quotative

noun

1. A grammatical device to mark quoted speech, such as be like in "he was like, 'who are you?'".

   “Whereas most quotatives introduce either inner monologue or direct speech, the new quotative be like can introduce both kinds of reported speech, thus allowing the speaker to express an attitude, reaction, or thought, as well as something actually said.”

2. A form of the complementizer related to the verb say, found in many languages of West Africa and South Asia.

adj

1. (not-comparable)Serving to mark quoted speech.