A verbum dicendi (Latin for declaratory word, which is also used) is a word that expresses speech, introduces a quotation, or marks a transition to speech which may be considered non-standard. In the field of linguistics, a verbum dicendi is also known as a quotative. Typically it is a verb, e.g. "say", "avow", "claim", etc. In some languages it may take the form of a copulative particle, as in the colloquial English ''He was like "Turn down the music!", and I'm all "No way!".''

A verbum dicendi may theoretically take any form, provided that it introduces a quote or paraphrase. In some forms of informal English, it may even take the form of an action verb like "go", as in a sentence like ''So John goes "This sandwich is too big!"''

In languages making use of ideophones, a verbum dicendi is often used to introduce the ideophone in narrative contexts. For example, in the following Ewe sentence, ''bé'' functions as a verbum dicendi:

''É-ƒú así nu bé bóbóbó''   (3SG-strike hand mouth like IDEOPHONE)   ‘s/he raised an alarm and went “bóbóbó”.’ Category:Syntax