The introduction of the very first participant

nɩ Ganaa abasadɛlɩɔ -yi sɩɩ ADD 1 Ghana: GEN ambassador: DEF come: CP ADD 3 and the ambassador of Ghana came, too.’ [neyo 71.1–3] 7. Left-dislocated definite noun phrase, followed by a clause with global focus An identifiable minor participant may also be introduced with a left-dislocated definite noun phrase as a point of departure, preceding a clause with global focus, as in example 117. This encoding appears to convey that even though the participant is a minor participant, he plays a local key role. 117 pɛlɩɔ -mä ɔ -kʋ bhä s ɩɩ lɔɔ priest: DEF ADD 4 3 S BE 1: CP PST 1 ADD 3 there ‘Now the priest, he was also there.’ [neyo 51]

5.1.3 The introduction of the very first participant

The very first participant mentioned in a Godié narrative is typically introduced as a point of departure, with the thematic pronoun referring to it in the following clause with argument focus. 4 This structure occurs independently of the role played by the participant in the subsequent narrative and also of its cognitive status as identifiable or unidentifiable that is, brand new. It is thus used for major participants, as in example 118a, and for minor participants, as in 118b, 118c, and 118d. In the last three examples the first participant introduced soon disappears again from the scene and does not reappear in the rest of the narrative. In example 118c the first participant is identifiable, while the other examples illustrate the introduction of a brand new participant. 118 a. nyɩkpɔ -bhlogbe ɔmɔ mii- lä person one_single 3 S : TH be_able: CP LOP ‘A certain man, he had come lit. been able nɩ - ɔ -gää lä ɔɔ yuë ADD 1 3 S : REL beget: CP LOP 3 S : GEN child: PL to have children.’ [filsprod 1–2] b. nyɩkpɔ -bhlogbe ɔmɔ wa la lä Lulu man one_single 3 S : TH 3 P call LOP Lulu ‘There was a certain man called lit. it is him they call Lulu.’ [siamoi 13] c. Laagɔ mʋʋ- kwlie- lä nyɩkpɔ God NH 3 TH : REL bring:down: CP LOP person ‘God created man lit. God, it was he who brought down man.’ [sigo 28] d. wlaa nyɩkpa mä slää- lä waa du EVD people TH build: CP LOP 3 P : GEN village ‘It is reported that people had built a village for themselves lit. they say that people, it was they who built their village.’ [kazo 1–2] Table 5.1 summarizes the linguistic structures used for the introduction of brand new and identifiable participants. 4 Marchese 1986c:242f notes this structure and its function in introducing participants, though she does not point out that it occurs only with the first participant in a narrative. Table 5.1. Linguistic forms used for the introduction of participants Cognitive status Role in narrative Brand new participant ny ɩkpɔ -bhlogbe ‘a certain person’ Identifiable participant nominal phrase or proper name Local minor role clause with predicate focus— example 110 clause with predicate focus— examples 115 and 116 Local key role left-dislocated as PoD, followed by a clause with predicate focus— example 111 left-dislocated as PoD, followed by a clause with global focus— example 117 Global major role protagonist event-reporting clause—example 115 event-reporting clause—examples 112 and 114 Very first participant left-dislocated as PoD, followed by a clause with marked argument focus structure—examples 118a, 118b, and 118d left-dislocated as PoD, followed by a clause with marked argument focus structure—example 118c

5.2 Tracking of participants