From Table 6 we can deduce the following generalizations, which will be further expanded: a. As a basic rule, a noun or noun phrase occurs once per paragraph,
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at the beginning. This occurs in lines 1a, 2a, 3a, 4a, 5a, 6a, 7a, 8a,
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9a, and 12a. b. Even though clauses 10a and 11a are at the beginning of the paragraph, the subject is not marked
with a noun or noun phrase. This is because these paragraphs are near the peak, and thus a vivid shortening of normal forms occurs.
c. The self-standing pronoun yehe SHE clause 3b is used specifically for contrastive focus, that is, ‘she as opposed to others’.
d. Participants especially subjects can be fronted, especially at critical points in the text. This will be discussed at greater length in section 5.
e. The main participant is introduced with locative inversion where the verb agrees with one of the locative noun classes, in this case with cl. 16 ha-, rather than the noun class of the participant hâli
riiri mutabana ‘there was a young man’, the numeral muguma ‘one’, and a following relative clause that presents the theme of the story úkahisa umuhya ‘who married a young wife’.
3.1 Introduction of main participants
The introduction is often done by means of ‘presentational articulation’ Lambrecht 1994:177–181. In Fuliiru the usual way to present major participants is by means of locative inversion. This usually
involves the cl. 16 locative ha- ‘at’, e.g. Hâli riiri ‘There was’, as in 34. However, other texts introduce the major participant by using the cl. 18 locative mu- ‘in’, e.g. mwâli riiri ‘there was’ as in 35. Often the
major participant is followed by a relative clause that introduces the theme of the story.
In 34 the most common form of locative inversion occurs with the cl. 16 locative prefix ha- and the
P
3 background tense in Hâli riiri ‘There was’. The main participant then follows in the complement slot umutabana ‘young man’. The numeral muguma ‘certain’ modifies the complement in a formulaic way.
Finally, a relative clause follows, which previews the theme of the story úkalooza ukuyanga umukazi ‘who wanted to marry a woman’.
34 Hâli riiri umutabana muguma
úkalooza ukuyanga umukazi.
There was young man one who wanted to marry
a woman
‘There was a young man who wanted to marry a woman.’ T9 In 35 the cl. 18 prefix mu- ‘in’ is found as an agreement marker on the verb
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mwâli riiri ‘in there, there was’. The main characters are presented in the complement slot as abanyere ‘girls’, modified by the
numeral bashatu ‘three’. The relative clause that follows hints at the theme of the entire story ábâli kundiini bweneene ‘who loved each other a lot’.
35 Mu kaaya kaguma mwâli riiri abanyere bashatu
abâli kundiini bweneene
In village certain there were girls
three who loved each other very much
‘In one village, there were three girls who loved each other a lot’ In some texts the major participant is not introduced in the usual way with locative inversion. In
36 there is no locative inversion, whether cl. 16, 17, or 18. There is also no verb in the
P
3 background
8
Note that Yikyo kibya ‘those larvae’ is repeated more often near the peak, as it is thematic.
9
Note that in 8a, the dependent clause iri hakaba mwi’zuuba ‘when it was daytime’ occurs as a major paragraph break, thus the noun phrase occurs in the second line of the paragraph.
10
Labialized as mw- before a vowel.
tense and no relative clause anticipating the theme of the story. There is, on the other hand, the use of the numeral baguma ‘ones’ translated as ‘certain’. Also, the hunters are not the main characters in the
story; rather, the leopard is. The leopard is presented in the object slot after the verb, and thus at the end of a clause banavyula ingwi ‘and they scared up a leopard’, which helps to recognize it in focus position.
36 Bahiivi baguma bakaba gweti bagahiiva, banavyula
ingwi,
Hunters certain were intentional hunting
and they raised up the leopard
banagiyimula.
and they chased it away
‘Certain hunters were hunting. They scared up a leopard and chased it away.’ T13
3.2 Placement of noun phrases versus prefix pronouns
