7 THE CLAUSE 153
c. The third syntactic factor is verbal juxtaposition, in which there is a strong tendency to put the subject before the first V, rather than in
between the two Vs. For verbal juxtaposition see 9.2. 42
robhine-no no-kala-mo no-sola-sola-i-e woman-his 3sR-go-PF 3sR-RED-crawl-TR-him
his wife went to spy on him 43
kampufu-no kino liwu no-kala-mo ne-uta bhelomba-no youngest-POS chief village 3sR-go-PF 3sR-pick k.o.fruit-his
the youngest child of the village chief went and picked some of his bhelomba fruits
44 bhai-hi-ku do-wolo do-suli
friend-PLUR-my 3pR-finish 3pR-return my friends all returned
45 o dahu no-wule-mo dua no-lumpa
ART dog 3sR-tired-PF also 3sR-run the dog was also tired of running
Here, too, we occasionally find counter-examples: 46
no-wule-mo mie anagha ne-ghondo-hi karuku 3sR-tired-PF man that 3sR-look-TR herb
the man was tired of looking for herbs 47
do-wolo do-lodo o anahi-hi 3pR-finish 3pR-sleep ART child-PLUR
all the children were asleep
7.1.4. SV order: pragmatic factors
Pragmatic or text-functional criteria may have to be taken into account to arrive at a proper understanding of all the factors involved in the VS - SV
ordering in intransitive clauses. The following five factors all seem to be important, though it has to be
stressed that this analysis is preliminary and the results are tentative. a. topic of contrast or comparison
b. topic establishment c. topic shift
d. conclusion or result e. climax
Each of these factors will be discussed and illustrated in detail. a. Topic of contrast or comparison
Frequently an SV clause structure is found when two entities are contrasted or compared, a usage I call topic of contrast or comparison. The following
examples are all taken from texts; the b clause directly follows the a clauses in the text.
154 A GRAMMAR OF THE MUNA LANGUAGE
48 a.
o-k[um]ala ne hamai itu bhela? where are you going, friend?
2sI-go loc where that friend b.
ae-mpali-mpali kaawu I am only walking around
1sR-RED-walk.around only c.
ihintu o-mai-ghoo ne hamai? where do you come from?
you 2sR-come-IO loc where 49
a. idi hadae na-mate-mo kalei-ku
maybe my banana tree is about I maybe 3sI-die-PF banana-my
to die b.
idi kalei-ku no-ko-bhake-mo my banana tree is already
I banana-my 3sR-HAVE-fruit-PF bearing fruit
50 a.
sabutuhano bhai-hi-ku do-wolo do-suli as.a.result friend-PLUR-my 3pR-finish 3pR-return
as a result my friends all returned b.
ta-inodi miina a-s[um]uli only I did not go home
JUST-I not 1sI-return 51
ina-ndo no-mate-mo, ta-ama-ndo naando-e mother-their 3sR-die-PF, JUST-father-their be-him
their mother had died, only their father was still alive 52
a. o katogha no-pee-mo ne sau mba-langke-langke-no
ART crow 3sR-land-PF loc tree RATHER-RED-high-A.PART the crow landed on a rather high tree
b. o dahu no-fetumpu-mo dua
the dog halted too ART dog 3sR-stop-PF also
53 a.
do-wolo-mo do-lodo o anahi-hi 3pR-finish-PF 3pR-sleep ART child-PLUR
all the children were asleep b.
tamaka o anahi moelu se-mie miina nao-lodo but ART child orphan one-CLAS not 3sI-sleep
but one of the orphan children was not asleep In 48a no pronoun is used, but a pronoun is found in 48c to mark the
contrast between the speaker and the hearer. 48b is the answer to the first question. In 49a and 49b idi is a fronted pronoun see 7.8. In
49b kalei-ku is in preverbal position because it is contrasted with the kalei-ku of 49a, which is in the unmarked postverbal position. In 50a
bhai-hi-ku is preverbal because of the two juxtaposed verbs, compare example 44. Inodi in 50b is contrasted with all my friends, hence the fronted
position. In 51 both nouns are fronted, which is probably the unmarked position when two comparable entities are contrasted within one sentence.
