Datapoint Sango/Complementizer with verbs of speaking
In a corpus of the narrations of the same traditional tale, in which there is a great deal of reported speech, I find very few examples of the use of 'say' as complementizer. It appears to me that there is a great deal of variation in this matter, some of which is illustrated in my examples. By contrast, in Gbaya the verb for 'say' is consistently followed by ye ge. See Samarin (1967b). Note also the verb tene occurs frequently as te, a variant that may be as old as Sango is and may indeed be a form in the source language.
There are occasions when young speakers use French que (see ex. 300).
Notice that tene is used as complementizer with other verbs.
Values 
Complementizer identical to bare ‘say’
Frequency: 90.0%
- Example 59-289:
-
ndamba aga atene, tere na aunji awendambaRabbita-gapm-comea-tene,pm-saytereSpidernideta-hunzipm-hideawealreadyRabbit said, "Spider has hidden himself." OR: Rabbit said that Spider had hidden himself.
- Example 59-290:
-
tona mo si ka, si lo hunda mo, atene, mo o, mo nyon' nyen'tonganawhenmo2sgsiarriveka,theresiconnlo3sghundaaskmo,2sga-tene,pm-saymo2sgo,pcl.defmo2sgnyon'drinknyen'whatWhen you arrive there and he asks you what you would like to drink, [...] OR: When you arrive there and he asks "What do you want to drink?"
- Example 59-291:
-
mo tene ka na mama ka, mo tene, aa ba ndo ni ake nzoni apemo2sgtenesaykatherenaprepmamamotherka,theremo2sgtene,sayala2sg.defbaseendoplacenidetakesm.copnzonigoodapenegTell your mother over there that the place is not good.
Source: nd
- Example 59-292:
-
lo hunda lo, lo tene, kogara, ala ga?!lo1sghundaasklo,3sglo3sgtene,saykogara,in-lawala2sg.defga?!comeHe asked her, "Mother-in-law, so you've come?!"
Source: nd
- Example 59-293:
-
kogara ni aga awe so, ahunda lo, atene, kogara, mo ke nyon' ye?!kogarain-lawnideta-gapm-comeawealreadyso,thusa-hundapm-asklo,3sga-tene,pm-saykogara,in-lawmo2sgkecopnyon'drinkye?!thingWhen his mother-in-law had come, he asked her, "Mother-in-law would you like something to drink?!"
- Example 59-294:
-
zo wa la atene mo ga zo wa?zopersonwawholatopa-tenepm-saymo2sggacomezopersonwawhoWho was it who told you to come?
- Example 59-295:
-
ago tene na Susu ni atene [...]a-gwepm-goa-tenepm-saynaprepSusuFishnideta-tenepm-say[...][...]He then said to the Fish [...].
- Confidence:
- Very certain
Complementizer not synchronically related to ‘say’
Frequency: 10.0%
- Example 59-300:
-
i tene lakwe que kobela ti bilharzie so ake wara ni gi na lege ti ngui1pltenesaylakwealwaysquethatkobelasicknesstiofbilharziebilharziasodema-kepm-copwarafindni1pl.loggijustnawithlegewaytiofnguwaterWe always say that this liver-fluke disease gets us through water.
Source: Samarin 1967: 212
- Confidence:
- Intermediate