participant. Often the way a participant in the subject position is referred to depends on whether it was the subject in the previous clause or whether there has been a change of subject. Differences in the way a
participant is referred to may also occur at the beginning of new paragraphs or in the various episodes of the narrative orientation, inciting episode, developmental episodes, peak episode, denouement and
conclusion.
In Suba-Simbiti major and minor participants are referred to in different ways. A major participant usually receives a specific introduction and then remains present and active throughout most of the
narrative. Major participants can be assigned the roles of the protagonist the character that initiates most of the action or the antagonist the character that reacts to the events initiated by the protagonist.
A minor participant, on the other hand, does not usually receive a specific introduction. Often a minor participant’s first appearance is as the object of a verb, and he or she subsequently only plays a short role
in the narrative.
4.1 Nominal forms in Suba-Simbiti
In Suba-Simbiti, participants can be referred to using a variety of nominal forms. The following are the most common examples:
• Proper names, such as Msimbiti
• Descriptive noun phrases, such as murikyaye ‘companion’ and abhamura abha Iryënyi ‘Iryenyis sons’
• Noun phrases containing a demonstrative as in ömöntö uyö ‘that person’ and bhaara abha Musimbëtë
‘those of Msimbiti’. The demonstratives may be distal e.g., bhaara, proximal e.g., bhano or referential e.g., bhayö.
• Independent pronouns also referred to as ‘self-standing pronouns’ referring to animate entities,
such as we ‘heshe’ •
Additive pronouns, such as nawe ‘with himher’ •
Verb marking that consists of a prefix on the verb either referring to the subject, as in yaamanyirë ‘he knew’, or referring to the object, as in ndamobherekara ‘I am calling him’.
The following three sections consider these options in relation to different types of participant reference: introduction, reactivation and further reference.
4.2 Introduction of participants
One common way of introducing major participants in Suba-Simbiti is the use of the past copula. In Suba-Simbiti the past copula consists of the copula clitic attached to a noun followed by the verb rë ‘to
be’ in either the past habitual or distal past TAM form and marked for subject agreement. The past copula normally follows a proper noun or descriptive noun phrase that is used to
introduce the participant, as in example 29. 29
Origin 1 Musimbëtë na Mohaasha m=bhaana abha enda
ëmwë bha-a-rë Msimbiti and Mhaasha
COP
=2.child 2.
ASS
9.stomach 9.one 3
PL
-
PST
-be ‘Msimbiti and Mohaasha were siblings, they were.’
Another possible way for major participants to be introduced is by a proper noun or a descriptive noun phrase that follows a locative verb, as in 30.
30 Water 1
Ya-a-re-nga-ho umushaasha uwöndë ono ya-a-re-nga
na bhakaaye abhabhërë
3
SG
-
PST
-be-
HAB
-16.
LOC
1.man 1.certain 1.
REL
3
SG
-
PST
-be-
HAB
with 2.wife 2.two
‘There was a certain man who had two wives.’ In both of these methods for introducing participants, the word uwöndë or abhandë ‘certain’
frequently appears in the introduction, as in example 30. Minor participants are usually introduced into an existing mental representation and often post-
verbally, as illustrated in example 31, where the children are introduced as the objects of the verb. 31
Birds 2a Bha-ka-tom-a
abhaana igha, ‘Abhaana bhano
mo-keny-e bhöngö~bhöngö... 3
PL
-
NARR
-send-
FV
2.children
COMP
2.children 2.
DEM
_
PROX
2
PL
-run-
SBJ
fast~fast ‘They elderly men told the children, “You children, run fast...” ’
4.3 Reactivation of participants after an absence
