BORROWING IN TANZANIAN NGONI LEXICON:SOME SEMANTIC TRENDS IN A LANGUAGE

dc.creatorMapunda, Gastor
dc.creatorRosendal, Tove
dc.date2016-05-05T10:41:14Z
dc.date2016-05-05T10:41:14Z
dc.date2015-09-01
dc.date.accessioned2018-03-27T08:45:27Z
dc.date.available2018-03-27T08:45:27Z
dc.descriptionBorrowing is almost part and parcel of the Ngoni language.
dc.descriptionThe Tanzanian language Ngoni has interacted for long with Swahili, which is the more prestigious and dominant lingua franca in Tanzania. This language contact situation affects Ngoni, which frequently borrows terms from Swahili, both for concepts which are new to the Ngoni speakers, but also terms which replace existing Ngoni vocabulary. This paper investigates how borrowed words are integrated, based on a framework including semantic generalisation, specialisation and shift. The study is based on fieldwork conducted in the Songea District in the Ruvuma Region of Tanzania, in the three villages of Peramiho, Kilagano and Mhepai. It was found that borrowing was most frequent in the semantic fields ‘modern world’, ‘food and drink’ and ‘clothing and grooming’. Additive borrowing was found to be more frequent than substitutive. Only semantic widening of borrowed terms was attested. However, combined with a tendency of replacement of old Ngoni terms with both Swahili and Ngoni hypernyms, it indicates that speakers’ competence of the language is waning. This loss of competence may additionally be linked to a more general attrition of Ngoni culture and traditions, which may affect language maintenance
dc.descriptionCOSTECH, SIDA and WOTRO
dc.identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11810/1797
dc.identifier10.1080/10228195.2015.1016093
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11810/1797
dc.publisherLanguage Matters: Studies in the Languages
dc.relationVol 46;Issue No. 2
dc.subjectcontact situation
dc.subjectborrowing
dc.subjecthypernymy
dc.subjectNgoni
dc.subjectsemantic trends
dc.subjectTanzania
dc.subjectSongea District
dc.subjectsubstitutive borrowing
dc.titleBORROWING IN TANZANIAN NGONI LEXICON:SOME SEMANTIC TRENDS IN A LANGUAGE
dc.typeJournal Article, Peer Reviewed

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