Keeping Distinct Voices in a Text
A reporting clause identifies the speaking event. Inside direct quotation, au, mātou, and relative-day expressions belong to that represented voice.
How It Works
A reporting clause such as I kī a Rangi names a past speaking event. Inside quotation marks, au refers to Rangi. Quoted āpōpō identifies the day after the speaking occasion. A past reporting verb does not mechanically replace quoted ka with i.
Compare direct first-person words with an attribution using a name or third-person pronoun. E ai ki identifies the source without itself promising exact wording. Quoted mātou includes the represented speaker and at least two others, excluding that speaker's addressee. Outside the quotation, the narrator's au has a separate referent. Verbs have no person agreement ending.
Source quotations can also preserve regional wording and a community's spelling convention. Preserve attested forms and personal-name spellings rather than generating a regional voice through blanket substitutions. Clearly distinguish original wording from a translated quotation. The teaching examples use ordinary macron orthography, not pronunciation transcription.
Examples (3)
- I kī a Rangi, “Kei te tunu kai au.”
Rangi said, “I am cooking.”
The quoted au refers to Rangi; past marking belongs to the reporting event.
- Inanahi, i kī a Kiri, “Ka haere au āpōpō.”
Yesterday, Kiri said, “I will go tomorrow.”
Āpōpō is measured from Kiri's speaking occasion. In this example, her tomorrow is the narrator's today.
- I kī a Hemi, “Kua tae mātou.” Kei te tatari tonu au.
Hemi said, “We have arrived.” I am still waiting.
Mātou includes Hemi and at least two others, excluding his addressee. The final au refers to the narrator.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Keep the narrator's reporting event separate from quoted person, relative days and attested variety, avoiding automatic tense backshift or manufactured regional wording.
- Reporting What Someone Said
Quoted person and time, separated from reporting and attribution, provide the foundation for the distinct voices.
Level 5 - mātou / tātouA Group with or Without You
Group membership must be interpreted from Hemi's quoted speaker-and-addressee situation.
Level 1 - An Established Alternative for Long Vowels
An attested community convention can be preserved within source quotation independently of the narrator's spelling.
Level 6
Related Patterns
Practice Keeping Distinct Voices in a Text in Bubblegum
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