Complementizers for reported speech

[Wiemer, Bjoern]

Dear colleagues,
I would like to correct the claim that Pol. "jakoby" as a complementizer 
is restricted to verbs of saying. It still occurs after SEEM-verbs as 
well; compare e.g. an example from Łojasiewicz (1992: 105):

(1)   Zdaje                 mi             się,         jakoby-m 
           słyszał           jakieś wołanie.
         seem.prs.2sg    me.dat     refl                    -1.sg     
hear.pst.m    some shouting
          'I t seems to me that / as if there is some shouting = that 
sb. is shouting.'

This usage has been on its retreat (probably for a couple of centuries 
already). But "jakoby" is well attested still as an adnominal modifier 
(close in function to a complementizer) after nouns denoting mental 
acts; compare [note that the finite verb of the complement introduced by 
"jakoby" is always in the form of the past, although it may refer to the 
present or future, as well]:

(2)   By-ł-o-by                     błędem         sądzić, jakoby     
młodzież (...)                     nie     kocha-ł-a                     
swego             miasta.
         cop-pst-3sg-subj        mistake.ins  think.inf            
young_people.nom.f       neg    love.pst.3sg.subj.f poss.refl.gen  town.gen
         'It would be a mistake to think that/as if the young people 
don't like their town.'

(3)    Nie     znajduje         potwierdzenia         domysł,         
jakoby aktywiści             rekrutowa-l-i       się     w większości 
spośród         ludzi .
          neg    find.prs.3sg    confirmation.gen    opinion.nom         
      activists.nom      recrute.pst.3pl   refl    in majority     
from.among people.gen
          pokrzywdzonych         przez los (...).
          handicapped.gen.pl    through fate
          'One cannot find cofirnmed the opinion according to which [= 
as if/that] activists [from a given political group] in their majority 
come from people who have experienced bad
         things from fate.'

Sorry for the somewhat clumsy ad hoc-translations into English (meant as 
rendering the sene of the original as closely as possible to its 
wording). In any case, one the topic has been raised I find it sensible 
to add the following question:
     If you happen to find such complementizers, due you find it also 
(and, maybe, even predominantly) as an adnominal modifier (= head of a 
relative clause) for nouns denoting thoughts, opinions and other mental 
states?
     Moreover, do you know anything about their diachronic development 
and whether in this development the respective marker (at an initial 
stage) was associated with irreal comparisons (thence its meaning "as if")?

I haven't asked Kilu von Prince  beforehand (neither the colleague who 
asked her to send the request and whose identify seems to be clear to me 
:-) -- pozdrowienia!), but I suggest that you can send answers to my 
additional questions to me, too, and that then we compose a 
digest/summary together with Kilu. Okay?

Best,
Björn Wiemer.



> Dear LINGTYP members,
>
> a colleague of mine has alerted me to the existence of a
> complementizer in Polish, "jakoby" which is restricted exclusively to
> verbs of saying. Two examples are given below. We would like to know
> if you are aware of any other languages that have a complementizer
> with similar restrictions. I will post a summary of your responses.
>
> Best,
> Kilu
>
> Autor twierdzi, [jakoby pisarz dobrowolnie wstąpił do Waffen-SS]
> author.NOM claims jakoby writer.NOM voluntarily join.3SG.M.l-PTCP to Waffen-SS
> 'The author claims that the writer (supposedly) joined the Waffen-SS
> voluntarily.'
>
> Firma zaprzeczyła, [jakoby były zgłoszenia o wadliwych kartach]
> company.NOM deny.3SG.F.l-PTCP.PERF jakoby be.PL.N-VIR.l-PTCP
> reports.NOM about faulty cards.LOC
> 'The company denied that there (supposedly) were any reports about
> faulty prepaid cards.'
>
>