Reported clause markers (Northern Mansi)

NoRepdMark: Although indirect reported clauses exist, they are not indicated by any specific grammatical marker or other morphological strategy.


(1) miša lāw-ǝs, χolitan erttam ūś ūs-n mini.
Misha say-pst.3sg tomorrow maybe than town-lat go.prs.3sg
‘Misha said that he was going to the town the next day.’ (S. D.)


(2) miša lāw-ǝs: „χolitan am ūs-n min-ēγ-um”.
Misha say-pst.3sg tomorrow I town-lat go-prs-1sg
‘Misha said “I’m going to the town tomorrow.”’ (S. D.)


In reported speech, the cited clause is agreed with the subject of the main clause (1), thus the construction can be contrasted with direct citations (2), where the subject is always in the first person.

Author: 

Szilvia Németh