Direct and indirect speech in straight-talking Israeli

Acta Linguistica Hungarica, Vol. 53 (4), pp. 467–481 (2006) DOI: 10.1556/ALing.53.2006.4.5 DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH IN STRAIGHT-TALKING ISRAELI GHIL‘AD ZUCKERMANN The University of Queensland St Lucia QLD 4072 Australia [email protected] Abstract: Israeli is currently one of the official languages of the State of Israel. It is a fusional synthetic language, with non-concatenative discontinuous morphemes realised by vowel infixation. This typological paper demonstrates that there is a clear distinction in Israeli between direct and indirect speech. The indirect speech report, which is a subset of complement clauses, is characterized by a shift in person, spatial and temporal deixis. However, unlike in English, the verbs usually do not undergo a tense shift. Israeli has various lexicalized direct speech reports. By and large, Israeli reported speech constructions reflect Yiddish and Standard Average European patterns, often enhancing a suitable pre-existent Hebrew construction. Keywords: Hebrew, reported speech, Yiddish, lexical derivation, Congruence Principle 1. Introduction 1.1. General information Israeli (Zuckermann 1999; 2006b, a.k.a. “Modern Hebrew”) is currently one of the official languages — with Arabic and English — of the State of Israel, established in 1948 on 20,770 km2 (0.22 of Hungary) in the Middle East. It is spoken to varying degrees of fluency by its 7,026,000 citizens (as of May 2006) — as a mother tongue by most Jews (whose total number exceeds 5.6 million), and as a second language by Muslims 1216–8076/$ 20.00 © 2006 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest Unauthenticated | Downloaded 05/17/22 03:18 PM UTC 468 ghil‘ad zuckermann (Arabic-speakers), Christians (e.g., Russian- and Arabic-speakers), Druze (Arabic-speakers) and others. 1.2. Grammatical profile Israeli is a fusional synthetic language, with non-concatenative discontinuous morphemes realised by vowel infixation. Compare (1) and (2), both formed from the root p.t..r., but fitted into two distinct verb-templates: (1) ) ‫נפטר‬ niftár pass.away:3msg.past ‘(he) passed away’ (2) ) ‫התפוטרנו‬ hitputárnu resign:1pl.past:“coercive” ‘We “resigned” (implying that we were encouraged to do so; had we not done so, we would have been fired anyway).’ Israeli is a head-marking language. It is nominative-accusative at the syntactic level and partially also at the morphological level. As opposed to Biblical Hebrew — whose constituent order is VAO(E)/VS(E) — but like Standard Average European and English, the usual constituent order of Israeli is AVO(E)/SV(E). Thus, where there is no case marking, one can resort to the constituent order. The main clause in Israeli consists of (a) clause-initial peripheral markers, e.g., discourse markers; (b) NP(s) or complement clause(s); (c) a predicate — either verbal, copular or verbless; (d) clause-final peripheral elements, e.g., discourse markers. The only obligatory element is the predicate, e.g., higáti ‘arrive:1sg.past’. Sentences (3), (4) and (5) are examples of a verbal, copular and verbless clause, respectively: (3) ) .‫הילדה אכלה תפוח‬ [ha-yaldá]A [akhl-á]V [tapúakh]O [def-girl]A [eat:3past-fsg]V [apple]O ‘The girl ate an apple.’ Acta Linguistica Hungarica 53, 2006 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 05/17/22 03:18 PM UTC direct and indirect speech in straight-talking israeli (4) 469 .‫הילדה הזאת היא אחות שלי‬ [ha-yaldá ha-zòt]CS [hi]COP [akhót shel-ì]CC [def-girl def-prox.fsg]CS [cop:fsg]COP [sister gen-1sg]CC ‘This girl is my sister.’ (5) ) .‫הילדה חכמה‬ [ha-yaldá]VCS [khakham-á]VCC [def-girl]VCS [clever-f]VCC ‘The girl is clever.’ There are various types of subordinate clause, e.g., adverbial (denoting comparison, time, place, condition, concession, reason, result, goal, state), adjectival/relative, and nominal/ complement. By and large, these follow the Standard Average European profile. Indirect speech report fits into the overall system of complement clauses —see section 3.1. 2. Speech report constructions 2.1. The DSR/ISR distinction Due to (inter alia) the lack of evidentials in the language, Israeli does not possess any monoclausal speech report construction. It has a clear distinction between multiclausal direct speech report (henceforth, DSR) and multiclausal indirect speech report (henceforth, ISR), the ISR generally being more common than DSR. Distinguishing features characterizing ISR: (i) Shift in person deixis, e.g., 2 > 1 (ii) Shift in spatial and temporal deixis, e.g., ‘today’ > ‘that day’, also spatial demonstratives, e.g., ‘this’ > ‘that’ (iii) Obligatory presence of a complementizer immediately before the speech report, unless the speech report is of the ‘infinitive’ (iv) or interrogative type (v) (iv) In report of commands: imperative/future verb > “infinitive” (tenseless verb, commonly referred to in Israeli grammar as “infinitive”, thus, henceforth, inf) (v) In report of questions: interrogative-less yes/no question > im (lit. ‘if’) or ha-ím (lit. ‘inter-if’) ‘whether’ immediately before the indirect question Acta Linguistica Hungarica 53, 2006 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 05/17/22 03:18 PM UTC 470 ghil‘ad zuckermann Unlike in English, verbs do not undergo a tense shift. The future tense in a speech act in the past does not become future-in-the-past in ISR (see (16)); unlike English (cf. would), Israeli does not have a form of futurein-the-past. Similarly, present tense in a speech act in the past usually does not become past in ISR (see (9)). Like in English, in indirect “wh-questions”, the interrogative remains the same. Unlike in English, there is no change in constituent order (see (15)–(16)). Distinguishing features characterizing DSR: (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) Special intonation contour, tending to be mimetic Possible intonational break before the DSR Possible absence of a reporting verb Possible discontinuity of the DSR Possible use of a vocative particle In writing: presence of quotation marks, as well as exclamation/ question mark Sentences (6) and (7) demonstrate the shift in person deixis: (6) "!‫ "אין לנו כסף‬:‫הם אמרו לנו‬ hem amr-ú l-anù [én l-anù késef]DSR 3mpl say:3past-pl dat-1pl [exis.cop:neg dat-1pl money] ‘They told us: “We have no money!”’ (7) .‫הם אמרו לנו שאין להם כסף‬ hem amr-ú l-anù hshe-én l-ahèm késefiISR 3mpl say:3past-pl dat-1pl hcomp-exis.cop:neg dat-3mpl moneyi ‘They told us that they had no money.’ Sentences (8) and (9) demonstrate the lack of tense shift in verbs: (8) ."‫ "אני רוצה גלידה‬:‫טלי לחשה‬ Tali lakhash-á [anì rotsá glída]DSR Tali whisper:3past-fsg [1sg want:fsg.pres ice.cream] ‘Tali whispered: “I want ice cream!”’ (9) .‫טלי לחשה שהיא רוצה גלידה‬ Tali lakhash-á hshe-hì rotsá glídaiISR Tali whisper:3past-fsg hcomp-3fsg want:fsg.pres ice.creami ‘Tali whispered that she wanted ice cream.’ Acta Linguistica Hungarica 53, 2006 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 05/17/22 03:18 PM UTC direct and indirect speech in straight-talking israeli 471 Note that—in contrast to the English translation—the verb ‘want’ is in the present tense in both sentences. 2.2. Exclamative and vocative DSR Obviously, not every DSR is transformable into an ISR: (10)) "!‫ "אוי וויי‬:‫ היא צווחה‬,‫כש"גילו" למדלן אולברייט שהיא יהודייה‬ k-she-“gil-ú” le-mádlen ólbrayt hshe-hí yehudi-yáiISR when-comp-“reveal”:past-3pl to-Madeleine Albright hcomp-3fsg Jewish-fsgi hi tsavkh-á [óy véy!]DSR 3fsg scream:3past-fsg [Oy vey] ‘When it was “revealed” to Madeleine Albright that she was Jewish, she screamed: “Oy vey!” ’ ISR cannot convey the associations accompanying a DSR vocative particle: (11) "!