quotative

English

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *kʷ-

Proto-Indo-European *kʷó-

Proto-Indo-European *-ti

Proto-Indo-European *kʷótider.

Proto-Italic *kʷot

Latin quot

Latin quotus

Medieval Latin quotāreder.

Old French coterbor.

Middle English quoten

English quote

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos

Proto-Italic *-ātos

Latin -ātuslbor.

English -ate

Proto-Indo-European *-wós

Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder.

Latin -īvus

Old French -ifbor.

Middle English -yf

English -ive

English -ative

English quotative

From quote + -ative.

quotative (plural quotatives)

(grammar) A grammatical device to mark quoted speech, such as be like in "he was like, 'who are you?'".
- 1990, Carl Blyth, Jr.; Sigrid Recktenwald; Jenny Wang, “I'm like, "Say What?!": A New Quotative in American Oral Narrative”, in American Speech, volume 65, number 3, →DOI, →JSTOR, page 215:
  Whereas most quotatives introduce either inner monologue or direct speech, the new quotative be like can introduce both kinds of reported speech, thus allowing the speaker to express an attitude, reaction, or thought, as well as something actually said.
(linguistics) A form of the complementizer related to the verb say, found in many languages of West Africa and South Asia.

quotative (not comparable)