Group Other PoD Referential PoD
Comments
12a
His wife said: “Is there food here that you sent for?
12b
It’s obvious your son brought a guest here.
12c
He said that we grab that rooster
of yours, and serve it as guest food to him.”
13a
That man said:
“ Is it
that rooster that you butchered, and it’s the
one you gave rabbit?”
13b
Quote “
Yes ”
13c
“ Where EM
is he?”
13d
Quote “
That one is sleeping over there in the guest house.
14
As soon as he reached the door
he jumped right into that hole.
15a
That man grabbed the tail.
15b
And he the rabbit said “
There was one who grabbed a root, thinking that he has grabbed rabbit
.”
16
The rabbit immediately appeared outside.
17
That man remained complaining
that his son has no ears .
18
The story that is where it ends like rain. That’s where it
comes to an end.
6.1.1 Rules for suffix -ag in non-quoted material
When used with verbs other than commands in reported speech, -ag means ‘pay attention’, building up tension just before a thematically salient event. In this way, the suffix -ag has a function similar to that of
the Greek particles idouide Van Otterloo 1988. The emphatic -ag is used with this function especially in narratives of informal register. The frequency with which -ag is used in this way is proportional to the
degree of the informality of style: the more informal the story, the more the EM is used.
In 86 there are three instances of the suffix -ag, in anahikage ‘and he arrived’, anayifundage ‘and he went inside uninvited’, and anabwirage ‘and he told’. The actions of these verbs are not in themselves
prominent, but they set up the listener to pay attention to what follows, that is, he has brought a wife and there is a problem with her, so that the young man will not eat in the place where others normally
eat.
86 Anahik ag
e ha mwabo hikola
hihwehwerwe.
And he arrived
EM
at home it is now dusk.
Anayifund ag
e
EM
mu nyumba anabwir ag
e nyina
ti “E maawe
And he barged
EM
into house and he told
EM
his.mother ‹quote› O my.mother
naleeta umuhya. Mumbeereze ibyokulya.”
I have brought new.bride Give me food.
‘And he arrived at their place, it is now dusk. And he went straight into the house, and he told his mother, “O mother, I have brought a new bride. Give me some food.” ’ T9
In 87 the emphatic -ag extension is found suffixed to the verbal auxiliary ba ‘to become’ here in the reduplicated form -agag, because this is a single syllable verb root. The fact that they finished the
food is not important, but what follows is very important; the father begins to dance with the daughter and to brag about how clever he was in tricking his wife. This leads to his demise.
87 Iri
bakabag ag
a keera bayusa ukulya ibyokulya
yiba agendi yabiira
ulya
When they had
EM
already finished eating food her husband going
took that
mwana, akine
akine
child, he danced he danced.
‘When they had finished eating the food her husband went and took that child and danced and danced [with her].’
In 88 -ag occurs only once, where it is found in akakulikiraga ‘he had followed’. Again, there is nothing at all thematic about this verb, except that its emphatic suffix indicates that the climactic
episode is about to begin. Because -ag appears on verbs which lead up to the climactic point in the narrative, it is commonly found on verbs of motion, such as kulikira ‘follow’, genda ‘go’, jabuka ‘cross
over’, hika ‘arrive’, fuluka ‘return from work’, and gwata injira ‘set out on path’. In each case when such a verb is marked, something important is about to happen in the story.
88 Wandare
iri akakulikir
ag a
iyo njira anagendi hika ho ihekiiri
Lion when he followed
EM
that path he going arrive at lonely place
‘Lion, when he followed that path, he went and arrived where it ends.’
6.1.2 Rules for suffix -ag in speech quotes