‫ יא נודניקית‬,‫ "תפסיקי לנדנד‬:‫הוא צעק עליה‬ hu tsaák al-èa: 3msg shout:3msg.past on-3fsg [tafsík-i le-nadnéd, ya núdnik-it!]DSR [stop:2fut/imp-fsg inf-bother voc:derog pest-fsg] ‘He shouted at her: “Stop bothering, ya pest!”’ The vocative particle ya (cf. archaic English O, as well as contemporary colloquial (Antipodean) English ya, or y’, from you) is currently derogatory in the sense that it only precedes derogatory NPs. This particle can be traced back to the vocative exclamatory Arabic particle ! [ya:]. Initially, Israeli ya — just like in Arabic — was not derogatory — see the Israeli songs ya mishlatí ‘O my fortified cliff’ and ya khabíbi ‘O my dear’. However, native Israeli-speakers are aware of the Arabic etymon and — perhaps due to the negative (e.g., terroristic) associations of Arabic among Israelis—ya underwent semantic—or rather pragmatic— narrowing: pejoration. 2.3. ISR complementizer As shown in (7) and (9), ISR usually uses the common Israeli complementizer she [Se] ‘that’, which — just like English that — also acts as a Acta Linguistica Hungarica 53, 2006 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 05/17/22 03:18 PM UTC 472 ghil‘ad zuckermann relativizer. She- ‘that’ can be traced back to the Hebrew complementizer she- ‘that’, which derives from the Hebrew relativizer she- ‘that’. One etymological analysis is that she- is a shortened form of the Hebrew relativizer ’asher ‘that’, which is related to Akkadian ‘ashru ‘place’ (cf. Semitic *’athar). Instead of using the she- complementizer, a more formal Israeli writer could use the rare complementizer ki ‘that’, which derives from the Hebrew complementizer kı̄ ‘that’, from ki ‘because’. Consider the following minimal pair: (12) .‫הנאשם הצהיר כי הוא חף מפשע‬ ha-neeshám hitsír hki hu khaf mi-péshaiISR def-accused:msg declare:3msg.past hcomp 3msg clean from-crimei ‘The accused declared that he was innocent.’ (13) .‫הנאשם זוכה כי הוא חף מפשע‬ ha-neeshám zuká [ki hu khaf mi-pésha]CAUS def-accused:msg acquit:3msg.past:pass [caus 3msg clean from-crime] ‘The accused was acquitted because he was innocent.’ Whereas in (12) ki introduces an ISR, in (13) it introduces a causal clause. But such versatility can easily result in ambiguity: (14) .‫הן לא סיפרו לי כי כבר הסבירו את זה‬ hen lo sipr-ú l-i 3fpl neg tell:3past-pl dat-1sg hki kvar hisbír-u et zeiISR/CAUS hcomp/caus already explain:3past-pl acc prox.msgi ‘They (f) did not tell me that it had already been explained.’ or ‘They (f) did not tell me (about it) because it had already been explained.’ Thus, ki is often avoided even by Israelis attempting to write in a highflown manner. As opposed to she-, I categorize ki as a prescriptive complementizer tout court. That said, some French-speaking immigrants to Israel use the complemetizer ki less rarely than other Israelis because of the serendipitous phonetic similarity to the French complementizer que ‘that’ — cf. Zuckermann (2006b). Acta Linguistica Hungarica 53, 2006 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 05/17/22 03:18 PM UTC direct and indirect speech in straight-talking israeli 473 2.4. Direct and indirect questions Unlike in English, Israeli indirect questions demonstrate neither a shift in verb tense nor a change in constituent order. Thus, besides the distinct intonation, the only difference between (15) and (16) is the pronominal suffix used with the genitive shel ‘of’ (i.e., the only shift is in person): (15) "?‫ "מתי ההורים שלך יגיעו‬:‫הוא שאל אותה‬ hu shaál ot-à 3msg ask:3msg.past dat-3fsg [matáy ha-hor-ím shel-àkh yagí-u]DSR [when def-parent-mpl gen-2fsg arrive:3fut-pl] ‘He asked her: “When will your parents arrive?”’ (16) .‫הוא שאל אותה מתי ההורים שלה יגיעו‬ hu shaál ot-à 3msg ask:3msg.past dat-3fsg hmatáy ha-hor-ím shel-à yagí-uiISR hwhen def-parent-mpl gen-3fsg arrive:3fut-pli ‘He asked her when her parents would arrive.’ Thus, one may regard the indirect question as a semi-direct speech report. Although Standard Average European (often via Yiddish) is undoubtedly an important source for Israeli reported speech, this indirect question construction seems to have already existed in Hebrew too. Consider, for example, Biblical Hebrew lo noda‘ hmi hikkáhui ‘it be not known hwho hath slain himi’ (Deuteronomy 21 : 1). Such multiple causation corresponds with the Congruence Principle: if a feature exists in more than one contributor, it is more likely to persist in the target language (see Zuckermann 2003). 2.5. Direct and indirect commands: infinitive ISR ISR can lack a complementizer and instead begin with a tenseless verb, commonly referred to as “infinitive”. (17)) "!‫ "תהיו כאן תוך שבע דקות‬:‫המפקדת הורתה‬ ha-mefakéd-et hortá [tiyú kan tokh shéva dak-ót]DSR def-commander-fsg order:3fsg.past [be:2pl-fut/imp here within seven minute-pl] ‘The commander (f) ordered: “Be here within seven minutes!”’ Acta Linguistica Hungarica 53, 2006 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 05/17/22 03:18 PM UTC 474 ghil‘ad zuckermann (18) .‫המפקדת הורתה להיות שם תוך שבע דקות‬ ha-mefakéd-et hortá hli-yót sham tokh shéva dak-ótiISR def-commander-fsg order:3fsg.past hinf-be there within seven minute-pli ‘The commander (f) ordered to be back there within seven minutes.’ DSR has the capacity to be more nuanced than ISR. Thus, one ISR can be parallel to several distinct DSRs. For example, (18) can be the ISR not only of (17) but also of (19), which includes a semantic future perfect, realised morphologically in colloquial Israeli by the past: (19) "!‫ "תוך שבע דקות הייתם כאן‬:‫המפקדת הורתה‬ ha-mefakéd-et hortá [tokh shéva dak-ót haítem kan]DSR def-commander-fsg order:3fsg.past [within seven minute-pl be:2mpl.past here] ‘The commander (f) ordered: “Within seven minutes, you will have arrived back here!”’ 3. Syntactic role of speech report content 3.1. ISR versus complement clause Israeli ISR conforms to complement clause structure. The following three sentences, which constitute a continuum, demonstrate that ISR is a subset of complementation: (20) .‫אני יודע שהיא יפה‬ anì yodéa hshe-hì yaf-áiCOMP 1sg know:msg.pres hcomp-3fsg beautiful-fsgi ‘I know that she is beautiful.’ (21) .‫שמעתי שהיא יפה‬ shamá-ti hshe-hì yaf-áiCOMP/ISR hear:past-1sg hcomp-3fsg beautiful-fsgi ‘I heard that she is beautiful.’ (a general hearsay, not referring to a specific speech act) or ‘I heard that she was beautiful.’ (a specific speech act) (22) .‫אמרתי לה שהיא יפה‬ amár-ti l-a hshe-hì yaf-áiISR say:past-1sg dat-3fsg hcomp-3fsg beautiful-fsgi ‘I told her that she was beautiful.’ A speech report can be referred to en bloc using the proximal demonstrative ze ‘this’. Thus, (23) could be a retort to (22): Acta Linguistica Hungarica 53, 2006 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 05/17/22 03:18 PM UTC direct and indirect speech in straight-talking israeli 475 (23) ?‫אתה אמרת את זה ברצינות‬ atá amár-ta et ze bi-rtsinút? 2msg say:past-2msg acc prox.msg in-seriousness ‘Did you say that seriously?’ 3.2. Reporting verbs The reporting verb usually appears before the speech report, although in literary style, it can follow the speech report either immediately or after the A, i.e., either ‘Go away!’, said the child or ‘Go away!’, the child said, the former being of a higher register. The most common verb used in both DSRs and ISRs is the transitive amár ‘say:3msg.past’. This verb has suppletive future and infinitive forms: yagíd ‘say:3msg.fut’ and le-hagíd ‘inf-say’ respectively. That said, the future and infinitive forms yomár and l-omár exist but, unlike in Hebrew, they are not normally used in Israeli. As previously seen, Israeli has a plethora of other reporting verbs (see Table 1, overleaf). Moreover, colloquial Israeli often employs asá, lit. ‘do:3msg.past’, as a reporting verb: (24) "‫ "צ'מע קטע! אני מה זה בדאון‬:‫אז המהבולה הזאת עושה לי‬ "!