A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE ...

(59) idash (Clark 1998:8, audio)
a) Mewinzha-sh igo idi, jibwaa-nisidotamowaad aapiji ingiw
long ago EMPH over there before they understood very those
anishinaabeg i'iw chimookomaanimowin, gii-ayaawag idi
Indians that English language there were those over there
gaawiin igo gegoo ogii-kagwayakotanziinaawaa gegoo inindwaa.
not EMPH thing they didn’t hear it right thing when they are spoken to
b) Miish ige apane, mii-go iw wapii, ganabaj gemaa-ge 1937, 1938, geget,
and then also always DP that time probably maybe 1937 1938 truly
gii-minikweshkiwag aanind ingiw anishinaabeg, gii-kiiwashkwebiiwaad.
they drank a lot some those Indians they got drunk
c) Aaningodinong-sh gii-tebibinaawag miigaadiwaad, gaa-zhi-gibaakwa’ondwaa,
sometimes they were caught they are fighting and then they were locked up
i'iw miigaazong miinawaa-go awiiya bapakitewaawaad.
that fighting and someone they beat him/her up
a) ‘And a long time ago over there, before those Indians understood English very
well, they were those who sometimes didn’t hear things correctly when they
were told something.
b) And all the time at that time, maybe 1937 or 1938, some Indians were big
drinkers and would get drunk.
c) And sometimes, they would get caught fighting each other and they would
get locked up for fighting and beating someone up.’
There are three tokens of idash in this background episode, glossed with the English and.
The first two tokens introduce major topics in the development of the general background
of the story, i.e. that Indians sometimes misheard what was being spoken to them in
English, and that some Indians used to drink a lot and get drunk; and the third token of
idash marks a local contrast between the foregrounded content in (59c), i.e. that
sometimes they were thrown in jail for fighting and beating someone up, with the
backgrounded content in (59b). The content in (59b) is analyzed here as backgrounded
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