Quoting the Unspoken: An analysis of quotations in spoken discourse

Jessie Sams

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In conversational speech, quotations are often used by speakers to portray events and stories that have happened in the past to their recipients. However, quotations can also be used to communicate thoughts or ideas that have never been spoken aloud before they were quoted. For instance, speakers can quote themselves by quoting inner thoughts that occurred to them during a particular situation; also, speakers can talk about future events and quote material that has never been (and most likely never will be) said in particular situations. This paper explores these types of quotations to find their uses, possible prosodic cues, and recipient participation.

Jessie Sams is a PhD student in Linguistics at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She can be reached at: Jessica.Sams@Colorado.edu.