‫ תום אומר שזה פצצות לגבות‬,‫ "למה מה קרה? מי מת? בואי לסרט‬:‫אז עשיתי לה‬ az ha-mahabúl-a ha-zòt osá l-i so def-fool-fsg def-prox.fsg do:fsgpres dat-1sg [chmá kèta, anì má ze be-dàwn]DSR [hear:2msgimp fragment 1sg what prox.msg in-down] az asíti l-a [làma má karà? mí met?, so do:1sgpast dat-3fsg why what happen:3msg.past who die:3msg.past bói l-a-séret, tom omér come:2fsg.imp to-def-film Tom say:msg.pres hshe-zé ptsats-ót l-a-gab-ótiISR ]DSR hcomp-proxmsg bomb-fpl to-def-eyebrow-fpli] ‘So that idiot (f) goes: “Listen, I’m really down”. So I was like: “What the hell? What’s your deal? Come to the film, Tom says it’s wicked.” ’ Literally: ‘So this idiot (f) does to me: “Hear a fragment, I’m what in a down!”. So I did to her: “Why, what happened? Who died? Come to the film, Tom says that this is bombs to the eyebrows!”.’ Acta Linguistica Hungarica 53, 2006 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 05/17/22 03:18 PM UTC 476 ghil‘ad zuckermann Table 1 Classification of Reporting Verbs Verb Transitivity Translation Semantic Class amár sipér hodía yidéa taán hitsír hikhríz tsaák lakhásh milmél shar gimgém tsavákh tsarákh zaák tsahál yilél yibév tsikhkék shaág teér hisbír tsién hizkír heelíl heíd diveákh perét hosíf hivtíakh iyém hizhír tr tr tr tr (O=addressee) tr tr tr tr tr tr amb intr tr tr tr intr intr intr intr intr tr tr tr tr tr intr tr tr tr tr intr tr (O=addressee) say saying tell, recount (cf. safár ‘count’) saying announce, notify saying inform saying claim saying declare saying proclaim saying shout saying + speech manner whisper saying + speech manner mutter saying + speech manner sing saying + speech manner stutter saying + speech manner scream saying + speech manner yell saying + speech manner cry out saying + speech manner rejoice saying + speech manner howl saying + speech manner wail saying + speech manner giggle saying + speech manner roar saying + speech manner describe proposition explain proposition mention proposition mention proposition allege proposition testify proposition report report detail report add report promise promise threaten promise warn promise Acta Linguistica Hungarica 53, 2006 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 05/17/22 03:18 PM UTC direct and indirect speech in straight-talking israeli 477 Table 1 (cont.) Verb Transitivity Translation Semantic Class makhá al hitlonén kitér intr intr intr protest about complain whine, whinge complaint complaint complaint (cf. Polish Yiddish kúter ‘male cat, whiner’) kavál al hitonén tsivá horá pakád amád al kakh hiftsír (be) bikésh (mi) darásh (mi) shaál tahá aná heshív hegív gaár nazáf (be) hokhíakh odéd shamá intr intr tr (O=addressee) intr tr (O=addressee) intr intr tr tr tr (O=addressee) intr intr intr intr intr intr tr (O=addressee) tr (O=addressee) tr complain about (high register) complain order order command insist urge (high register) request (from) demand (from) ask wonder answer reply react scold reprimand reprove encourage hear complaint complaint command command command command requesting requesting requesting asking asking answering answering answering rebuke rebuke rebuke encouragement hearing 3.3. DSR without a reporting verb Whereas a reporting verb is obligatory in ISR, it is possible to have a DSR without it: (25) "?‫ "למה האיבר מין שלך עטוף בבד לבן‬:‫חוקרי המשטרה לנער הערבי‬ .")!