Cohesive features in Rembarrnga narratives
Graham McKay · 2008
A number of features found in spoken narratives in the Rembarrnga language of Arnhem Land can be seen to serve a cohesive function within the text. These include not only ellipsis of pronominal prefixes and tense marking from the verb complex but also the repetition of fully inflected verbs in subsequent sentences in order to background completion of one activity/event in the process of moving on to the next. Repetition of sentence elements in differing order allows focus to come upon different elements in turn. Incorporation of the noun into the verb complex allows cohesive backgrounding of a nominal element following its initial introduction to the text. A number of text examples of such apparently cohesive features are explored. 1.