# All Slavic: Repetition of Phrases?



## bardistador

In some kinds of American English, there is a tendency to repeat a phrase in a sentence for emphasis.  Things like:
_
"What I'm saying is this is your last chance is what I'm saying."
"What's going on is he's been lying to us this whole time is what's going on."_

I'm not sure what this thing is called, but is this ever done in any Slavic language?  Or would it sound odd?  Is there any usage in any Slavic language where such a thing is said as one sentence, like in the examples I said and *not* in two like this:

(As an answer to "What are you saying?" - {as in, 'what do you mean by that'} )

_"What I'm saying is this is your last chance.  That's what I'm saying."_

The difference is not very evident in writing, but in speech, it is.   In terms of intonation, the single-sentence approach has a rising intonation on "chance" as opposed to a falling one for the end of the sentence.   The rest of the intonation is as if the sentence were "_This is your last chance is what I'm saying_."  If you cut out that part, it sounds complete.   The second "is what I'm saying" does not have the intonation of other words and phrases for emphasis like "you know?" "you get me?" "you know what I mean?" 

The phrase is closer to_ "What I'm saying is this:  This is your last chance is what I'm saying._" than it is to "_What I'm saying is this is your last chance.  That's what I'm saying."_

The first "What I'm saying" is more of an opener for the full phrase than the second being a repetition for emphasis, even though the technique is used for emphasis, by reusing part of the question (What are you saying?) in the answer and repeating that part for emphasis.

I hope this makes sense.


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## 123xyz

In Macedonian, there is no such phenomenon (at least I can't think of any cases where it would be manifest). One can have repetition across two sentences, as in "What I'm saying is this is your last chance. That's what I'm saying.", but the framing repetition in your first examples would be incorrect, not only because its repetitive, but because of the underlying grammar too (since we don't really have "what I'm saying is" - we mostly say "I'm saying that" instead). In conclusion, framing repetition is alien to Macedonian and using it would be potentially perplexing, preventing a listener/reader from understanding the sentence properly.


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## Panceltic

This is not possible in Slovenian either. If such a sentence were seen written, a Slovene person would think the sentence hasn't been proofread - like someone couldn't decide if he should put the "what I'm saying" part before the actual sentence or after it. If heard in speech, it would probably convey to the listener that the speaker is unable to organize his thoughts in a proper way, not to mention the complete un-grammaticality of such an utterance.


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## Sobakus

The problem lies with the fact that, I believe, no Slavic language normally uses this construction with the interrogative pronoun being the subject and the introduced information being the object. You could theoretically build it, but it would sound exceedingly awkward. Those are two parts of a composite sentence, and repeating the author's speech, whether as a new sentence or as a third part after a pause (indicated with a dash), doesn't sound too natural and is grammatically the same.


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## Gavril

Another factor in this question might be the relative inflexibility of word-order in English, compared to some (or all?) Slavic languages.

E.g., it seems less common to hear a sentence like

_This is your last chance, I'm saying._

than it is to hear a sentence like

_This is your last chance, is what I'm saying._

and both might be less common than

_I'm saying that this is your last chance._

where the intended emphasis is conveyed by intonation rather than word order.

In Slavic, by contrast, the first type of sentence (with a simple reversal of word order, and no change in subject/object roles) may normally be the default option.


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## swintok

This isn't exactly the same, but there is an interesting similar form of repetition that I've only ever noticed in Ukrainian in Bukovyna (Chernivtsi oblast) in Western Ukraine.  In responding to a question, the person will start the sentence using the infinitive of the verb (usually in the imperfective form) and then repeat it in the declined form.  For example:

Чи ти вже обідав?  Обідати, не обідав.
Have you already eaten lunch?  _Lit. _To eat lunch, I did not eat lunch.

Ти читав цю книжку?  Читати, не читав.
Did you read this book?  _Lit.  _To read, I did not read (it).

Ти побачила його вчора, коли він приїздив?  Бачити, не бачила.
Did you see him yesterday when he came?  _Lit._  To see, I did not see.


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## 123xyz

> In responding to a question, the person will start the sentence using the infinitive of the verb (usually in the imperfective form) and then repeat it in the declined form.



We already have a thread about this somewhere. This construction exists in Macedonian too, but since we don't have infinitives, we build it using verbal nouns, preceded by the preposition "за":

Ручаше ли веќе? За ручање не ручав.

Rendering the meaning of the construction in a more comprehensible way, we get something like "as for eating lunch, I didn't do that", I suppose. Anyway, when we use this phrasing in Macedonian, some contrast generally issues immediately afterwards, e.g. "as for eating lunch, I didn't do that, but I did drink coffee".


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## Ivrit

I currently can't think of any example in Croatian either, but we do have double negations if that counts for the thread. If I think of correct example I'll update the post.


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