*‫ "אמא שלי אמרה לי שהוא צריך להיות מוכן לשבעים ושתיים ('ر‬:‫הנער לחוקרים‬ khokr-éy ha-mishtará l-a-náar ha-arav-í: investigator-mpl:constr def-police dat-def-teenager def-Arab-msg [láma ha-evàr mín shel-khà atúf be-bàd laván?]DSR [why def-organ sex gen-2msg wrap:msg.pres:pass in-cloth white] ha-náar l-a-khokr-ím: def-teenager dat-def-investigator-mpl Acta Linguistica Hungarica 53, 2006 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 05/17/22 03:18 PM UTC 478 ghil‘ad zuckermann [íma shl-ì amr-á l-ì [mother gen-1sg say:3past-fsg dat-1sg hshe-hù tsaríkh li-yót mukhán hcomp-3msg need:msg.pres inf-be ready:msgpres:pass le-shivím ve-shtáim èu:r Qi:niISR ]DSR to-seventy and-two èu:r Qi:ni] ‘The police investigators to the Arab teenager: “Why are your genitals wrapped with white cloth?” The teenager to the investigators: “My mother told me that they needed to be ready for the seventy-two èu:r Qi:n”’1 4. Direct speech report as a basis for lexical derivations Israeli has many NPs which are lexicalized DSRs, usually couched in the first person: (26)) .‫ מלחמה עיקשת בשחיתות‬:‫ה"אני מאמין" של מבקר המדינה הנכנס‬ ha-[aní maamín]NP shel mevakér ha-mdiná ha-nikhnás: def-[1sg believe:msg.pres] gen comptroller def-state def-enter:msg.pres milkhamá ikésh-et b-a-shkhitút war:fsg stubborn-fsg in-def-corruption ‘The incoming State Comptroller’s credo: unrelenting war on corruption.’ (27)) .‫הח"כ יצא ב"אני מאשים" נגד הממשלה‬ ha-khá-k yatsá def-M(ember)-K(nesset) come.out:3msg.past be-[aní maashím]NP néged ha-m(e)mshalá in-1sg accuse:msg.pres against def-government ‘The MK (Member of Knesset (Israeli Parliament)) came out with a J’accuse against the government.’ 1 Seventy-twoo )!*‫[ ('ر‬èu:r Qi:n] are promised to the faithful martyrs in Suras 44 : 54 and 52 : 20 of the Koran. Muslims believe that these are “dark, wide-eyed (maidens)”, virgins. However, Luxenberg (2000) suggests that èu:r Qi:n are actually “white (grapes), jewels (of crystal)”. In other words, Muslim martyrs will not get virgins but sultanas(!), the latter with the meaning of white raisins/grapes. Syriac [èu:r] ‘white (fpl)’ is associated with ‘raisin’—cf. Zuckermann (2006a). If this alternative interpretation is true, or rather, if one can convince fundamentalist Muslims that it is true, it has the potential to change the course of history, at least in cases like the above true story of a Palestinian teenager caught in Israel just before attempting a suicide-bombing. Acta Linguistica Hungarica 53, 2006 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 05/17/22 03:18 PM UTC direct and indirect speech in straight-talking israeli 479 Consider also the following: (28) .‫גישת ה"יהיה בסדר" ותופעת ה"סמוך עליי" עוד יהרסו את צה"ל‬ gishá-t ha-[yiyé be-séder] attitude-constr def-[be:3msg.fut in-order] ve-tofaá-t ha-[smókh al-áy] and-phenomenon-constr def-[trust:2msg.imp on-1sg] od yaharsú et tsáhal2 yet destroy:3pl.fut acc IDF ‘The “she’ll be right” attitude and the “trust me!” phenomenon may destroy the IDF (Israel Defence Forces).’ 5. Functional, stylistic and discourse preferences DSR is common in Israeli in informal speech or story-telling, and is often employed in jokes; in-your-face Israelis often use (sometimes macabre) self-deprecating humour: (29) "!‫ סוכריה‬,‫ "בבקשה תעבירי את הסוכר‬:‫האמריקאי אומר לאשתו‬ "!‫ דובשנית‬,‫ "בבקשה תעבירי את הדבש‬:‫הבריטי אומר לאשתו‬ "!‫ יא פרה‬,‫ "תעבירי את הסטייק‬:‫הישראלי אומר לאשתו‬ ha-amerikáy omér le-isht-ó def-American:msg say:msg.pres dat-wife-3msg.poss [bevakashá taavír-i et ha-sukár, sukaryá!]DSR [please pass:2fut/imp-fsg acc def-sugar candy] ha-bríti omér le-isht-ó def-Briton:msg say:msg.pres dat-wife-3msg.poss [bevakashá taavír-i et ha-dvash, duvshanít!]DSR [please pass:2fut/imp-fsg acc def-honey honey.cookie] ha-israelí omér le-isht-ó def-Israeli:msg say:msg.pres dat-wife-3msg.poss [taavír-i t-a-stek, ya pará!]DSR [pass:2fut/imp-fsg acc-def-steak voc:derog cow] ‘The American tells his wife: “Would you pass the sugar, sugar!”. The Briton tells his wife: “Would you pass the honey, honey!”. The Israeli tells his wife: “Pass the steak, ya cow!” ’. 