Social Interaction, Social Context, and Language: Essays in Honor of Susan Ervin-Tripp

Once upon a time, there was a crocodile, who lived in a river. And his friend the monkey lived in a tree. And all day he ate mangos. And sometimes the monkey threw the mangos down to his friend the crocodile. And sometimes the crocodile would take the mangos home to his wife.

And his wife said, "Ohh, your friend the monkey who lives in the tree, and eats those mangos all day long, his heart must be very sweet. I want to eat it." And the crocodile said, "Oh no!" And he tried to talk her out of it. But he couldn't talk her out of it. She made him trick the monkey.

So he went to the monkey and he said, "If you'll come down from the tree and jump up on my back, we'll swim out in the river and I'll give you a ride." And so the monkey climbed down out of the tree and jumped up on the crocodile's back, and they swam out in the river.

Well, they got out into the middle of the river, and the crocodile started to cry. And he told the monkey the whole story. And the monkey said, "Oh that's okay, but I left my heart hanging in the tree!" And the crocodile said, "Oh we hafta go back and get it!"

And so they swam back to the river bank, and the monkey jumped off the crocodile's back, and ran up the tree, and he said, "Somebody stole my heart!" And the monkey and the crocodile were friends forever after.

(Underlined words are routinely given extra/contrastive stress by Dad; italicized words are reportedly in Kikuyu)

Prologue.

Once upon a time, the lion was king of the jungle. And he told all the animals, "Tomorrow, we're going on a long journey to a far country, and whoever stops along the way will be eaten."

Episode 1.

And so the next morning they got up and they started to walk. And they walked and they walked. And the sun came up. And it was hot. And rabbit's legs were short. And rabbit got so tired. And he stopped.

And the hyena said, "Rabbit has stopped. Let's eat'im."

And the rabbit said, "Ehe, tikaroma ndaroma ningwashira ngwashiraga. I wasn't stopping, I was thinking."

And the animals all said, "What were you thinking?"

And the rabbit said, "I was wondering, where do all the old clothes go when they wear out?"

And the animals all said, "E tii dhero! That's something to think about." And meanwhile the rabbit had had his rest.

Episode 2.

And so they walked on and on. And it was noontime. And it was so hot, and rabbit got so tired. And so he stopped again.

And the hyena said, "Rabbit has stopped, let's eat'im."

But the rabbit said, "Ehe, tikaroma ndaroma ningwashia ngwashiraga. I wasn't stopping, I was thinking."

And the animals all said, "What were you thinking?"

And the rabbit said, "I was wondering, why are all the little rocks on top of all the big rocks?"

And the animals all said, "E tii dhero! That's something to think about." Meanwhile the rabbit had

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