Direct Discourse Markers in Mishnaic Hebrew

摘要

The two direct discourse markers (DDMs) דףול and דףא appear in Mishnaic Hebrew (200 BCE–500 CE) at the beginning of an asyndetic content clause that follows verbs of saying (e.g. לאש) and verbs that are not verbs of saying (e.g. חףש). An examination of the two markers reveals that the appearance of דףול as a DDM is limited, and that it shows the continuity of the widespread use of דףאל as a DDM in Biblical Hebrew. On the other hand, דףאו is an independent DDM in Mishnaic Hebrew, and can be found not only with biblical verbs and with verbs of saying. Part 1 of this paper presents the findings of previous studies on the DDMs דףאל and דףאו in Biblical Hebrew. The two sections of Part 2 provide a description of the two uses of these DDMs in Mishnaic Hebrew — when they appear at the beginning of a clause following verbs of saying and when they appear at the beginning of a clause following verbs that are not verbs of saying.