Direct Discourse Markers in Mishnaic Hebrew
Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan
The two direct discourse markers (DDMs) 
and 
appear in Mishnaic Hebrew (200 BCE–500 CE) at the beginning of an asyndetic content clause that follows verbs of saying (e.g. 
) and verbs that are not verbs of saying (e.g. 
). An examination of the two markers reveals that the appearance of as a DDM is limited, and that it shows the continuity of the widespread use of as a DDM in Biblical Hebrew. On the other hand, 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 and 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.