2 Acronym of tsvá ha-haganá le-israél ‘Israel Defence Forces’. Acta Linguistica Hungarica 53, 2006 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 05/17/22 03:18 PM UTC 480 ghil‘ad zuckermann The following passage employs both DSR and ISR. DSR is employed for immediacy and engaging effect, including a couple of serendipitous ex postfacto puns. ISR conveys important new information but since the specific form of the speech act is not crucial, it is backgrounded: (30) "?‫ "בא לך להתפרק‬:‫הזונה המולדבית שאלה את הצעיר הפלסטיני‬ "!‫ "אין לי ראש לזה‬:‫הוא ענה לה‬ .‫רק אחר כך השוטרים סיפרו לה שהוא בעצם היה המחבל המתאבד‬ ha-zoná ha-moldávi-t shaal-á et ha-tsaír ha-falestín-i: def-prostitute def-Moldavian-fsg ask:past-3fsg acc def-youth def-Palestinian-msg [bá le-khà le-hitparék?]DSR [come:msgpres dat-2msg inf-disassemble] hu aná l-a: [én l-i rósh le-zè!]DSR 3msg reply:3msg.past dat-fsg [exis.cop:neg dat-1sg head dat-prox.msg] rak akhár kakh ha-shotr-ím siprú l-a only after so def-policeman-mpl tell:3mpl.past dat-fsg hshe-hù be-étsem hayá ha-mekhabél ha-mitabédiISR hcomp-3msg in-substance be:3msg past def-terrorist def-suicideri ‘The Moldavian prostitute asked the Palestinian youth: “Do you feel like getting off?” (lit. “Does it come to you to disassemble?”). He replied: “I’m not in the mood!” (lit. “I don’t have a head for it!”). Only later did the policemen tell her that he actually was the suicide bomber.’ 6. Concluding remarks There is a clear distinction in Israeli between direct and indirect speech. The indirect speech report, which is a subset of complement clauses, is characterized by a shift in person, spatial and temporal deixis. However, unlike in English, the verbs usually do not undergo a tense shift. Israeli has various lexicalized direct speech reports. By and large, Israeli reported speech constructions reflect Yiddish and Standard Average European patterns, often enhancing a suitable pre-existent Hebrew construction. Abbreviations 1 = 1st person; 2 = 2nd person; 3 = 3rd person; A = transitive subject; acc = accusative; amb = ambitransitive; CAUS/caus = causal; CC = copula complement; Acta Linguistica Hungarica 53, 2006 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 05/17/22 03:18 PM UTC direct and indirect speech in straight-talking israeli 481 comp = complement(izer); constr = construct-state; COP/cop = copula; CS = copula subject; dat = dative; def = definite; derog = derogatory; DSR = direct speech report; E = extended intransitive; exis = existential; f = feminine; fut = future; gen = genitive; imp = imperative; INF/inf = infinitive; INTER = interrogative; intr = intransitive; ISR = indirect speech report; m = masculine; neg = negator/negative; NP = noun phrase; O = transitive object; pass = passive; pl = plural; poss = possessive; pres = present; prox = proximal demonstrative; S = intransitive subject; sg = singular; tr = transitive; V = verb; VCC = verbless clause complement; VCS = verbless clause subject; voc = vocative. References Luxenberg, Christoph 2000. Die syro-aramäische Lesart des Koran. Ein Beitrag zur Entschlüsselung der Koransprache. Das Arabische Buch, Berlin. Zuckermann, Ghil‘ad 1999. Review article of Nakdimon Shabbethay Doniach and Ahuvia Kahane (eds), The Oxford English–Hebrew Dictionary. In: International Journal of Lexicography 12 : 325–46. Zuckermann, Ghil‘ad 2003. Language contact and lexical enrichment in Israeli Hebrew. Palgrave Macmillan, London. Zuckermann, Ghil‘ad 2006a. haivrít kemítos [Hebrew as myth]. Am Oved, Tel Aviv. Zuckermann, Ghil‘ad 2006b. A new vision for Israeli Hebrew: Theoretical and practical implications of analysing Israel’s main language as a semi-engineered SemitoEuropean hybrid language. In: Journal of Modern Jewish Studies 5 : 57–71. Acta Linguistica Hungarica 53, 2006 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 05/17/22 03:18 PM UTC