Direct and indirect speech Speech introducers in direct speech

participants. Relative clauses also appear in sentences with an identificational articulation focus structure, which are discussed in section 6.5.

7.2.1 Relative clauses identifying particular features of major participants

Although relative clauses do not introduce participants into a narrative in Suba-Simbiti, they do appear in presentational sentences that introduce participants. In this environment relative clauses provide some identifying features of the participant who is introduced. Consider the following examples: 55 Relative clauses introducing participant Buffalo 1b ono akobherekerwanga igha Bhiraghë ‘who was called Birage’ Buffalo 3b ono yaarëësyanga situgho wonswe ‘who was shepherding the herds with him’ Simbiti People 11b ono yaarë okobherekerwanga igha Iryënyi ‘who was called Iryenyi’ Crocodile 6c ono yaarë mu-bhwato ‘who was in the boat’ Water 1b ono yaarenga na bhakaaye abhabhërë ‘who had two wives’

7.2.2 Relative clauses identifying entities

Another common function of the relative clause in Suba-Simbiti is to identify an entity that is mentioned in a preceding clause. These are all restrictive relative clauses, because they restrict the reference of the noun phrase. In the narrative “Water” the origin of two different kinds of water is identified using restrictive relative clauses. 56 Restrictive relative clauses Water 3 amanshë ghano gharëngë mu-kisima ikya Mösëërö ‘water that is in the Moseero well’ Water 7d–e amanshë ghano ghatarë agha ikisima keera ‘water that was not from that well’ Relative clauses that identify entities most commonly follow the main clause on which they are dependent. 8 Reported speech This section examines reported speech in Suba-Simbiti, including how direct and indirect speech are used, and the use of speech introducers and vocatives.

8.1 Direct and indirect speech

Direct speech is the default means of reporting speech in the text corpus. There are very few examples of indirect speech in the text corpus. Consider example 57: 57 Water 6 Bhoono ömöntö uyö a-ka-teebhy-a bhakaaye bhonswe igho abhabhërë now 1.person 1. DEM _ REF 3 SG - NARR -tell- FV 2.wife 2.all complete 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. LOC -7.well 7. DEM _ REF ‘Now, that person told both wives that they should go and bring him water from the Moseero well.’ The complementizer igha can be used to introduce direct or indirect speech. However, the use of the third person plural subject marker and third person singular object marker in example 57 shows that this is indirect speech, since the referent of the subject is the addressee, and the referent of the object is the speaker in this particular speech event.

8.2 Speech introducers in direct speech

In Suba-Simbiti direct speech is almost always introduced by the complementizer igha, which normally follows some form of a speech verb. 58 Origin 20b–c ... bha-bha-bhööry-a igha bhare abhaana na=bha-wë mö-re 3 PL -3 PL -ask- FV COMP 2 PL 2.child COP =2. ASS -who 2 PL - LOC ‘...they asked them, “You children, whose children are you?’’ ’ There are a few instances, however, where no speech verb is present or the complementizer igha is not used. Consider these examples: 59 Inheritance 16b–d a-ka-haan-w-a eketabho igha suwëënyu ya-a-ghamb-irë igha umwandö 3 SG - NARR -give- PASS - FV 7.book COMP father:2 SG . POSS 3 SG - PST -say- PROX COMP 3.inheritance ughwaho ne=ketabho keno 3.2 SG . POSS COP =7.book 7. DEM _ PROX ‘He was given a book, “Your father said that your inheritance is this book.’’ ’ 60 Inheritance 17–18 A-ka-ghamb-a Ah nö=öni na-a-hansh-irë Taata... 3 SG - NARR -say- FV EXCL COP =1 SG 1 SG - PST -love- PROX father ‘He said, ‘Ah, it is me who loved Father...’ In example 59 the complementizer igha is present without a speech verb to introduce the speech act. On the other hand, in example 60 a speech verb is present without igha.

8.3 Vocatives