Quotative be like

Andreas Stokke; Derek Nelson Ball

doi:10.1007/s11229-024-04800-y

Quotative be like

Andreas Stokke, Derek Nelson Ball^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

This paper examines a form of talking about speech acts, mental states, and other features so far unexplored in philosophy: quotative be like. Quotative be like is the use of like and to be that occurs in constructions such as “Ellen was like“I’m leaving!”” We argue that neglect of quotative be like represents a gap in our understanding of our ways of characterizing the minds and speech of ourselves and others. Further, we show that quotative be like is not reducible to more familiar forms of direct discourse or indirect discourse. Mapping out a number of different options for theorizing about quotative be like, we argue for an account on which the quoted material in quotative be like picks out properties.

Original language	English
Article number	21
Number of pages	26
Journal	Synthese
Volume	205
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-024-04800-y
Publication status	Published - 6 Jan 2025

Keywords

Quotative 'be like'
Quotation
Attitude reports
Direct discourse
Indirect discourse

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10.1007/s11229-024-04800-yLicence: CC BY

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Cite this

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KW - Indirect discourse

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Quotative be like

Abstract

Keywords

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