Indirect speech

[Xing]

They said: "We are going to the cinema."
They said that they were going to the cinema.

Wa‘tē

Ko i‘ni ā xōru, "e laka ā ʻma mō ta maromaʻla."
PRFT say ERG 3PL PRST go ERG 1PL ALL DEF cinema
Ko iʻni ā xōru xui laka ā ʻma mō ta maromaʻla.
PRFT say ERG 3PL that go ERG 1PL ALL DEF cinema

[valiums]

They said: "We are going to the cinema."
They said that they were going to the cinema.

Wa‘tē

Ko i‘ni ā xōru, "e laka ā ʻma mō ta maromaʻla."
PRFT say ERG 3PL PRST go ERG 1PL ALL DEF cinema
Ko iʻni ā xōru xui laka ā ʻma mō ta maromaʻla.
PRFT say ERG 3PL that go ERG 1PL ALL DEF cinema

Heba
...has a set of pronouns just for this.
Hir peot Nir tami lömihääsæs.
3PL say-PRF 3PL* walk [DEF]cinema-LOC

Hir peot hir tami (tamoti) lömihääsæs.
3PL say-PRF 3PL walk (walk.PRF) [DEF]cinema-LOC

[DanH34]

They said: "We are going to the house". (A group of men and women were on their way when I spoke to them).

zaik gAizhlon: "zvaik igaarrjeim Id"
z-Ø-aik g-Aizhlo-n: "zv-Ø-aik igaarr-jeim Ø-I-d"
3-ABS.-PL.ANDR PAST-say-SIMPLE: "1+3-ABS-PL.ANDR house-LATIVE PRESENT-go-PROG"

They said that they were going to the house. (A group of men and women were on their way when I spoke to them).

zaik gAizhlon h-yt [zaik] igaarrjeim gId.
z-Ø-aik g-Aizhlo-n hyt [z-Ø-aik] igaarr-jeim g-I-d"
3-ABS.-PL.ANDR PAST-say-SIMPLE SUBORDINATOR-GENERIC [1+3-ABS-PL.ANDR] house-LATIVE PAST-go-PROG"

In the second example, 'zaik gAizhlon hyt' - 'they said that' could be replaced with 'zanoth', an evidential meaning 'someone has told me and I report to you as fact that...'.

Dan

[vampireshark]

A- They said: "We are going to the cinema."
B- They said that they were going to the cinema.
(Implied: single action)

Telèmor
A- Dirãt: ‹Idom èo teiatru›.
[diˈrɐ̃t ˈi.dom ø tejˈa.tɾu]
speak.3.PL.PST go.1.PL.PRS to.M.DEF theater

B- Dirãt çe assãt èo teiatru.
[diˈrɐ̃t t͡ʃɛ asˈsɐ̃t ø tejˈa.tɾu]
speak.3.PL.PST that go.3.SBJV.PST to.M.DEF theater

In B, the imperfect subjunctive is required because, at the time of the action, it is not known whether or not the action was definitively completed; it was in progress at that point. Also, after the marker çe, the subjunctive is always obligatory.

Nitpick: ç should actually be c-comma, not c-cedilla, but this forum won't correctly represent the former...

[taylorS]

Alpic:

A quotative "po" is used in the first one.

Vorulso po "Imo don sineman".
say-PST-3PL QUOTE go-1PL DEF-DAT cinema-DAT

Vorulso zje iloso don sineman.
say-PST-3PL REL go-SUBJ.PST-3PL DEF-DAT cinema-DAT

[Imralu]

Epic necro!

Alpic:

A quotative "po" is used in the first one.

Funny, it's ho in my language.

Ngolu / Iliaqu

Ti zois iju zi ho hu zinema inu.
[tí zoís‿iʒú zí hó hú zinemâ‿jnû]
PRF say NOM.3P.DEF.ICS ACC.3S.SPEC QUOT come/go cinema NOM.1P.ICS
They said "We are going to the cinema."

Ti zois iju jo hu zinema iju.
[tí zoís‿iʒú ʒó hú zinemâ‿jʒû]
PRF say NOM.3P.DEF.ICS ACC.C come/go cinema NOM.3P.DEF.ICS
They said that they were going to the cinema.

