Peak episode Linguistic features of Digo narrative texts

Throughout the developmental episodes, the default way of referring to the major participants is with agreement markers only or distal demonstratives, typically yuya for third person singular referents and hara for third person plural referents see 3.14b, 3.15a, and 3.16a. This is also the default way of referring to major participants in episodic narratives see Text 4. There may be a number of paragraphs, each starting with a past tense with subsequent consecutive tense marking see section 2 for further details. Direct speech discussed in section 8 may be introduced with the verb amba say either with past or consecutive tense marking, or with the continuous aspect marker na- as in 6.10, 6.13, 6.14, and 6.15. In Text 5, all of the speeches introduced with the verb amba say use the continuous aspect marker na- from 5.11 forward; lines 3–10 function like an inciting episode, in that they set the scene for the rest of the story, and in this part of the narrative, the consecutive tense marker chi- is used when the protagonist is speaking to himself 5.3 and 5.8 .

1.3.4 Peak episode

In a climactic narrative, the peak episode is the point at which the situation introduced in the inciting episode and advanced in the developmental episodes reaches a climax. The peak may be the point at which a problem is resolved, but it may equally be the point at which disaster strikes. It is not always marked linguistically, and when it is marked, there is often no consistent pattern apart from the fact that “something changes”. In Text 2, the way in which the protagonist the senior wife is referred changes at this point. Previously, she had been referred to using the distal demonstrative yuya 2.8a and 2.12b but in 2.30a below she is now referred to using a non-proximal demonstrative hiye, as she was in 2.6a in the orientation section. The non-proximal demonstrative hiye is also used to refer to her in 2.33b and 2.34a in the denouement. 2.30a Hiye m-chetu a-ri-ye-m-tiy-a yuya mwanache dibwa-ni, 1. DEM _ NP 1-woman 3 SG - PST -1. REL -3 SG -put_in- FV 1. DEM _ DIST 1.child 5.pit- LOC 2.30b wa-gbwir-w-a ni mchecheta a-chi-gbw-a. 3 SG . PST -seize-pas- FV COP 3.panic 3 SG - CONS -fall- FV ‘That woman who had put the child in the pit, she was seized by panic and fell down.’ The peak episode may also be characterized by over-specification of referents; where a subject agreement marker alone may be expected, a noun phrase may be used instead. This is seen in 3.18a where a long descriptive phrase is used for well-established characters Mbodze na nduguye Matsozi ‘Mbodze and her sister Matsozi’. Similarly, in 4.27 and 4.28a, the noun phrase yuya mutu that person is repeated; this final episode constitutes the climax of the story, and as such can be regarded as the peak episode. The way in which tense and aspect is marked may also change in the peak episode. In Text 6, the present tense is used in the ‘preliminary peak’ episode in lines 6.24d and 6.25a where a consecutive tense would have been expected. Reduced forms may also occur, such as Kpwedzaguta ‘Come to touch’ in which the subject concord marker and tenseaspect marker have been elided: 6.47a Kpwedza-u-gut-a hura muhambo tu u-chi-fyuk-a a-chi-gbwir-w-a VENTIVE -3-touch- FV 3. DEM _ DIST 3.trap only 3- CONS -twist- FV 3 SG - CONS -catch- PAS - FV ‘When he touched the trap it snapped shut and he was trapped.’ In Text 7, the developmental episodes contain a combination of past tense followed by consecutive tense to mark the main event line, but the peak episode, when the narrator encounters a lioness, does not contain any consecutive tense marking. Instead, past tense is used 7.19a, 7.19b, 7.19c, 7.20c, and elsewhere culminating at the end of the peak episode in a combination of present tense for background information and past tense for a repeat of the main event 7.23. 7.23a Nami nila tsakani ndipho nanyendeka bila wasiwasi, and I I come from in forest then I am walking without fear 7.23b nalola photsi lakini gafula myangu waniona mapema. I am looking down but suddenly my companion it saw me early ‘And I am coming out of the forest, so I am walking without fear, I am looking down but suddenly my companion the lion saw me first.’ In summary, the peak episode may be indicated by changes to the way participants are referred to, over-specification of participants, and changes to the way tense and aspect are used, but none of the narratives in our corpus exhibit all of these effects.

1.3.5 Denouement