52a has a fronted subject because of the prepositional phrase, whereas in 52b the dog is compared to the crow and hence fronted. Notice that in this
example there is no contrast but a comparison. 53b is another example of a contrast to the general statement given in 53a.
7 THE CLAUSE 155
b. Topic establishment By this term I mean the establishment of a topic the entity being
discussed after it has been introduced. A participant is typically introduced in a non-subject position, but when it is introduced as the
subject, it is usually found in postverbal position. It is subsequently confirmed in the role of topic by being placed in preverbal position. Again,
some of the context of the examples has to be given in order to adequately illustrate this usage.
54 a.
peda hamai hintu kalei-mu? how is your banana tree?
how which you banana-your b.
kalei-ku no-tumbu-mo my banana tree is already
banana-my 3sR-grow-PF growing
55 a.
anagha-ini naando se-ghulu ana-no ndoke ne-late ne wiwi-no formerly be one-CLAS child-POS monkey 3sR-live loc side-POS
karumbu woods
once upon a time there was a little monkey who lived near the woods
b. ana-no ndoke ini ne-mpali-mpali-hi
child-POS monkey this 3sR-RED-walk.around-HI this little monkey was walking around
56 a.
pae-mo nae-mbali-a o-[m]eredaa ina-mu so FUT.no.more 3sI-can-CL 2sI-hope mother-your FUT
t[um]anggo-da A.PART-support-them
you can no longer expect your mother to take care of them b.
ina-mu no-kamokula-mo your mother is already old
mother-your 3sR-old-PF 57
a. ta-no-tanda-tanda kaawu nunsu-no ne oe
JUST-3sR-RED-tap only beak-his loc water he just tapped his beak on the water
b. tamaka o oe no-sampu kansuru
but ART water 3sR-go.down continually but the water kept going down
58 a.
mie anagha no-kala ne-kabua kenta we tehi man that 3sR-go 3sR-fish fish loc sea
the man went to fish in the sea
156 A GRAMMAR OF THE MUNA LANGUAGE
b. kenta ka-ghawa-no maitu sadhia miina na-bhari-a
fish NOM-get-his that always not 3sI-many-CL he never caught many fish lit. the fish that he got were
always not many Two things have to be mentioned here. First, one frequently finds a
referential demonstrative, such as ini in 55b, attached to the established topic. Secondly, one could argue that in 57b the subject is also topic of
contrast, since there is a clear implication from the context that the event or non-event is unexpected. In this case, the functional-pragmatic factors
seem to reinforce each other.
c. Topic shift By topic-shift I mean the following two cases:
1. Certain participants are not formally introduced but inferentially given. In a certain text text 1 in the Appendix there is a dialogue between a
father and his eldest son about the activities of the latter, his mother and his younger brothers and sisters. The last-named are introduced as
follows:
59 ai-hi-mu de-afa-mo itu kaasi-ndo? younger.sibling-PLUR-your 3pR-do.what-PF that pity-their
and your younger brothers and sisters, the poor things, what are they doing?
The ai-hi-mu are inferentially given in a discussion on family matters and hence as subjects they appear before the verb.
Another example is the following from text 5 in the Appendix, in which at a crucial point in the story a cock starts to crow, and in his
crowing gives away a secret that leads to the denouement of the story:
60 garaa o manu no-kakurao-mo and then a cock crowed
SURPR ART chicken 3sR-crow-PF This is the first time the cock is mentioned hence the indefinite
article in the translation, but as the story is located around a house, the presence of domestic animals such as cocks is inferentially given.
2. Topic-shift may also be used for the re-introduction of a participant who has not been the topic for a certain period in the discourse. It is of
course impossible to provide the following examples with the whole preceding context, but one preceding clause should suffice. Example 61
is from a story about a fool:
61 a. no-wora kaawu bhai-ndo do-kala bhe polulu-ndo 3sR-see after friend-their 3pR-go with axe-their
dae-wei we sangku, anoa no-sina-mo dua 3pI-clear loc forest he 3sR-go.along-PF also
when he saw other people with their axes going to clear the forest, he went along as well
7 THE CLAUSE 157
b. no-mpo-mpona bhai-hi-no do-sula-mo 3sR-RED-long friend-PLUR-his 3pR-burn-PF
after some time his friends began to burn the forest In 61a other people lit. their friends are introduced as objects of
the verb see, after which the fool is the topic for eight sentences. Then, in 61b, those people are mentioned again, but now in preverbal
subject position before do-sula-mo, because they have been introduced before the verb no-mpo-mpona belongs syntactically to a different
clause. It is a re-introduction of known participants.
