Use of napanelo to highlight significant information in a smaller unit

3.2.3 Use of napanelo to introduce thematically significant information

Napanelo is used to present thematically significant new pieces of information. In the example from 01 Horned Animals below, this is a new participant, Rabbit, the protagonist of the text. It may be that Napanelo is used to draw special attention to this introduction, as it is made rather later in the narrative than usual. 01 Horned Animals napanelo introducing a significant new piece of information introducing the protagonist 6a. Napanelo [AFTER VERB] kupagwa nyama jumo S Now existed animal one 6b. wavanshamanga shingula whom.they.call rabbit Now there was once an animal called Rabbit…. In the following sentence, which occurs in the middle of the inciting episode of 07 Mother and child, napanelo draws the listener’s attention to the fact that a significant new piece of information is about to be given, namely that when the Portuguese soldiers occupy the village, the villagers flee in panic, and some children are left behind. This is what prompts the protagonist’s return to the village, proving herself more courageous than her husband, the theme of the narrative. 07 Mother and child Napanelo introducing significant event 6a. Napanelo vandiwika palikaja lyavaikalénge vanu Now they.arrived at.village where.they.were. staying people 6b. vanu avalá S pavaanjenge kutukutanga bai kutwa vana O kuvajanga popo people those when.they. began to.flee, so then children abandoned.them right.there, 6c. --- kuvaleka vene S left.them they.themselves 6d. --- kutukuta. fled. Then they came to a village where there were still people; the villagers began to flee and abandoned their children right there—the villagers left them behind and fled.

3.2.4 Use of napanelo to highlight significant information in a smaller unit

Napanelo is also used to highlight information, which is not significant thematically for the whole of the narrative, but which is important within the smaller unit in which it is found. In the example below from 03 Hyena and Pied Crow, Hyena is about to eat his friend Pied Crow, pretending to believe that he is a lump of meat. The mid-sentence napanelo in clause 22b marks the critical moment when, after having eaten some of the seasoning, he is just about to break off a piece of meat, i.e., of Pied Crow. At that point Pied Crow flies up and denounces him as a false friend. 03 Hyena and Pied Crow napanelo marking a highlight mid-sentence 22a. Patandile doni --- akamule inyama When.he.did thus he.should.hold meat 22b. napanelo --- ashapole now he.should.break.piece 22c. ee Nashove kuuluka yes Pied Crow flew 22d. kwikala pashanya ingande apalá sat above on.house there 22e. kudo: said: 22f. Nyangu nne dashi? “My.friend I.said how? But then just as he took hold of Pied Crow, about to break off a piece of meat, Pied Crow suddenly flew up and perched up on top of the house. He said, “Didn’t I say so, Hyena?... In the example below from 09 Ákalimanya, napanelo marks the most significant piece of information in a very small information unit, the noun phrases and relative clauses in 24b–c denoting all the different people who rushed off to see an elephant which had fallen into their pit trap. The author says that ‘women, all people, napanelo those who hadn’t help dig, those who had helped dig’; in his list of the different types of people who went off to see what had happened, ‘those who did not dig’ is highlighted by the use of napanelo. The importance of those who had not helped to dig the trap also going is because all those who went rushing off hoped for a share of the elephant meat, although, in fact, none of them received any. 09 Ákalimanya napanelo highlighting a relative clause 24a. Tuvanu mwanda We.people journey 24b. vakongwe uti vanu napanelo vákaimbile women all people now who.did.not.dig, 24c. vaimbíle mwina who.did.dig hole 24d. kutwala kuka koko. then went there. So we all set off—women, everyone, those who’d dug the trap, even those who hadn’t dug, we all went there. Note that the order of the two relative clauses has to be switched to accomdate natural English syntax.

3.3 Kanji ‘but’