Quotation in IE

[GthomGt at cs.com]

Dear List,

I am presently working on a paper that deals, in part, with an anomolous use
of the Sanskrit quotative particle *iti* in the Rgveda.  Examiniation of the
origins and development of the Sanskrit quotative has played a significant
role in studies of India as a linguistic area, since Kuiper's claim that the
Sanskrit developments indicate a very early influence of Dravidian syntax on
quotation in the RV, and Hock's detailed, skeptical, response.

I am looking for references to recent literature on the subject of quotation
in IE, in particular in the use of specific lexica to mark reported speech,
as opposed to reported speech with zero marking.

I am also interested in your comments on the following observations:

Compare Spanish `Si' [`Yes'] from Latin `Sic' [thus]. Also, consider the
Latin forms ita, immo, etiam [all preserving the same pronominal stem i- --
ultimately deictic -- that we find in íti], as well as Latin sic itself
[also sometimes `Yes'].  Similarly, compare French `Oui', German`Ja' and
English `Yes' itself, all preserving the same .  Likewise Russian `Tak' =
`So, thus, like that, well, yes.'  In short, the semantic shift from `Thus'
to`Yes' seems to have been a common one, as we can see also in the Sanskrit
affirmatives tathA and om.

I would also welcome comments on English quotatives "like" and "yes."

Of course, acknowledgement of any and all help will be made in the paper when
it is published.

Thanks in advance,

George Thompson