Brasil

Introduction There appear to be two separate and independent systems for marking prominence in Paumarí1. One is verbal and the other nominal. The verbal system is used to differenciate between monologue and dialogue and within monologue between primary and secondary information. The nominal system, by means of varying word and phrase order, is used to indicate topics, selection and contrast, identification and communication. The nominal system is also used to put focus on participants through a special set of pronouns. This paper is restricted to a description of the clause nuclear elements (surface structure subject, object12 and verb). In general, the information given about the nuclear elements may also be applied to the clause periphery elements (time, location, instrument) and to sentence periphery dependent clauses. The derivational affix system in Paumarí and how it affects prominence has previously been described3 and is not included in this paper.