This usage is particularly common when there is a change of subject or topic in a sentence between a subclause and the main clause which
follows it:
62 no-mamara kaawu, a-paa-paando no-filei-mo 3sR-angry after ART-RED-mouse.deer 3sR-flee-PF
after he =the jin became angry, the mouse deer ran away 63 wakutuu-no no-kundo maitu, Wa Ode Kambeano Mpatani no-bisara-mo
time-its 3sR-leave that Wa Ode Kambeano Mpatani 3sR-speak-PF when he =the buffalo had gone, Wa Ode Kambeano Mpatani said...
64 no-toka kae-late-ha-ndo, A Titibholo no-hela-mo tora 3sR-complete NOM-live-LOC-their ART Titibholo 3sR-sail-PF again
when their house was ready, A Titibholo sailed off again In these cases the distance between the previous mentioning of the
subject and its re-introduction can be relatively small. d. Result or conclusion
Frequently the line of events of a story is interrupted to present a result or a conclusion. This need not be the final conclusion of the story, but in
many stories temporary, intermediate results are presented that lead to the next chain of events. Such conclusions very often have the subject in
preverbal position. It should be stressed that there is clearly no topic- shift involved in the following examples.
65 dadi o karambau no-tende kansuru
so ART buffalo 3sR-run continually so the buffalo kept running
66 dadi ko-toko-no no-baru sepaliha
so HAVE-shop-A.PART 3sR-happy very so the shopkeeper was very happy
67 oe welo bhangka-ndo no-kele-mo
their boat was dry again water in boat-their 3sR-dry-PF
68 panda-pandano bhangka-ndo miina-mo nao-bhenta
finally boat-their no.more 3sI-hole finally their boat did not have a hole anymore
There are also counter-examples, however, where a conclusion is presented with the subject in postverbal position:
158 A GRAMMAR OF THE MUNA LANGUAGE
69 dadi no-sere-mo rea-no
so his blood flowed so 3sR-flow-PF blood-his
e. Climax At climactic points in the discourse, there is often a tendency for the main
participant to be fully expressed and to be put in preverbal position. In Muna the conjunction kansuru at once is often added to give the climactic
action extra force. This kansuru can also be inflected as an ae-verb see 9.21, example 301. The following examples are all taken from the
climactic point in the narrative:
70 o ndoke nagha kansuru no-punda
the monkey jumped at once ART monkey that at.once 3sR-jump
71 no-pooli no-rondo idi-a kansuru a-ere te Kandari
3sR-get 3sR-dark I-CL at.once 1sR-leave loc Kendari when it got dark, I left straight away for Kendari
72 no-mpona kaawu, A-Ware-ware-lima kansuru ne-pundu
3sR-long after ART-RED-broad-hand at.once 3sR-grab after a long time, Mr. Broadhand suddenly grabbed it
73 pada kaawu amaitu, Lauale-Lauale ini-a kansuru no-suli
finish after that RED-Lauale this-CL at.once 3sR-return after that Lauale-Lauale immediately went home
Thus, syntactic and pragmatic considerations are shown to have an effect on the place of the subject in relation to the verb. It is important to realize that
especially pragmatic factors relate to the speakers intent to mark something as, for instance, topic of contrast. In other words, the speaker is free to
choose a particular strategy, but he is not compelled to do so. This explains the VS order in those cases where there is a marked contrast with another
entity, so that preposing the subject to become topic of contrast is certainly a possibility. Compare the following example, where there is a
contrast but the second subject is still in postverbal position:
74 no-paghindulu o kahepu, no-mburumai o titiisa
3sR-go.first ART youngest 3sR-go.last ART oldest the youngest went first, the eldest came last
This whole area needs much more research. The syntactic factors have to be carefully checked, operational definitions have to be found for the pragmatic
factors and quantitative studies must show the extent of variation.
7.2. Existential clauses
