Quoting ethnicity: Constructing dialogue in Aotearoa/New Zealand

Within the system of direct quotation, speakers have a number of resources at their disposal from which they can select to construct dialogue. This article presents an investigation of the ways in which Maori and Pakeha English speakers deploy these resources. The analysis reveals extensive differences in the construction of dialogue between Maori and Pakeha which include, but are not limited to, quantitative differences in the use of individual verbs of quotation. Distinct effects of tense/temporal reference and mimetic re-enactment permeate the systems, and patterns of use surrounding the zero quotative emerge as central to many points of differentiation. It is argued that these patterns form distinct strategies in the deployment of quotative resources and in this sense are indexical of ethnic identity in Aotearoa/New Zealand.