Peak episode Denouement Linguistic features in Suba-Simbiti narrative texts

The most common verb tense in developmental episodes is the narrative tense NARR , which is used for actions on the main event line. In dependent clauses that provide background information or serve as points of departure, it is common for the proximal past or anterior TAM forms to be used. For example: 13 Water 7b–d we hano ya-a-ghëëyë uku-tun-a amanshë ghayö a-ka-ghy-a 3 SG 16. DEM _ PROX 3 SG - PST -go: PROX INF -look_for- FV 6.water 6. DEM _ REF 3 SG - NARR -go- FV a-ka-tah-a amanshë... 3 SG - NARR -tote- FV 6.water ‘When she went to look for that water, she went and toted the water...’ Both direct and indirect speech is marked with the complementizer igha ‘that’. This complementizer appears with almost every occurrence of direct or indirect speech, and it seems to be extremely ungrammatical to omit it. The examples below illustrate the use of igha with both direct speech 14 and indirect speech 15. See section 8 for further discussion of reported speech. 14 Buffalo 8b–c a-ka-tëëbhy-a su-waabho igha Taata engʼera nayo yi-it-irë 3 SG - NARR -tell- FV father-3 PL . POSS COMP 9.father 9.buffalo 3 SG . EMPH 9: PST -kill- PROX engʼombe iyëëtö 9.cow 9.1 PL . POSS ‘He told their father, “Father, it was the buffalo that killed our cow.” ’ 15 Water 6 Bhoono ömöntö uyö a-ka-tëëbhy-a abhakaaye bhonswe igho abhabhërë now 1.person 1. DEM _ REF 3 SG - NARR -tell- FV 2.wives 2.all completely 2.two igha bha-ghi bha-mo-reet-er-e amanshë agha mu-kisima kiyö COMP 3 PL -go: SBJ 3 PL -3 SG -bring- APPL - SBJ 6.water 6. ASS 18-7.well 7. DEM _ REF ‘Now that person told both of his two wives that they should go and bring him water from that well.’

1.3.4 Peak episode

Peak episodes in Suba-Simbiti are identifiable by a prevalent use of the narrative tense, which often appears in a rapid action sequence. Typically, the actions in the sequence are performed by one participant who, if mentioned at all, is referred to using a demonstrative at the beginning of the peak episode. For example: 16 Origin 13–14 Abhamura bhayö bha-ka-ghy-a na=we, bha-ka-hik-a ku-Iryënyi 2.young_men 2. DEM _ REF 3 PL - NARR -go- FV 3 SG = COM 3 PL - NARR -arrive- FV 17-Iryenyi bha-ka-shumaash-a bha-ka-ighwerra 3 PL - NARR -talk- FV 3 PL - NARR -hear: APPL ‘Those young men went with him, they arrived at Iryenyi’s, they talked, they agreed.’ Also, a transitional word such as bhoono ‘now’ or bhuyö ‘so’ normally occurs at the beginning of the peak episode. Sometimes the narrative tense occurs immediately following the transitional word. At other times a subordinate clause functioning as a PoD follows the transitional word and uses the proximal past or anterior TAM forms, as seen in example 17. 17 Inheritance 23 Bhoono hano bhw-a-këëyë a-ka-ghoot-a eketabho keera now 16. DEM _ PROX 8- PST -sun_rise: PROX 3 SG - NARR -hold- FV 7.book 7. DEM _ DIST a-ka-ke-honyor-a ahasë aha Mataayo 3 SG - NARR -7-open- FV 16.place 16. ASS Matthew ‘Now, when the sun rose, he held the book and opened it to Matthew.’

1.3.5 Denouement

The purpose of the denouement in Suba-Simbiti is to resolve the story by describing the events that followed as a result of the peak, as seen in example 18. 18 Inheritance 27 Ya-a-bh-a umwamë kora bhoono igho we a-kö-tööry-a abha 3 SG - PST -be- FV 1.rich_person even now completely 3 SG . EMPH 3 SG -17. REL -help- FV 2. ASS waabho hayö 3 PL . POSS 16. DEM _ REF ‘He has been rich and even now it is he who is helping those at home.’ In the denouement, the most common tense used is the narrative ka–, followed by the anterior TAM form –irë. However, an inspection of the denouement sections of the text corpus shows that almost every tense or TAM form used in Suba-Simbiti narratives appears at least once. Example 19 shows the two most common forms. 19 Mgendi 23 Bha-ka-saagh-a abhabhërë bha-ghötërëëyë ghwiki... 3 PL - NARR -remain- FV 2.two 3 PL -hold: APPL :ant again ‘They remained two, they had held on again...’

1.3.6 Conclusion