Suba-Simbiti Masatu 2015:16 S
COP V
134 Musimbëtë na Mohaasha m=bhaana abha enda
ëmwë bha-a-rë.
Musimbiti and Mohaasha
COP
=2.children 2.
ASS
9.stomach 9.one 3
PL
-
PST
-be ‘Msimbiti and Mohaasha were siblings, they were.’
Unusually for an eastern Bantu language, Suba-Simbiti also allows SV thetic sentences outside of the orientation. Two event-reporting thetic sentences from an inciting episode are shown below. The first
thetic sentence involves a simple SV construction with the verb ‘come’; in all other languages, ‘come’ precedes the subject in thetic sentences. No buffalo has been mentioned previously in the text, and so a
topic-comment reading is ruled out. Two topic-comment sentences follow, in which the buffalo and then the youth function as topics. The second thetic sentence contains a cleft construction, which would be
expected in an identificational sentence in which it is presupposed that something killed the cow. However, nothing in the context indicates that the father knows that a cow has been killed, and so this
must be interpreted as an event-reporting thetic sentence.
Suba-Simbiti Masatu 2015:44 135 Bhoono hano yaarëësyanga
urusikö urwöndë, now
when he.was.herding day another
S V
eng’era ekaasha mu-rihisho irya waabho riyo. Sentence focus
buffalo it.came in-group of their.place that Engera iyö ekakiinania
eghaini iyaabho ekhagiita. Topic-Comment buffalo that it.fought.with bull
their it.killed.it
Umumura uyö akaghya atëëbhya suwaabho igha, Topic-Comment youth
that he.went he.told their.father that S
COP V
“Taata eng’era nayo yiitirë eng’ombe iyëëtö.” Sentence focus
father buffalo it.is he.has.killed cow our
‘Another day when he was herding, a buffalo came among their herd. That buffalo fought with their bull and killed it. That youth went and told their father, “It was a buffalo that has killed our
cow.”
6.5 Identificational sentences
Identificational sentences exhibit argument focus; that is, they identify the unknown participant in an event or situation which is known or assumed. Two main strategies are used to express argument focus:
first placing the focused argument in sentence final position, and second using a cleft construction. All of the languages surveyed exhibit these strategies, but the distribution of each varies from language to
language.
6.5.1 Post-verbal argument focus
In all of the eastern Bantu languages surveyed, sentence final constituents receive argument focus. In the example below, the presupposition is that someone will be put by the well to guard it; the focus
identifies who that someone is. The occurrence of the “spacer” woori ‘now’ indicates that the object is right dislocated:
Jita Pyle and Robinson 2015:18 PRESUPPOSITION
FOCUS Object 136 Mbamuta-ko
woori nyawatare. they.put.him-there now lion
“Now they put lion there.” Makonde, Ekoti, Bena, Malila, Kabwa, Kwaya, Suba-Simbiti and Jita can express argument focus on
the subject through right dislocation of the subject see Ekoti text line 12b in the appendix.
37
In the example below, the addressees believe that one of their number has not arrived safely; however, this
person announces that he has in fact arrived. The post-verbal subject twenti ‘us all’ expresses argument focus on the subject.
Malila Eaton 2015b:30 PRESUPPOSITION FOCUS Subject
137 “Mwebheya twafikha twenti.”
friends we.have.arrived
us.all “Friends, we have all arrived.”
In Mwani, post-verbal subjects can receive argument focus in response to a question, but when there is no prior question, a cleft construction is used Floor p.c. 8 April 2014; see also Floor 2005b:9:
Mwani Floor p.c. PRESUPPOSITION FOCUS
138 “Kitabu atwarire nani?”
“Katwala Saidi.”
book 3
SG
.
REL
.
PST
.take whosubject 3
SG
.
PST
.take Saidi
“Who took the book?” “Saidi took it.” Compare:
PRESUPPOSITION FOCUS
139 Atwarire ndi Saidi.
3
SG
.
REL
.
PST
.take
COP
Saidi “It was Saidi who took it.”
6.5.2 Argument focus in cleft constructions
Argument focus can be expressed in all of the eastern Bantu languages surveyed through the use of cleft constructions. In such constructions, also known as focus-presupposition sentences, the focused element
is left dislocated preceding a copula or focus marker; the presupposition then follows, often in the form of a relative clause or verbless predicate.
The following example illustrates argument focus using both right dislocation and clefting in Jita. The first clause uses right dislocation to identify ‘women only’ as those who were living in the land that
the land was inhabited by someone is a presupposition; the second clause uses a cleft construction to identify these women as the ones who had stolen Mariro’s cows, an event of which the audience is
already aware.
37
Digo and Fuliiru do not allow post-verbal subjects to receive argument focus. In Digo, post-verbal subjects are interpreted as right dislocated topics see §6.3.2 or as presentational see §6.4.1. In transitive clauses, the object
must be adjacent to the verb, so VSO clauses are not possible. The situation is reversed in Makonde which does not allow both an object and a right dislocated subject. However, Makonde speakers avoid such constructions by left
dislocating the object, leaving a post-verbal subject with argument focus.
Jita Pyle and Robinson 2015:34 PRESUPPOSITION
FOCUS 140 Echaaro echo :bhaariga bheekaye-mo abhagasi era,
land that they.were living-there women only
FOCUS with copula PRESUPPOSITION nibho
:bhaariga bheebire jing’a ja Mariro.
it.is.they they.were they.had.stolen cows of Mariro
‘In that land were living women only, it was they who had stolen Mariro’s cows.’ In contrast to the other languages for which data is available, Digo and Fuliiru can only express
argument focus on the subject using cleft constructions post-verbal subjects cannot be the focus in Digo and Fuliiru. In Digo, the cleft construction consists of the copula prefix ndi si in the negative plus a
referential marker; and is typically, although not always, followed by a relative clause:
Digo Nicolle 2015:55 FOCUS COP
PRESUPPOSITION 141 Ndipho atu
achimanya kukala iye ndi=ye
ariyehenda mambo higo.
then people they.knew that
she
COP
=1.ref 3
SG
-
PST
-1.
REL
-do-
FV
things those ‘Then people knew that it was her who did those things.
In Fuliiru, the cleft construction takes the form of a ‘focus copula’ which is cliticized to the following verb:
Fuliiru Van Otterloo 2011:345 FOCUS
PRESUPPOSITION 142 Yàbá bágénì bó=bàgírá
yìbì. these guests
FOC
=they.do these “These guests, they are the ones who did these things.”
6.6 Summary