[Tuyono]

Źilaa Ruńu

Assuming they were just heading out:

śaluhaa: deźan (al) nde leen naberaĺar.
say-PFV-3PL go.from.IPF-1PL (here) to house.OBL VN-dance-OBL
They said: we are going to the dancing-house.

śaluhaa nguha deźa (al) nde leen naberaĺar.
say-PFV-3PL COMP go.from.IPF-3PL (here) to house.OBL VN-dance-OBL
They said that they were going to the dancing-house.

[Reyzadren]

griuskant (without the conscript)

raeses yalka [aeskes kin zira ki haervgroug].
/'resəs 'jalka 'eskəs kin 'zˤira ki 'hervgrɔug/
3PL word-V 1PL will go-V to movie.place

raeses kiga zhaed raeses kin zira ki haervgroug.
/'resəs 'kiga ʒed 'resəs kin 'zˤira ki 'hervgrɔug/
3PL talk-V COMP 3PL will go-V to movie.place

[Lao Kou]

Epic necro!

Epic!

Géarthnuns

Beth lé ngamath „Trízh la chü içdimtelímarangíksüv kadiz.”
3DUAL-NOM AUX.PAST say „1DUAL-NOM AUX.PRES DEF cinema-LOC go”
They said, "We are going to the cinema."

Beth lé, gü thpau lé chü içdimtelímarangíksüv höikadiz sho, ngamath.
3DUAL-NOM AUX.PAST, CONJ 3-NOM AUX.PAST DEF cinema-LOC go-DISC PTCL, say
They said that they were going to the cinema.

---

More information on indirect discourse in Géarthnuns can be found here

[Iyionaku]

Mandarin

Chinese, as far as I know, doesn't mark indirect speech.

他们说：“我们在去电影院”
Tāmen shuō: “Wŏmen zài qù diànyĭngyuàn.”
3PL say: 1PL PROG go cinema
They said: "We are going to the cinema."

他们说他们在去电影院。
Tāmen shuō tāmen zài qù diànyĭngyuàn.
3PL say 3PL PROG go cinema
They said that they were going to the cinema.

[Frislander]

Asta

Ok, this is a bit complicated, since Asta has three different constructions relating to reported speech, and I will give examples of each.

yastiyə. "mini‘xi‘xwə tansiyinyəx."
y-astə-yə min-VCC-i‘x-wə t-ansi-yən-yəx
Ip-speak-PRF 1p-PROG-walk-PROG Vs-sing-place-ADV
They spoke. "We are going to the theatre."

This is the typical format for direct speech used in theatre. As there is a sentence break in between "they speak" and "we are going to the cinema", there is often a corresponding pause.

xwən mini‘xi‘xwə tansiyinyəx
xwən min-VCC-i‘x-wə t-ansi-yən-yəx
QUOT 1p-PROG-walk-PROG Vs-sing-plce-ADV
They said "we are going to the theatre"

This is a true quotative construction, and would be the typical way of reporting speech in natural conversation. This construction features no pause akin to that found in the first construction, and indeed the quotative particle is typically unstressed outside of careful speech.

‘i‘astatriyə ‘ix‘iyəx tansiyinyəx
‘i-‘-astə<atr>-yə ‘-i‘x-‘ə-yəx t-ansi-yən-yəx
3erg-IV-speak<APPL>-PRF IV-walk-NOM-ADV Vs-sing-place-ADV
They spoke of going to the theatre.

This is the closest thing to a true indirect construction, however it is fairly formal and, and not really suited to long stretches of reported speech.

[nmn]

Z̧uǯ

Won juzrł zú: "Jon séa ščó mwne."
3 say-PST QUOT 1 go cinema STEM
They said: "We are going to the cinema."

Won juzrł non - won séa ščó mwne.
3 say-PST this 3 go cinema STEM
They said that they were going to the cinema.

[Jackk]

Boral:

Il disern — Nos sorteu all'odysse.
Il disern il sorçen all'odysse.
They said, "We're going to the cinema".
They said they were going to the cinema.

[Ser]

Mandarin

Chinese, as far as I know, doesn't mark indirect speech.

