Phonological Processes of Shambaa
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SAUT
Abstract
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The study focuses on the Phonological Processes of Shambaa language. The main
objective is to examine the effects of phonological processes of Shambaa language. The
study was guided by specific objectives namely; to describe phonological processes of
Shambaa and to establish phonological rules governing phonological processes of
Shambaa. The area of study was Mlalo, Ubiri and Vuga in Lushoto District-Tanga region.
The study applied qualitative approach. The researcher collected data from Shambaa
native speakers through interview, documentation and introspection. The findings of this
study revealed a number of phonological processes such as: glide formation, vowel
lengthening, high vowel deletion, glide insertion, vowel nasalization, consonants
deletion, epenthesis, voicing as well as homorganic nasal assimilation, aspiration and
substitution. The findings further reveal seven vowels and twenty nine consonant sounds
from which the Shambaa grammar and vocabularies are formed. In these formed
vocabularies we have discovered that during articulation of sounds, some phonemes
change the place, manner and voicing. Some are lengthened, some are deleted and others
are inserted in the environment they did not exist before, following their rules and rule
ordering respectively. Finally, as it is impossible for this study to deal with all
phonological processes, we recommend that other researchers conduct more researches
on Shambaa language and come up with more theories and results. The study concludes
that, the phonological process has the effect on Shambaa speech sounds.
Keywords
Language / Phonology