32 S2.2: Emphatic pronoun
Pre-NO Pre-NI
S V
OC Post-NI
Post-NO 2
Naanye :n-a-amb-ire
okureebha iika waasu
1
S
.
EMPHPN
1
S
-
P
3-start-
P
3
INF
.herd 9.house 9.
POSS
.1
P
Indeed I started to herd at our house. 33 H7.24: Verbal agreement
Pre-NO Pre-NI
S V
OC Post-NI
Post-NO
24 ---
M-ba-sig-ag-a ayo
akabhwa keebhwe
NARR
-3
P
-stop-
HAB
-
FV
16.
DEM
2 12.dog 12.
POSS
.3
P
Then they were leaving there their small dog.
4.2 Introduction of participants
In fictional narratives major and minor participants are introduced most often with a descriptive noun phrase and presentational articulation as described in section 6.2. No human participants are given
names in any of the texts. The following is an example of an orientation section introduction of participants:
34 H1.1a
Pre-NO Pre-NI S
V OC Post-NI
Post-NO
1a :A-a-ri-ga a-ri-wo
omukaruka umwi na mukaaye 3
S
-
P
3-
COP
-
HAB
3
S
-
COP
-
LOC
1.old man 1.one
CONJ
1.wife.
POSS
.3
S
There was there one old man and his wife. If the major participant is a known character such as the hare, then a proper name can be used:
35 H3.1
Pre-NO Pre-NI S
V OC
Post-NI Post-NO
1 Ng’wena na Mutuuju :bha-a-ri-ga bha-tareene
obhusaani crocodile
CONJ
hare 3
P
-
P
3-
COP
-
HAB
3
P
-do:
P
2 14.friendship
Crocodile and Hare were developing a friendship. In nonfiction narratives the narrator does not introduce himself or herself with a descriptive noun
phrase; rather, in each text the main participant is introduced in different ways. In S2 an emphatic 1
S
pronoun naanye is used, along with agreement on the verb. In S4 the narrator only uses subject prefixes on the verb, and in S3 an independent pronoun is used with agreement on the verb, as shown in example
36.
36 S3.1
Pre-NO Pre-NI
S V
OC Post-NI
Post-NO
1 Anye
obhumura bhwani na-a-ga n-i-ikaa-ye
kw-Irugwa 1
S
.
INDPN
14.youth 14.
POSS
.1
S
1
S
-
P
3-
HAB
1
S
-
P
3-live-
P
3
LOC
-Irugwa I, in my childhood, was living in Irugwa.
Minor participants can be introduced in different ways. A collective group of people are introduced through a simple noun phrase, as illustrated in example 37, with the introduction abhaanu ‘people’.
37 H4.16a
Pre-NO Pre-NI
S V
OC Post-NI
Post-NO
16a Woori abhaanu
bha-a-tur-ag-a Now
2.people 3
P
-
P
1-pass-
HAB
-
FV
Now, people were passing… H2 is the only text in which individual minor participants are introduced, and this is accomplished
in two different ways in this text. The first is by preposing the participant owa okwamba ‘he of first’—the first person from the canonical post-verbal object position; clause 6a in example 38 illustrates this
method. The second is through postposing the subject as illustrated in clause 7 of the same example, where owa kabhiri ‘he of second’—the second person is the subject of Naaja ‘He came’.
38 H2.6–H2.7
Pre-NO Pre-NI
S V
OC Post-NI
Post-NO
6a Mmbe owa okwamba
--- m-ba-mu-yaan-a
omutiyaani So
1.
ASSOC INF
.start
NARR
-3
P
-3
S
-give-
FV
3.test 6b
--- n-aa-tamw-a
NARR
-3
S
-fail-
FV
7 N-aa-j-a
owa kabhiri
NARR
-3
S
-come-
FV
1.
ASSOC
12.two So the first, they gave him the test, he failed. He came, the second person.
4.3 Reactivation of participants after an absence