他们说：“我们在去电影院”
Tāmen shuō: “Wŏmen zài qù diànyĭngyuàn.”
3PL say: 1PL PROG go cinema
They said: "We are going to the cinema."

他们说他们在去电影院。
Tāmen shuō tāmen zài qù diànyĭngyuàn.
3PL say 3PL PROG go cinema
They said that they were going to the cinema.

Yes. It amuses me that it doesn't do it even when it comes to prohibitives, for which it has the special negative marker 別 bie2.

他說， 「別碰電線！」。
ta1 shuo1, "bie2 peng2 dian4xian4!"
3SG say PROHIB touch wire
He said, "Don't touch the wire!"

他說別碰電線。
ta1 shuo1 bie2 peng4 dian4xian4
3SG say PROHIB touch wire
He said not to touch the wire.

[gestaltist]

Īsmay

Īk eyes ūbwūć nuennajī.
They said that they were going to the theater.

I'll start with this one as it's syntactically simpler. The dubitative mood is used for reported speech.

Code: Select all

3pf	say\CONT	go-3pf\AOR.DUB	to=theater
īk	eyes		ūbwu-yk	nu=ennajī

Dal yosūć (īk) linta: "Issa bovussu nuennajī."
They said: "We are going to the theater."

Code: Select all

DEM.PROX.3sa	say-3pf\AOR.PUNC	(3pf)	EQ.CNJ=COORD	1p.EXCL go<1p.EXCL>\NPST.PUNC	to=theater
dal		yusu-yk			(īk)	lin-tâ		issa	buwu<ss>u		nu=ennajī

Īsmay has a hard time making a subordinate clause into the direct object. Because of that, the construction above is commonly used, where a cataphoric proximal demonstrative 3rd person, singular abstract refers to the following clause introduced with the equative conjunction. A semi-literal translation would be: "They said this, which is: "We are going to the theater.""

[Dormouse559]

Silvish

Î-z an dì : « Nou-z allanz â sinemà ».
[ʔiː.zɑ̃ˈdi | nu.zɑl.lɑ̃n.zɑː.si.nəˈma]
3=P have.3P say | 1P go-1P to.DEF.OBL.M cinema
They said: "We are going to the cinema."

Î-z an dì qu' î-z allouye â sinemà.
[ʔiː.zɑ̃ˈdi kiː.zɑˈlu.jə ʔɑː.si.nəˈma]
3=P have.3P say SBRD 3-P go-IPF to.DEF.OBL.M cinema
They said that they were going to the cinema.

Another word for "cinema/movie theater" is ternajì [tɛʁnəˈʑi], a shortening of lanterna majica, lit. "magic lantern". For "cinema" as an abstract term, one always uses sinemà.

[spanick]

Weddisch (edited from Nortsääenglisch)

Dey seide, “Wie sinn an det cinema gangen.”
/dɛɪ zɛɪdə | viː zɪnː an dɛt sɪnəma gaŋgən/
3.P say-PST 1.P be.P on the cinema go.GER
They said, “We are going to the cinema.”

Dey seide det dey an det cinema gangen wears.
/dɛɪ zɛɪdə dɛt sɛɪ an dɛt sɪnəma gaŋgən vɛːs/
3.P say-PST that 3.P on the cinema go.GER be.PST-P
They said that they were going to the cinema.

There are two main changes here. First, there's a change in word order in the subordinate clause of the indirect speech. Second, the auxiliary changes tense (present to past) to match the tense of the verb in the main clause seide). It would also be possible to render these sentences using a slightly different construction for the progressive but this method is the most common across all dialects.

[jal]

Dem tok se "mi-dem a go lef wok di fim".
3.PL talk DS 1-PL.EX FUT PTV go DEF film
They said "we (excl) are going to the cinema

mi-dem is exclusive we, I assumed the listener wasn't part of the cinema gang (otherwise minu would be the correct form).

Dem tok dem-ya a go lef wok di fim.
3.PL talk DS 3.PL-DEF FUT PTV go DEF film
They said they are going to the cinema

ya, the postponed definite article, is used here to indicate it's the same dem as the ones doing the talking.


JAL