•he/she/I/they/we said: a type of verbal quotation mark used for direct and indirect quotes, also similar to that when used as a coordinating conjunction · used to emphasize a word
Contracted from とて (tote), itself a compound of quotative particle と (to) and conjunctive particle て (te). Another etymology lists って as a shift from てふ (tefu), a contraction of と言う (to iu, “said that...”) in its Classical Japanese form. * /to ifu/ → /toifu/ → /tefu/ → /tte/ When following a word ending in ん (n), manifests without gemination as just て (te). First cited to the late 1800s.