Past imperfective -shinda- Description of the use of tense and aspect in Makonde narrative

4a in the same narrative, where the past perfective is used to open the inciting episode. The past perfective slows the narrative, giving prominence to the following events. 07 Mother and Child use of past perfective to open the peak episode 11a. --- Andítukuta PAST moja kwamoja mpaka po palikaja She.had.run one by.one until there at.village She dashed back as fast as she could to the village… 09 Ákalimanya use of past perfective opening DE2, where action taken fulfils a thematically important plan 16a. Mwiu tuvanu S apalá Tundítwala PAST myanda True we.people there we.took journey 16b. Kuka DEF NARR kumwitu pashinu went to.bush at.place 16c. pavashipita namene vanembo. where.they.used.to.pass very elephants. And so that is what we did: we went into the bush, to a place which elephants often used to pass.

5.1.3 Past imperfective -shinda-

The past imperfective is a background tense, used for both habitual and past progressive actions. Its main use in narrative is as a prior progressive describing events that occur prior to the event line. In the examples below from 07 Mother and child, the events given prior to the event line are that in the war the Portuguese soldiers vashindauma ‘used to make sorties’ and the Makonde people vashitukutangila ‘used to go and hide’. 07 Mother and Child use of past imperfective to describe events occurring prior to event line 3a. Ingondo ailá vajungu vashindauma PAST MPF po pa Mweda apa War that white.people they.were.leaving here at Mueda here During that war, the Portuguese would make sorties from right here in Mueda… 07 Mother and Child use of past imperfective to describe events occurring prior to event line 4b. kanji vanu vashitukutangila PAST IMPF namene kubondi. but people they.used.to.hide very at.low.country. …people used to go and hide in the low country, 34 however. The past imperfective is also used, although more rarely, for ongoing action within the story setting the scene for event-line verbs; i.e., the standard use of an imperfective tense, creating an ongoing action about to be punctuated by a perfective. 34 The Makondes live on a plateau; and the land below the escarpment of the plateau is known as the ‘low country’. 04 Elephant and Nightjar use of past imperfective for scene-setting activity in inciting episode 4a. Napanelo muliduva limo Nnembo aju ashinapita PAST IMPF Now on.day one Elephant this he.was.passing 4b. alya PRES PART mumwitu amu he.eating in.bush this. Now one day Elephant was going along in the bush, eating. The past imperfective is also used negatively in a stative sense. In the example below, the protagonist Ákalimanya, a hunter, runs out of ammunition; there ‘was nothing that he could see to do’. This is his ongoing condition until in clause 7d he gets an idea of how to resolve the problem. 09 Ákalimanya use of past imperfective negative in a stative 7c. nae, --- hashipali PAST IMPF NEG shagwene he --- there.was.not of.he.should see …he couldn’t think what to do…

5.1.4 Anterior -ndi-