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Episode Participants on-
stage Kinship or relational
references used by the narrator outside of
quoted speech Explanations
Mother of Smelt- fish
‘mother of Bachelor Smelt- fish’
‘his mother’ to her make use of her
relationship with Smelt- fish, who is also ‘on-stage’.
At this point their relational status with one another is
fiancé.
Jii-Mlii ‘wife’
‘wife of Bachelor Smelt- fish’
‘her child’ ‘child’
Smelt-fish ‘husband’
Mother of Smelt- fish
‘his mother’ Mother of the
sisters ‘mother’
Father of the sisters
‘father’
Episode 7 [clauses 477-
572]
Nhot ‘Uncle’ + proper name
This last episode best exemplifies how the
references to Jii-Mlii change depending on with
whom she is interacting. The beginning of the
episode establishes that she marries Bachelor Smelt-
fish, so her new identity is Smelt-fish’s wife and the
references reflect this. When she goes to visit her
parents, the narrator refers to her as ‘child’, which is
from the perspective of her mother with whom she is
conversing. In this episode Jii-Mlii reveals that she did
not really die, rather went to visit her lover.
6.2 Proper names
In a third person narrative, the narrator may choose to use personal names for the main participants. When no clear kinship ties exist between them, the narrator tends to
choose this approach for participant referencing. In folk tales where the main participants are young, unmarried individuals, then in every case, the narrator uses proper names. If
the participants in a story are animals, the basic-level type of animal
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substitutes for a
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I use the term basic-level type because if one wants to specify a particular class of animal, then one usually needs to state the basic-level type and the class e.g. fish-tuna ‘tuna’, hawk-owl ‘owl’.
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personal name, such as Elephant or Tiger. If the narrator chooses to use proper names for referencing participants both human and animate, he would still use the appropriate
kinship terms within quoted material. The type of kinship term used for individuals that do not share a blood relationship is dependent on a hierarchy or status in the relationships
due to age, position, sex, or some other factor.
6.3 Relative clause
Another type of referring expression used for participant reference is the noun + relative clause. In the Cow story, the actual names of the two main participants are never
revealed. Instead, the predominant referring expression is a pronoun + restrictive relative clause. While some kinship terms are used outside of quoted speech, they represent
marked referring expressions cf. §8.3.4 and 8.3.6. From the introduction of the cow and bull owners, no clear kinship relation exists between them—they are just two men from
the same village.
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Using only kinship terms would have created a closer link between the two participants, which contradicts the point of the story—fighting about who is the
rightful owner of the calf. The information within the relative clause, ‘the one who grazed the cowbull’, is the most distinguishing characteristic of
each participant and an integral part of the story.
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The Bunong are a matrilocal society, so it is less likely that men in the same village are blood related. On the other hand, women from the same village are more likely to share a kin relation.
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6.4 Other influences on the participant reference system
