Functions of direct and indirect speech Speech orienters

8 Reported speech

8.1 Functions of direct and indirect speech

In general, when the speech and even the thoughts of participants in a narrative are reported, direct speech is used all or most of the time. In some languages this is very obvious: there is no indirect speech in any of the Makonde or Kabwa texts, one instance of indirect speech in the Bena and Kabwa texts, and two in the Malila texts. In Digo, on the other hand, some texts contain far more direct speech than indirect speech—including reporting the inner thoughts of a participant—whereas other texts contain hardly any direct speech at all. In Fuliiru, direct and indirect speech are functionally distinct: indirect speech tends to occur in background material and direct speech in foreground event-line material.

8.2 Speech orienters

A ‘speech orienter’ is a clause that identifies the speaker andor addressee, and optionally may also describe the manner in which the speaker speaks. A speech orienter may contain one or more ‘speech introducers’: a speech verb andor a quotative marker. A quotative marker may be a lexical verb, a reduced verb i.e. one which takes limited inflection and may be phonologically reduced, or fully grammaticalized i.e. an invariable particle which does not inflect. Some quotative markers are also general complementizers which are able to introduce the complements of both speech and someall non-speech verbs. Speech orienters in the eastern Bantu languages surveyed always occur before the speech itself, but languages differ with respect to the distribution and formal properties of the speech introducers, specifically: • the variety of speech verbs that may function as speech introducers, • whether a speech verb is obligatory or optional in a speech orienter, • the number of quotative markers in the language ranging from zero to five, • the morphological characteristics of the quotative marker, • whether a quotative marker if it exists is obligatory or optional in a speech orienter, • whether or not the default quotative marker also functions as a general complementizer. In the remainder of this section, I shall describe the speech verbs and quotative markers used in ten of the languages surveyed. Rangi Stegen 2011:343–534 There is no quotative marker in Rangi. The verb sea ‘say’ or ‘tell’ with an object prefix occurs as the speech verb 273 times. Other speech verbs are ʉrya ‘ask’ twenty four occurrences, wɨɨra ‘tell’ thirteen occurrences , ɨmba ‘sing’ nine occurrences, kemera ‘call’ four occurrences, ɨtika ‘answer’ and andaanza ‘start’ three occurrences each. There was only one instance of sea combined with a complementizer kat ɨ, and this was in one of the very rare cases of indirect speech. Digo Nicolle 2015:35–37 Digo has no quotative marker. The speech verb amba ‘say’ occurs in almost all speech orienters and is fully inflected. It usually occurs alone but is occasionally preceded by another verb. The only other speech verbs which can occur without amba are iha ‘call’ and uza ‘ask’, but these are rare; in one Digo text, amba occurred twenty one times and iha and uza just once each. Amba combines with a complementizer kukala before fewer than half of the occurrences of indirect speech, and never before direct speech. The following example Nicolle 2015:36 shows the speech orienters in a conversation between a man and a lion; the actual speech has been ignored: 152 Yuyu mutu achiamba, “…” this person he.said [consecutive tense] Anaambwa ni hiye simba, “…” he.is.told [continuous aspect, passive] by that lion Anaamba, “…” he.says [continuous aspect, subject is the person] Anaambwa, “…” he.is.told [continuous aspect, passive, subject is the person] Bena Eaton 2015a:39–40 The speech verb tigila ‘say’ occurs in almost all speech orienters and is fully inflected. It occurs either alone or following another speech verb, and never combines with a complementizer. However, the infinitive form ukutigila functions as a complementizer which can be used with matrix verbs including ‘hear’, ‘realize’ and ‘know’, and also with ‘tell’ where the complement is indirect speech Eaton 2015a:24: 153 U-Ndandadzi ihelelaga kwa muhindza uyo kumulongela ukutigila vagelanidze inoolani. Spider went to girl that to.tell.her COMP they.arrange wedding ‘Spider went to that girl to tell her that they should arrange a wedding.’ Malila Eaton 2015b:33–35 The verb -t ɨ ‘say’ is an obligatory part of all speech orienters, usually occurring alone but occasionally following another speech verb either with the same inflection as the previous verb or in the infinitive. It is phonologically reduced i.e. it has a monosyllabic stem and does not end in the usual final vowel a and grammatically ‘defective’ i.e. it takes inflectional prefixes and suffixes but the stem is invariable and does not take derivational suffixes. The infinitive form k ʉtɨ functions as a complementizer with non- speech verbs such as ‘plan’. Examples of -t ɨ functioning as a speech introducer inflected for subject and tense and as a complementizer in the infinitive are provided below. In example 156 the infinitive form k ʉtɨ can be interpreted either as a speech verb or as a complementizer; this illustrates the kind of ‘critical context’ Diewald 2002:103 in which the complementizer use could have developed: Eaton 2015b:56 154 ɄSankonya akhatoneela akhatɨ, “…” Sankonya she.interrupted [ NARR ] she.said [ NARR ] ibid. 69 155 Abhalɨndʉ bhakhatɨ, “…” girls they.said [ NARR ] 156 Bhamu bhakhalɨnga kʉmʉbhʉzɨɨlɨzya kʉtɨ, “…” others they.tried to.ask.him saying COMP ibid. 71 157 bhakhalola kʉtɨ atalɨ… they.saw COMP he.was.not.there Jita Pyle and Robinson 2015:39–41 Speech orienters in Jita almost always consist of an invariable quotative marker the complementizer ati proceeded by an optional speech verb. Occasionally ati may be omitted before indirect speech or when the speech verb includes an object marker: naamubhwira ‘he told him’, naamfumati ‘he insulted him like this’, naamuganyaga ‘he was preventing him’, naamubhusya ‘he asked him’ and naakabhusya ‘he asked it’. Jita has a distinct lexical verb ika ‘say’ which co-occurs with ati e.g. naayika ati ‘he said that’. The following conversation Pyle and Robinson 2015:47 illustrates the use of ati as a quotative marker following a speech verb before direct speech, as a sentence-initial interpretive use marker Sperber and Wilson 1986:224–254, as a quotative marker without a preceding speech verb, and as a complementizer introducing indirect speech within a direct quotation: 158 Wasongo nabhuusya Mutuuju ati “Ati owayika kutiki goowu?” Chameleon he.asked Hare COMP INTERPRETIVE _ USE you.say how mister Mutuuju ati “Naayika ati nikukirire bhuri chiinu.” Hare COMP I.have.said COMP I.have.surpassed.you every thing ‘Chameleon asked Hare, “What exactly are you saying mister?” Hare said, “I said that I am better than you at everyting.”’ Suba-Simbiti Masatu 2015:29–30 Most speech orienters in Suba-Simbiti consist of a speech verb and an invariable quotative marker the complementizer igha. Speech verbs can occur without igha and igha can occasionally occur without a speech verb, although this is rare. Suba-Simbiti has a distinct lexical verb ghamba ‘say’ which may occur without igha or with igha, as in the example below Masatu 2015:44: 159 Omoghaaka uyö akamohonshora igha “…” old.man that he.answered.him COMP ‘That old man answered him, “…”’ Kwaya Odom 2015:35–39 Speech orienters in Kwaya consist of an optional invariable quotative marker the complementizer ati preceded by an optional speech verb. There is considerable variation between texts over the use of ati; some texts introduce almost every direct quote with ati optionally preceded by a speech verb and other texts introduce most direct quotes with just a verb, or sometimes with no speech orienter at all. Kwaya has a distinct lexical verb ika ‘say’ which usually co-occurs with ati. The first conversation below shows the quotative marker ati with and without speech verbs, and the second conversation shows speech verbs without a quotative marker: Odom 2015:72 160 Naabhabhwira ati “Munaane amanji gaani.” he.told.them COMP you.give.me water my Ati “Kitari nago, kyetira.” COMP we.are.not with.it we.have.poured.it Naabhabhwira ati “Munaane gimaro.” he.told.them COMP you.give.me knives ‘He told them, “Give me my water.” They said, “We don’t have it, we have poured it away.” He told them, “Give me knives.”’ ibid. 44 161 Kimwi mbamubhwira, “Utakugenda awe omwene…” so they.told.her you.not.go you yourself Anu :bhaakingire mu-njira omugaya uyo naasabha omuyara uyo emyenda, there when.they.arrived in-path servant that she.asked girl that clothes “Naanako omwenda gwawo gunu niirenge.” I.request clothes your these I.try.them.on ‘So they told her, “You are not going by yourself…” When they came to the path that servant asked that girl for clothes saying, “I am requesting your clothes, I should try them on.”’ Fuliiru Van Otterloo 2015:60–63 Fuliiru uses various optional speech verbs deta ‘speak’, bwira ‘say’, buuza ‘ask’, ganuula ‘chat’, komeereza ‘insist’, lahira ‘disagree’, longoola ‘discuss’, naaka ‘argue’, shuvya ‘answer’, tendeera ‘beg’, yemeera ‘agree’, yidodomba ‘murmur’ etc., and various optional quotative markers. The default quotative marker with direct speech is ti 38 ; it can occur alone without an accompanying spech verb, but is not obligatory, especially in conversations. The quotative marker kwokwo or kwokuno ‘thus’ is used for emphasis, for example near the peak of a narrative. Three complementizers also function as quotative markers: kwo is used to introduce indirect speech, and mbu and ngu occur very occasionally. Van Otterloo 2011:489 comments, “Basically mbu and ngu function in just the same way as ti, but are used much less frequently.” Ideophones are often introduced with ti, mbu or ngu. Makonde Leach 2015:97–105 Most speech orienters in Makonde contain an optional speech verb and an optional quotative marker. Various speech verbs occur, and there are five quotative markers, all of which are forms of doni ‘thus’. The three most common are: kudo, which introduces new direct speech or a change of direction in a conversation or monologue; the longer form kudoni, which is used to introduce rejections; and the short form do, which is used where there is continuity such as responses and speeches that connect with the previous action. Speeches introduced with do usually start with a vocative, an interjection or the connector ba, and do introduces almost all ideophones. When there is a change of speaker part way through a closed conversation, it is possible to have no speech orienter when the following conditions apply: “Any speech without a speech introducer always starts with an interjection, a negativepositive particle, or a vocative; as these almost always occur in utterance-initial position, their presence eliminates any doubt as to where one speech begins and another ends.” Leach 2015:101 The following example Leach 2015:100 illustrates the use of the quotative marker kudo to introduce a new direct speech—actually an expression of the speaker’s thoughts, as there is no interlocutor present—and a change of direction in the speaker’s thoughts: 162 Litunu aaloka kundila kulola kudo: “Inyama abaa I jo nyangu aju?” Hyena he.coming on.road looked QUOTE meat EXCLAM it.is.not that my.friend this Kudo: “Um nyangu hanava doni.” QUOTE no my.friend he.is.not thus ‘When Hyena was on the road he looked and exclaimed, “My goodness, meat But isn’t this my friend?” Then he said, “Definitely not, my friend doesn’t look like this.”’ 38 For a detailed account of the quotative marker ti in Shona and other Bantu languages, arguing for an origin in a lexical verb meaning ‘bedo thus’, see Güldemann 2002. Kabwa Walker 2011:39–40 Various speech verbs occur in speech orienters in Kabwa. A speech verb is obligatory and an invariable quotative marker the complementizer ega occurs in about half of all speech orienters.

8.3 A proposed linguistic cycle for speech orienters