The structure, distribution and function of demonstratives in Runyankore-Rukiga

The aim of this chapter is to give an overview of the morpho-syntactic characteristics and functions of demonstratives in Runyankore-Rukiga (Bantu JE.13-JE.14,Uganda). The study shows that a typical Runyankore-Rukiga demonstrative is comprised of the core demonstrative morpheme prevalent in many Bantu languages,the noun class concord and a suffix. The suffix indicates the position of thereferent from the speaker and/or hearer. There are other forms of the demonstrativediscussed, such as the demonstrative -nu which is used mainly in narratives tomark a continuation topic, and the locative copulative demonstrative realised bythe nasal n-, which expresses a more specific location. A much-neglected form ofdemonstrative -ti with both nominal and verbal properties, whose primary role isto express manner, is also discussed. In terms of position, data indicate that ba-sic demonstrative types can either precede or follow the noun but it appears thatthere is no clear-cut connection between the position of the demonstrative andthe role it plays. The chapter also discusses pragmatic roles of demonstratives categorized into exophoric for the non-anaphoric uses and endophoric for discoursefunctions of demonstratives. The study draws data from written literary sources,spontaneous speech and elicitation. The study is a pointer to specific and detailedstudies that need to be conducted on demonstratives in Runyankore-Rukiga andother related Bantu languages.