Topic-comment articulation predicate focus with a switch topic

However, entities introduced using a copula construction do not necessarily become new topics, and the previous topic may continue as in 5.24a where the crocodile is a continued topic, despite the mention of the rock in the previous sentence. 5.23 Pha=na dziwe ri-na-mekamek-a phapho ndani ya madzi. 16. REF = COM 5.stone 5- PRES -shake- FV 16. DEM _ NP inside of water 5.24a A-na-amb-a, ... 3 SG - PRES -say- FV ‘There was a rock which was shaking in the water. He the crocodile said...’ Sentence focus can also be used to introduce new events as opposed to new participants into a discourse without reference to a pre-existing topic; this kind of sentence focus is known as event- reporting sentence focus. There are no examples of event-reporting sentence focus in Text 5, and it is rare in the text corpus as a whole. An example is found in Text 1, line 1.4a, however. This clause describes an event in which a previously unmentioned woman has died; she only functions as a prop, and so the purpose if this clause is not to introduce the woman but simply to record the fact that she had died: 1.4a Kumbavi kuku kaya kala ku-ka-fw-a m-chetu, EXCLAM 17. DEM _ PROX 9.home PST . COP 17- SEQ -die- FV 1-woman ‘However, there at home a woman had died...’ Another example is found in Text 6, line 6.12b. In this clause, the topic is Mino I but this is not one of the arguments of the clause; the subject is mpwazangu my wife and the object is sima ugali. Neither is it an oblique element; it is not possible to place mino at the end of the sentence and for it to make any sense. At this point in the conversation between a man and a lion the man’s wife has not been mentioned and so she cannot be referred to ‘out of the blue’ using a pre-verbal lexical subject as this would imply that the wife is a topic, and therefore has already been mentioned. In this sentence, mino functions as an ‘external topic’ Eaton 2010: 18 or Theme 7 with which the wife can be linked. The clause mkpwazangu karya sima my wife does not eat ugali exhibits event-reporting sentence focus. 6.12b Mino mkpwazangu ka-ry-a sima 1 SG 1.wife.1.1 SG . POS 3 SG . NEG -eat- FV ugali ‘As for me, my wife does not eat ugali.’

6.3.2 Topic-comment articulation predicate focus with a switch topic

Most of the new information in a narrative is expressed through predicates verbs or copulas, and so predicate focus is the most common form of focus. When there is a lexical topic this is usually the subject and it usually precedes the predicate. This can be seen in lines 5.3a, 5.4a see section 6.2, 5.12a, 5.14a, 5.19b, 5.20, 5.22a, 5.25b, and 5.29a. When this is not the case, the subject is expressed through an incorporated subject pronoun alone see section 6.3.3. Usually, such topics i.e. topics which are also subjects occur immediately before the verb, however it is possible for other material to intervene between the topic and the verb, as in 5.3b where the topic Mino I is followed not by the predicate n’naphaha I was getting but by the dependent clause rivyo nchirima tsula when I farmed a termite mound which functions as a Setting. This indicates that the topic Mino I is in fact ‘left-dislocated’. 7 I use Theme here in the sense of Dik 1981:129–141: “A constituent with Theme function presents a domain or universe of discourse with respect to which it is relevant to pronounce the following predication.” Dik 1981:130 For Dik 1981:141–144, the Topic is part of the Predication. The topic is not always the logical subject, however. This can be seen by looking for lexical items which have been preposed before the verb. In 5.2b, 5.5b, 5.7a see section 6.2, 5.8d, 5.9e, 5.16c and 5.25e the topic is pre-posed from the objectcomplement column. Note that in each case the verb contains a coreferential object marker also called ‘verb complement marker’. In 5.29d the topic chakurya cha madzi food of water has been preposed from the oblique column, and there is no coreferential object marker. 5.25e vino munda ná-u-hend-a mkpwulu now 3.field 1 SG . PST -3-make- FV 3.big ‘now the field, I made it large...’ In each of the places where there is a lexical topic, whether this is a subject or an object, either it is a switch topic that is, there was a different topic in the previous clause or this is the start of a new paragraph or there may be both a switch topic and a new paragraph, as in 5.3a. Conversely, switch topics always occur before the predicate. In line 5.27c we find two noun phrases before the predicate: Uwe bwana You sir which is a vocative and has been placed in the subject column since the man is the subject of the verb henda make, and munda field which is the object indicated by the prefix u- before the verb henda. Both are topics; the speaker wants to make a comment about both the man and the field, namely that he made it big. When a NP occurs before the verb, it is usually a switch topic; if a continued topic is referred to using a NP this usually occurs after the verb see section 6.3.3 below. However, when there is some dicontinuity in a text, such as the start of a new paragraph, a continued topic may occur before the verb. This can be seen in lines 5.4a and 5.41a. As well as occurring at the start of a new paragraph the conclusion of the story, 5.41 repeats one of the events that has already been recorded, and is therefore not part of the event line. 5.41 Ye mwanadamu kala a-ka-tsukul-w-a ni mamba 1. DEM _ NP 1.human PST 3 SG - ANT -carry- PAS - FV by crocodile ‘The human had been carried by the crocodile...’ An example in which the discontinuity is not due to a new paragraph but to a disruption to the chronological order of the events occurs in Text 3. Line 3.20 describes the ghost calling for the girls, and because the ghost is a continued topic, it is referred to using the subject concord only. Lines 3.21 and 3.22, instead of presenting the next event, describe the same event as in line 3.20 but in more detail. Even though the ghost is a continued topic, it is referred to using a noun phrase before the verb, which is the position usually reserved for switch topics. 3.20a Siku Hira ra-hend-a dza vivyo 9.day 9. DEM _ DIST 5. PST -do- FV like 8. DEM _ NP 3.20b na ri-chi-kal-a ri-na-ihik-ir-w-a kama kawaida. COM 5- CONS -be- FV 5- CONS -answer- APPL - PAS - FV as usual 3.21 Zimu ra-ih-a Mbodze, a-chi-ihik-a ma-figa-ni. 5.ghost 5. PST -call- FV NAME 3 SG - CONS -answer- FV 6-cooking_stones- LOC 3.22 Ri-ri-pho-ih-a Matsozi, a-chi-ihik-a chitsaga-ni. 5- PST -16. REL -call- FV NAME 3 SG - CONS -answer- FV 7.grannary- LOC ‘That day it did just like that and it was answered as usual. The ghost called Mbodze and she replied from the cooking stones. When it called Matsozi she replied from the grain store.’

6.3.4 Identificational articulation argument focus