Digo Nicolle 2015:25 27 pha-tsup-a
chi-chetu cha kare 16.
PST
-
PASS
-
FV
7-female 7.
ASS
old ‘… there passed by an old woman.’
Since subject agreement on the verb is with a locative noun class rather than the noun class of the participant being introduced, the participant is not the grammatical subject of the clause. This accounts
for the fact that, in Digo and Rangi, the participant can occur optionally as part of an oblique phrase introduced by the comitative marker na. In Rangi, there is only one verb with a class 17 subject marker
when the comitative marker is used, instead of the usual two verbs.
Digo Nicolle 2015:3 28 Hipho
kare, ku-a-kal-a na mutu
m-mwenga 16.
DEM
_
REF
long_ago 17-
PST
-be-
FV COM
1.person 1-one ‘Long ago, there was one man…’
Rangi Stegen 2011:343 29 Hara
kalɨ
ku-a-vij-áa na
mʉ-falume 16.
DEM
_
DIST
long_ago 17-
PST
-be-
HAB COM
1.king ‘In times of old there was a king…’
4.2.2 Existential verb plus locative clitic
Jita, Kabwa, Kwaya, Malila and one Suba-Simbiti text introduce major participants using an existential verb plus a suffixed locative clitic. The participant is expressed as a post-verbal subject and the verb
contains a subject prefix which agrees with the noun class of this post-verbal subject. The first example below occurs in exactly the same form in both Jita and Kwaya. For further discussion of Suba-Simbiti,
see §6.4.
Jita Pyle and Robinson 2015:21 Kwaya Odom 2015:21 30 :A-a-ri-ga
a-ri=wo omukaruka umwi.
3
SG
-
P
3-
COP
-
HAB
3
SG
-
COP
=16 1.old_man 1.one ‘There was one old man.’
Suba-Simbiti Masatu 2015:17 31 Ya-a-re-nga-ho
umushaasha uwöndë ono ya-a-re-nga na bhakaaye abhabhërë.
3
SG
-
PST
-be-
HAB
-16 1.man 1.certain 1.
REL
3
SG
-
PST
-be-
HAB COM
2.wife 2.two
‘There was a certain man who had two wives.’
4.2.3 Existential verb
In Makonde and Ekoti, major participants are introduced as post-verbal subjects following an existential verb form. In these constructions there is no locative element.
Makonde Leach 2015:48 32 Napanelo ku-pagw-a
nyama jumo…
Now
NARR
-exist-
FV
9.animal 9.one ‘Now there was an animal…’
Makonde Leach 2015:24 33 Va-ndí-pagw-a va-nyama va-dimembe.
2-
PST
-be-
FV
2-animals 2.
ASS
-horn ‘There were animals with horns.’
4.2.4 Mixed constructions
Bena, has a mixed construction in which two existential predicates occur in sequence, followed by a post-verbal subject. The first existential predicate agrees with the subject and the second has a locative
subject marker in either class 16 or 17: Aali pwali umuunu ‘There was a man’, Aali kwali umuunu yuminga ‘There was an old man’, Vaali pwali… ‘There were…’ etc.
Bena Eaton 2015a:46 34 A-a-li
pwa-li umuunu
3
SG
-
P
2-be 16.
P
2-be 1.person ‘There was a man.’
4.2.5 Verb of arrival
After the orientation, a participant may be introduced into a narrative using a verb such as ‘arrive’, ‘come’ or ‘appear’, typically with a post-verbal subject. In Fuliiru, the verb takes locative agreement, but
in all the other languages surveyed the verb agrees with the post-verbal subject exemplified below by Rangi:
Fuliiru Van Otterloo 2011:109 35 ha-ka-yij-a
utunyumi twingi 16-
PST
-come-
FV
13.birds 13.many ‘there came many birds.’
Rangi Stegen 2011:418 36
Sikʉ ɨmwɨ maa
a-
kʉʉj-a mʉtavana ʉmwi
9.day 9.one however 3
SG
.
PST
-come-
FV
1.youth 1.one ‘One day however came one young man.’
4.2.6 Other ways of introducing major participants
