Quotative uses of Polish similative demonstratives

Abstract

Abstract This article presents a corpus-based overview of strategies of direct quotation that employ two similative demonstratives, tak ‘so’ and taki ‘such/like this’, in colloquial spoken Polish.  It will be shown that the ways in which Polish tak and taki encode, respectively, manner and quality in exophoric, endophoric, and cataphoric uses are also reflected in their quotative uses. Further, special emphasis is placed on two verbless quotative strategies: (Conj) NP tak and (Conj) NP taki, to offer two grammaticalization-related accounts: one for tak and another for taki. As will be argued, (Conj) NP tak is a reduced clause (originally NP VERB tak), while (Conj) NP taki is a stacking of two independent quotative strategies: (Conj) NP on the one hand, and taki on the other. The study thus contributes to our understanding of how manner/quality expressions are recruited in clause-combining tasks involving the integration of direct quotes into speakers’ utterances.