alaa menaa bibeerley tiɲa. japaraa sudu akii mee. isti poɖiyaas yanasa sudu akii mee
alaa
there
menaa
of.course
bibeer=ley
livelihood=like
tiɲa.
pst.be
jaa-paraa
pst-live
tudu
all
akii
here
mee.
foc
isti
this
poɖiyaas
children
jaa-nasa
pst-be.born
tudu
all
akii
here
mee
foc
We had work there, of course, [but] where we were all living was right here. Where the(se) children were all born was right here.
Comment:
This item illustrates the nonanaphoric, non-deictic (or very weakly deictic) use of isti. The cleft interpretation comes from the presence of the focus particle mee, right-dislocation of the focused constituent and the location of the main intonation drop on the focus particle. Such cleft sentences often have a nominalized verb, but not this one.