUBJ

있냐고

innyago

have-Q-QUOT

물어봤어요.

mureobwasseoyo.

ask-PAST-POL

저 는 {윤아 씨} 에게 망고 를 먹어본 적이 있냐고 물어봤어요.

Jeo neun {yoona sshi} ege mang-go reul meogeobon jeogi innyago mureobwasseoyo.

I TOP {Ms. Yoona} DAT mango SUBJ eat-try-PAST-ATTR experience-SUBJ have-Q-QUOT ask-PAST-POL

"I asked Yoona if she has tried mango." lit. "has the experience of eating mango"

저

Jeo

I

는

neun

TOP

종대 씨

Jongdae sshi

Mr. Jongdae

에게

ege

DAT

공원

gong-won

park

으로

euro

towards

가고

gago

go-to

싶으냐고

shipeunyago

want-Q-QUOT

물어봤어요.

mureobwasseoyo.

ask-PAST-POL

저 는 {종대 씨} 에게 공원 으로 가고 싶으냐고 물어봤어요.

Jeo neun {Jongdae sshi} ege gong-won euro gago shipeunyago mureobwasseoyo.

I TOP {Mr. Jongdae} DAT park towards go-to want-Q-QUOT ask-PAST-POL

"I asked Jongdae whether he would like to go to the park."

Sanskrit

In Sanskrit, the quotative marker iti is used to convey the meaning of someone (or something) having said something.

स

sa

He

भषति

bhaṣati

says

इति

iti

QUOT

ते

te

they

तस्य

tasya

his

गृहम्

gṛham

house

आगच्छन्ति

āgacchanti

come

स भषति इति ते तस्य गृहम् आगच्छन्ति

sa bhaṣati iti te tasya gṛham āgacchanti

He says QUOT they his house come

He says that they come to his house (He says, "They come to my house.")

Sinhala

In the following English 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

tanu

ఇంటికి

iṃṭiki

వెళదాము

veḻadāmu

అన్నాడు

annāḍu

తను ఇంటికి వెళదాము అన్నాడు

tanu iṃṭiki veḻadāmu annāḍu

"He said that we will go to home," lit. "He said, 'We'll go home.'"

Turkish

In Turkish, 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 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
• Quoted speech
• Reported speech