68 Subject Locative oblique
Verb
Wangoona irwiji
anabulula.
crocodile at river
he pulled.
‘Crocodile, at the river, pulled.’
4.6 Prominent theme marking through identificational articulation
Identificational articulation is employed at especially thematic high points in the story. In identificational articulation,
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the identity of an assumed referent is questioned, e.g. ‘Who ate all the candy?’ This sentence in its fuller form would be ‘Who is the one who ate all the candy?’ It is assumed
that someone ate the candy; we just do not know who it is. Another form of identificational articulation would be ‘It was grandmother who ate all the candy’ Once again, it is assumed that someone ate the
candy. Now the answer is identified; it was grandmother
It is important to note that in identificational articulation, the normal constituent order of topic and comment is reversed, i.e. the new information is placed first in the clause, and the old information is
presented last. In Fuliiru identificational articulation can be realized in several ways.
4.6.1 Identificational articulation in statement form
In some cases, information that is assumed but not identified can be expressed as ‘That is the one who... assumed information’, ‘That is the place where...assumed information’, etc.
In 69 it is assumed that food is available somewhere. The question is ‘Where?’ The answer is imwabo-vyala ‘from the home of the in-laws’. The focus marker yo ‘that’s where’ is used to identify what
was assumed, but not known. This sentence is thematically important, as it signals why the young man decided to obey his father-in-law.
69 Si imwabo-vyala
yanaba yo yâli
yeziri ibyokulya.
It’s obvious at in-laws and it is that’s where they did harvest food.
‘At the in-laws place, that is where they harvested food.’ T8
4.6.2 Identificational articulation in some non-verbal clauses
The grammatical structure used to identify something that is assumed may also take the form of a non- verbal clause. In 70 the rabbit has been put in the guest house. Then in the afternoon they bring him
food. He might be wondering what it is, and they identify it, saying, ‘Guest food of guests, this,’ or in other words, ‘What is here, is guest food for you.’ This is communicated by the phrase Izimaano
lya’bageni, lino ‘The guest food of the guests, this’.
70 Mu kabigingwe, banabaleetera ibyokulya, banadeta
“Izimaano lya bageni lino.”
In afternoon
they brought him food and they said Guest food of
guests this
‘In the afternoon they brought him food, and they said, “This is the guest food of the guests.” ’ In 71 the young man had brought home a new wife. However, when she refused to get off his
back, even when she should be making the bed or working in the field, the young man begins to wonder who she is. It is then that the old men identify for the young man what he has brought home. What he
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At times also called focus-presupposition articulation.
has unwittingly brought home is a demon. The non-verbal cl. 3 muzimu ‘demon’ is followed by the demonstrative yugwo ‘that’. In other words, ‘That thing he has brought home, is a demon.’ Besides
functioning as the non-verbal predicate, yugwo functions as the relativizer for the relative phrase yugwo aleeta ‘that thing which he has brought’.
71 Muzimu
yugwo aleeta.
A demon that one he has brought.
‘It’s a demon, that one which he’s brought.’ 09
4.6.3 Negative focus copula
