Thetic sentences with VS constituent order

6.4 Thetic sentences

Thetic sentences describe situations or events as a whole, rather than mentioning a topic and then providing information about the topic. As such, thetic sentences are topicless and only express sentence focus. As we have seen, the pre-verbal position is typically reserved for topics in eastern Bantu languages, and so a sentence with canonical SV constituent order will normally be interpreted as expressing topic-comment sentence articulation. To express sentence focus, a lexical subject can either be preceded by an external topic, as described in §6.2.3 or it can be right dislocated, as described below.

6.4.1 Thetic sentences with VS constituent order

The following example from Rangi shows how SV order was changed to VS order during the editing of a text in order to ensure that the sentence received a thetic interpretation. Stegen 2011:244 comments: This is in the context of the eldest daughter, the main character of this narrative, refusing one suitor after another. Consequently, the subject w ɨɨngɨ ‘another’ should not be the topic of this clause as he is not really a participant but merely another rejected suitor without any relevance for or further mention in the story. Rangi Stegen 2011:244 first draft SV revision VS 124 W- ɨɨngɨ a-kʉʉja → A-kʉʉja w- ɨɨngɨ kei 1-other 1- CONS :come 1- CONS :come 1-other again ‘Another came → There came another again.’ The example above serves to describe an event without reference to an existing topic; this kind of sentence focus is known as event-reporting sentence focus. Other examples of event-reporting thetic sentences are provided below. The purpose of the clause in the first example, from Digo, is to record the fact that a woman had died rather than to introduce the woman, who functions only as a prop in the narrative. The second example, from Jita, introduces a wedding, which is an important event in the development of the story: Digo Nicolle 2015:29 125 Kumbavi kuku kaya kala ku-ka-fw-a m-chetu EXCLAMATIVE 17. DEM _ PROX 9.home PST . COP 17- SEQ -die- FV 1-woman ‘However, there at home a woman had died…’ Jita Pyle and Robinson 2015:31 126 Rusiku rumwi mu-chaaro cheebhwe omwo nibhubha-mo obhuregesi. day one in-country their there it.was-in.there wedding ‘One day there in their country, there was a wedding.’ The final example of an event-reporting thetic sentence, also from Jita, occurs part way through a story in which Hare has insulted Chameleon, and Chameleon has just spent a number of days pondering how to exact revenge. Although Hare and Chameleon are established characters in the story, Chameleon has been the sole participant for the past eleven clauses. Rather than treat ‘Chameleon and Hare’ as a joint topic, which would require the NP to occur before the verb, the narrator has chosen to place the NP after the verb to create an event-reporting sentence: Jita Pyle and Robinson 2015:49 127 Mwejo yendeko mbabhonana Wasongo na Mutuuju. tomorrow next they.saw.each.other Chameleon and Hare ‘The next day Chameleon and Hare met each other.’ More often in narratives, thetic sentences are used to introduce new participants or other entities into the discourse; this kind of sentence focus is known as presentational sentence focus, as exemplified below see also Ekoti text line 5a in the appendix. Kwaya Odom 2015:29 128 Woori bhunu :aariga acheeganiirisha mmbe n-aa-j-a waarukerwe. now while he.was he.still.think so NARR -3 SG -come- FV frog ‘Now while he was still continuing to think, came a frog.’ Abstract concepts can also be introduced as post-verbal subjects with a verb such as ‘come’ indicating that the thought illness, shame, etc. is experienced by someone. Makonde Leach 2015:88 129 nae, hashipali shagwene, dindímwida ding’ano he there.was.not of.he.should.see they.came.to.him thoughts ‘…as for him, he couldn’t think what to do, then thoughts came to him…’ Free translation: SN Verb agreement can either be with the grammatical subject or with one of the locative noun classes. When participants are introduced using existential verbs, the verb agrees with the grammatical subject in Makonde 36 , Bena, Malila, Jita, Kabwa, Kwaya, Suba-Simbiti and Ekoti, but with a locative in Fuliiru, Digo and Rangi. When participants are introduced using a verb of arrival ‘come’, ‘appear’ etc., agreement is with the grammatical subject in all languages see examples above except Fuliiru. Examples can be found in §4.2.

6.4.2 Thetic sentences with SV constituent order