Denouement Conclusion Linguistic features of Digo narrative texts

7.23a Nami nila tsakani ndipho nanyendeka bila wasiwasi, and I I come from in forest then I am walking without fear 7.23b nalola photsi lakini gafula myangu waniona mapema. I am looking down but suddenly my companion it saw me early ‘And I am coming out of the forest, so I am walking without fear, I am looking down but suddenly my companion the lion saw me first.’ In summary, the peak episode may be indicated by changes to the way participants are referred to, over-specification of participants, and changes to the way tense and aspect are used, but none of the narratives in our corpus exhibit all of these effects.

1.3.5 Denouement

The denouement often takes the form of a summary of the main events of the story or it may describe events which happen after the peak. As such, the denouement often contains predictable material. In the denouement in Text 3 3.24–3.26 the ghost is eaten by its friends, as it had predicted it would be, and the denouement in Text 1 1.32–1.38 consists mostly of the man repeating to himself what the hyena had said and done in the peak episode. In Text 6, there are two parts to the denouement: 6.50–6.52 explains that to this day, the lion is angry and you should therefore sleep in a secure hut when guarding a field at night; 6.53–6.59 ends the story by describing what happened to the woman and her husband. The denouement can also take the form of a summary statement; this is found in the two non-climactic narratives 4.29 and 5.41. 4.29 Kpwa hivyo hiro ndiro romphaha mutu wa kani. Therefore this it-is-this which-got-him person of stubbornness ‘So that is what happened to the stubborn man.’ In some texts, major participants may again be referred to using non-proximal demonstratives as they often are in the orientation section, as for example in 2.33b and 2.34a, and in 5.41a.

1.3.6 Conclusion

Conclusions may present the narrator’s perspective on the story, or a summary of the outcome of the story. Either in addition to these elements or in place of them, there is often a formulaic ending. Longacre 1996:38 divides the conclusion into ‘closure’ which consists of the conclusion proper, which may include a moral, and ‘finis’ which is a formulaic ending which is a surface feature only rather than part of the notional structure, or plot, of a narrative. The conclusion may repeat features found in the inciting episode, thereby enhancing the sense of closure of the story. For example, in Text 1, the movement expressions achedzahalwa he came and was taken and achendabebenwa he went and was crunched up in 1.38b–c in the conclusion reflect rakpwendamfukula it went and dug her up and kuphiya naye to go with her in the inciting episode 1.4c–d. All of the Digo narrative texts end with a formulaic ending. In 2.35, 3.27 and 5.42 this is: 5.42 Hadisi na ngano i-chi-sir-a na hipho. 9.story COM 9.fable 9- CON -end- FV COM 16. DEM _ NP ‘The story and fableriddle ends here.’ 6.60 is identical apart from the omission of the comitative marker na, and in 1.40 ichisira it has finished with consecutive chi has been replaced by ikasira it has finished with the sequential ka tense marker; 4.30 uses ikasira without na.

1.3.7 The role of songs in traditional Digo narratives