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	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	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	δὲ	εἶπον	ὅτι	ἱκανοί	ἐσμεν.
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	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-polite
"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	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	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-polite
"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	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-polite
"Joohyun told me that she liked me."

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

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-polite
"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	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-attrib.	experience-subj.	have-question-quot.	ask-past-polite
"I asked Yoona if she has tried mango." lit. "has the experience of eating mango"

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-question-quot.	ask-past-polite
"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	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 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, 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