A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE ...

that they grew up with, as opposed to speaking English. In (127b), bina naa is used to
express temporal urgency. In essence, the speaker is communicating to the interlocutor
the urgency of being helped today. Mystery particle bina, again, functions as the
reprimand, and naa amplifies that reprimand contributing the feeling that the interlocutor
is being pleaded with.
The cluster sa naa, is heard a lot in valedictions, i.e. saying goodbyes. Recall that
mystery particle isa (or its clitic form sa) is commonly used in conclusory situations such
as this, i.e. ending of stories, etc. In valedictions, naa functions as the pleading particle,
allowing the speaker to increase the illocutionary force of his/her valediction.
(128) isa in valedictions
a) Agana sa naa
easy DM DM
‘Take it easy!’
b) Weweni sa go naa
carefully DM EMPH DM
‘Take care!’
In these examples, the individual contributions of each mystery particle is clear. Marker
sa is conclusory, go is emphatic, and naa shows a wishing or urging function. Mystery
particle sa also may appear with the wonder particle naa as well in situations where
something has happened, but the speaker cannot account for it. This was the case in the
story about some turtles that were stolen from a cabin by some creature that had big feet.
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