21
Pre-NO Pre-NI
S V
OC Post-NI Post-NO
19 Kiziga
ingwi iteziri
Surprise leopard
is waiting to harm it.
‘Surprise, the leopard was waiting for it.’ T2 In the same story the gazelle is ‘in the present state of not knowing’. This again is background
information in the immediate present. 22
Pre-NO Pre-NI
S V
OC Post-NI
Post-NO
21b Imbongo
itayiji kiri na kiri
Gazelle does not know
even a little
‘The gazelle was not aware, even a little bit.’ T2
In each of these two cases, the resultative describes a background state in the present tense.
2.6 Tail-head marking for new paragraphs
Paragraphs are often set off by tail-head linkage, where material from the end of the last paragraph is repeated at the beginning of the next paragraph. These heads function as points of departure, linking the
two paragraphs together. There are three types of tail-head linkage: default, immediate, and reduced.
2.6.1 Default tail-head linkage
The conjunction iri ‘when’ followed by a
P
2 verb default past tense is very commonly used to link what happened in a previous paragraph with what followed in the following paragraph and thus functions as a
point of departure. This happens twice in 23. In lines 14a–b the fortune teller tells the gazelle to go to a jungle far away. The next paragraph, beginning with line 15a Iri ikagenda ‘When it had gone’, then refers
back to line 14b. Line 15b states that the gazelle had moved away. The next paragraph, beginning with line 16a, refers back to that fact by stating Iri ikaba keera yamala siku zitali niini ‘When it had already
finished off there quite a few days’. 23
Pre-NO Pre-NI S
V OC
Post-NI Post-NO
14a Umulaguzi
anagishuvya
The fortune teller and he answered him
14b [---
Ugende mu lubako lwa hala bweneene]
You go in jungle of faraway very
15a [Iri
--- ikagenda]
When it went
15b ---
yanagendi bunga
it going moved
16a [Iri
--- ikaba keera yamala siku zitali niini]
When it was already it has
finished days which are
not few
16b iyo mbongo
yanagaluka
that gazelle and it returned
‘The fortune teller answered him. “Go into the jungle very far away.” When it went, it moved. When there had already finished many days, that gazelle returned. T2
2.6.2 Immediate tail-head linkage
The conjunction mbu ‘as soon as’ or its less common equivalent ngu followed by subjunctive verb marks tail-head linkage that is immediate or sudden. This is often found at points of high tension in the story,
for example, at or near the peak. In 24, near the peak of the story, after a standoff in the previous several sentences, the two goats
struggle and fall into the river. The clause introducing the splashing noise in line 11a is marked by a preposed subject ingoona and then the conjunction mbu ‘as soon as’ followed by the subjunctive form
iyuvwe ‘it heard’. The effect is that ‘as soon as they fell in, the crocodile gobbled them up.’ The use of this form suggests a sudden action that could not be slowed down and emphasizes the helplessness of the
formerly proud billy goats. 24
Pre-NO Pre-NI
S V
OC Post-NI Post-NO
11a [
Ingoona mbu
iyuvwe ulubi]
Crocodile as soon as
it heard noise
11b [11a]
--- yanabibakula
it gobbled them
‘As soon as the crocodile heard the noise, it gobbled them up.’ T1 In 25 the man has smeared sap on the tree a bent limb used as a spring trap. It is assumed that
he is wanting to catch an animal. Then in line 3a the preposed Walukwavu ‘Rabbit’ is followed by the conjunction ngu ‘as soon as’ and the subjunctive verb ayije ‘he comes’. The communicated effect is that
the helpless rabbit is suddenly caught by the trap. 25
Pre-NO Pre-NI
S V
OC Post-NI
Post-NO
2a [Iri
hakaba lusiku luguma
]
When it was
day one
2b [2a]
leero uyo mushosi
anagendi shinga mwekiti
this time that man and he going stood
in ground in there a tree
2c ---
anakishiiga kwoburembo
and he smeared on it
sap
3a [
Walukwavu ngu
ayije]
Rabbit as soon as
he comes
3b [3a]
--- anagwatwa
ku bulya burembo
and he was grabbed on that sap
‘When it was one day, this time that man stuck a tree in the ground, and he smeared sap on it. The rabbit, as soon as it came, it was stuck on that sap.’ T10
2.6.3 Reduced tail-head linkage
