Quotative

A quotative is a grammatical device to mark quoted speech in some languages, and as such it preserves the grammatical person and tense of the original utterance rather than adjusting it as would be the case with reported speech. It can be equated with "spoken quotation marks". In the English sentence

John said, "Wow,"

there is no word indicating that we are dealing with quoted speech. This is only indicated typographically. In Sinhala on the other hand, the equivalent sentence

John Wow kiyalaa kivvaa

has an overt indication of quoted speech after the quoted string Wow, the quotative kiyalaa.

Dutch

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

Ik zei er van Japie sta still (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

In English colloquial speech, forms of the verb 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 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.

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.	me	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.

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' "

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