Situational points of departure The evidential marker wlä

9.2.1 Situational points of departure

The main function of points of departure is to establish an explicit frame of reference see §4.2.1. This is especially important at points where the frame of reference changes. The transition to a different phase in the mental scheme of a narrative generally implies a change in the frame of reference. So it is to be expected that a point of departure should appear at such a transition point. In Godié narrative, a situational point of departure is typically found there. Indeed, a temporal or spatial point of departure is used at the transition point to the the initial phase of the narrative, as in example 201a, and to the complication phase, as in 201b. The presence of the spacer nä ‘SP1’, as in 201b, seems to emphasize the fact that the narrative advances to a new phase in its mental scheme. 201 a. - lɔɔ klää mnɛ - kʋ - mɔɔ [sese] there bush: OBL animal BE 1: CP LOC NUPT ‘There in the forest, there is an animal, ɛɛ -w ʋ ghlü [sese] NH 2: XNEG CNT 2 be_big NUPT it is not big.’ [creation 27–28] b. zɩkää ylʋʋ kʋ nä ŋwadi mʋ ylä today: GEN day: DEF on SP 1 lad go: ICP now: LOP ‘Now one day lit. on the day of today a lad was coming along.’ [kazo 15–16]

9.2.2 The evidential marker wlä

The evidential marker wlä ‘EVD’ is a way to indicate that the speaker is not to be held accountable for the truth of the information that follows, as in example 202. It is a contraction of the third person plural pronoun wa see §2.2.1, used non-referentially, and the speech introducer lä see §6.2. 7 202 wlä ylʋbä kä cii- a kä yi nä EVD year XCND speak: CP NH 1 XPOT come SP 1 ‘It is reported that when New Year is going to lit. says it will come up, kä Fädɩnyʋa bhlä nyɩkpɔ nɩ wa bʋbɔ jiee ASF Fanti_people: DEF kill: ICP person ADD 1 3 P sacrifice ocean: DEF the Fanti kill someone and they make a sacrifice to the ocean.’ [neyo 33.1–4] In fictional narrative, or folk tales, the evidential marker has been found to occur at transition points to a new phase in the story. Thus at the transition to the initial stage of the story, possibly after some kind of an introduction, the narrator can use the evidential marker wlä ‘EVD’ to make the audience aware that the story begins, as in example 203a. The speaker thus indicates that what follows is not his own personal narrative but a folk tale that has come to him by tradition. In the latter use the marker can also have the form wlaa, as in example 203b. 8 203 a. wlä nyɩkpɔ ɔmɔɔ- nöö- lä ɔɔ ŋwnɩä sɔ EVD person 3 S : TH : REL marry: CP LOP 3 S : GEN woman: PL two ‘They say that there was once a man who had married two wives.’ [lueuzi 20–21] 7 The pronoun wa with non-referential meaning also occurs elsewhere in the language. 8 The presence of the thematic pronoun in these examples is due to the fact that the participant is the first to be brought on stage see §5.1.3 b. wlaa nyɩkpa mä slää lä waa du EVD people TH build: CP LOP 3 P : GEN village ‘It is reported that people had built a village for themselves lit. they say that people, it was they who built their village.’ [kazo 1] Occurrences of wlä at transition points within the story can be seen as reminders that a fictional story is being told, or as cues given to the hearer that the story is moving to a new phase in its mental scheme. Indeed, apart from the peak of the story, where other devices are used see §9.2.3 and §9.2.4 below, the evidential marker can be found at any transition point to a new phase within a story. However, narrators do not use the marker each time they could. Rather, it is their choice and they seem to use it preferably in anticipation of an unexpected turn in the story. The speech or action expressed in the clause following wlä will thus attract the heightened attention of the audience. The evidential marker wlä in narrative thus has a procedural meaning, which can be formulated in the following terms: • Be aware that the story is about to move to a new phase with unexpected events. In example 204 the narrator of the folk tale about the chimpanzee uses wlä at the transition to the unexpected resolution following the peak: the chimpanzee’s contentment after his house has fallen apart and on top of him. 204 wlä g wɛ lä Ɩmɩ n yä bhɛ lä -zä ci EVD chimpanzee say NHP : TH 1 S XPER PST LOP DP 3 speak ‘The chimpanzee said, “That’s what I had already said.”’ [gwebhutu 40] In example 205 the same narrator uses the marker wlä to introduce the final stage of the story, namely the scars the chimpanzee still carries today from the events told in the story. 205 wlä -n gä lä - zɩkä g wɛ yi ni EVD 2 S XPOT LOP today chimpanzee VC eyes see ‘Now whenever you see a chimpanzee nowadays…’ [gwebhutu 47] In example 206 the narrator of the story about the bird Dacligo uses wlä at the transition point to a further complication in the story: after winning the war against the animals thanks to Dacligo’s willingness to carry the war fetish, Dacligo wants to give the fetish back and be freed from the ban linked to it, which is not to eat palm nuts. 206 wlä -Dacligoo lä t ʋʋ yä yɩ bhɩä nn EVD Dacligo say war: DEF XPER now end UPT ‘Well, then Dacligo said, “The war is now over, nä a bhlü yɩ aa - gʋgwaa kʋ aa SP 1 2 P take now 2 P : GEN war_fetish: DEF VPC UPT so take back your war fetish.”’ [dacligo 36–37] Example 207 which is taken from the story about the lost washcloth, shows two occurrences of wlä. The first one occurs at the transition point to the protagonists’s unexpected reaction, while the second one occurs at the transition point to the resolution of the story. 207 wlä nyɩkpɔ - kʋ wä sɔɔ -aaa EVD person BE 1: CP PST 3 thus until ‘It is said that the chap lit. person had stayed like that until ‘nɩ nyibhlëa -lef ɩɩn ɔ yia waa f ɩɩn ADD 1 river: DEF : GEN totality 3 S XFUT : NH 1 empty_out altogether the whole river, he had emptied it out entirely ‘nɩ a yi - mɔɔ bhɩä ADD 1 NH 1 XFUT LOC be_finished and it =the water in was finished lit. it ended there. kokloko ŋnʋkla yi kʋ yi ID old_woman: DEF XFUT VPC appear The old woman appeared ɔ -kä a ɔɔ kazɔɔ 3 S have PST 2 3 S : GEN raffia_washcloth: DEF She had his raffia washcloth. ‘nɩ wlä ɔ yi kazɔɔ kʋ bhlü [sese] ADD 1 EVD 3 S XFUT raffia_washcloth: DEF VPC take NUPT Then it is said that he took his raffia washcloth.’ [kazo 50–56]

9.2.3 Past tense particles