quotative

English

Noun

quotative (plural quotatives)

1. (grammar) A grammatical device to mark quoted speech, such as be like in "he was like, 'who are you?'".
2. (linguistics) A form of the complementizer related to the verb say, found in many languages of West Africa and South Asia.

Adjective

quotative (not comparable)

1. (grammar) Serving to mark quoted speech.

Derived terms

• quotatively
• quotativeness