Quotative
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Through Quotation, Grammatical tense and Indirect speech
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.
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English
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
"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
"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
"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
"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
"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
"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
"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
"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
"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
"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
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
"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.