Browsing by Author "Mreta, Abel Y."

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    The Comitative/conjunctive Preposition na in Chathu (Pare), a Bantu Language of Tanzania
    (Taylor & Francis, 2004) Mous, Maarten; Mreta, Abel Y.
    The article discusses the problem of analysis of the element na in Chathu (Pare), a Bantu language of Tanzania. This element functions both as a preposition with a range of meanings and as a conjunction. A similar element with the same problem of analysis exists in most Bantu languages, and, in fact, the phenomenon of a word meaning both ‘and’ and ‘with’ is extremely common in other African languages as well. The article presents an overview of the semantics of na and proposes the most likely tines of semantic development that link the various meaning senses. After a discussion of the agreement phenomena when na is used in the conjunctive meaning, the conclusion is reached that na is a preposition in alt of its uses. A certain degree of grammaticalization has occurred in the possessive use of na.
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    Ideophones in Chasu
    (2012) Mreta, Abel Y.
    It can be noted in the literature that scholars seem to recognize the existence of ideophones in their languages, but no one among them finds it easy to define ideophones with precision. They have remained the subject of debate for years. For instance, in earlier works, prior to 1935, ideophones were labeled as ´interjections´, ´descriptive adverbs´, `picture words´ and `onomatopoeic adverbials´ (see Welmers 1973:460). The term ´ideophone´ seems to have been first suggested or coined by C. M. Doke (1935:118). He defined or at least described an ideophone as ´a vivid representation of an idea in sound´. On the one hand, it is maintained by some linguists that ideophones denote a complete utterance and as such have a sentence-like character. On the other hand, reports from other languages (Yoruba, Ewe etc.) disapprove that statement, showing instead that ideophones can be fully integrated into sentences, just like ordinary verbs and nouns. Yet there are some linguists who maintain that the concept `ideophone` makes sense only within the context of an individual language, while others hold the view that ideophones are a universal category. This difference of opinions, is attributable to the fact that languages vary in the manner they make use of ideophones. It is the intention of this paper to firstly, provide an overview of the attempts already made in defining the notion ideophone in some African languages. The definitions provided in the literature vary in terms of scope, depth and precision. The classical and oft-cited definitions including that of Doke (1935) and that of his later works (1967) based on his study of the Southern Bantu languages is reviewed. Other definitions include Kunene (1978) for dialects of Sotho, Moshi (1993), based on her studies of Kivunjo-Chaga, Kimenyi´s account of ideophone (from his Website) for Kinyarwanda, Kulemeka (1997) for Chichewa and finally, Dingemanse (2011) based on his study of Meaning and Use of Ideophones in Siwu. Each of these definitions emphasizes one or two salient properties of ideophones based on phonological, morphological, syntactic and semantic characteristics. Secondly, the paper outlines the main characteristics of Chasu ideophones in the light of what has been said about other African languages. Thirdly, it evaluates the contribution that ideophones from Chasu can offer to the existing studies. Fourthly, it holds the view that the definition and consequently the meaning of a particular ideophone are largely determined by its functions in the language. Finally, the paper concludes tentatively that Chasu ideophones are a lexical category distinct from verbs, adverbs and adjectives. They share some characteristics with those categories, but failed most important test of class membership.
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    Kiziwi, Kipofu na Kilema: Ubaguzi au Heshima?
    (1997) Mreta, Abel Y.
    The deaf, the blind and the lame: discrimination or respect?" In this article we investigate what the assigment of these (and other) words to the KI-class means We depart from the common explanation which says that the KI-class here signals contempt since it is not the typical class for human beings in SwahilL We then analyse the surprisingly large corpus of nouns referring to people in the KI-class and show how they got assigned to this class This leads us to a more general statement about the meaning of a noun class. The final section
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    Mechanisms of Structural Borrowing in Chimalaba
    (2012) Mreta, Abel Y.; Amani, Hamisi
    The paper aims to describe mechanisms through which various structural items were borrowed from Kiswahili into Chimalaba. It is an attempt to illustrate how various linguistic constraints seem to determine the borrowing of structural features in a given language contact situation. The primary data for this paper, are based on the research project by Amani (2010) on the Influence of Kiswahili in Chimalaba. There are, approximately 16 structural items borrowed from Kiswahili into Chimalaba as listed in Amani (2010: 58). The main focus is on whether the cases of structural borrowing identified are the result of direct or indirect borrowing and in displaying either of the two, what linguistic constraints are typically at work. Structural borrowing in Chimalaba reveals that Chimalaba has put a stiff resistance to direct structural borrowing, as there are only three items out of 16 structural items that have been directly borrowed from Kiswahili. This has also been possible only in the relevant sub-parts that seem to be more or less similar between Kiswahili and Chimalaba. Most of structural features in Chimalaba have been indirectly borrowed through lexical transfer, constraints of language system and blending. This paper therefore presents indirect and direct structural borrowing and the mechanisms of borrowing used in each category.
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    Nafasi ya Kiswahili katika Lugha ya Alama ya Tanzania
    (2001) Mreta, Abel Y.; Muzale, Henry R. T.
    Sign language in I anzania is a relatively new field of linguistics that is yet to atttact many researchers and linguists in particulru I anzanian Sign Language (TSL) functions as a unifYing tool for the deaf in the countiy and, probably, beyond. This language, which is still at its early stage of development, is used in the same linguistic environment with Kiswahili, the national language, which is more established The situation leaves TSL disadvantaged and is thus likely to cause a one-way linguistic influence, from Kiswahili to TSL This paper, therefore, examines the nature and impact of the situation Firstly, it focuses on the question ofwhether or not TSL is an independent language that has developed as a sepruate language, quite distinct fiom the spoken languages of the communities that swround it, especially Kiswahili. Secondly, it examines the extent to which Kiswahili has influenced TSl and thus the role that the former plays in leruning and developing the latter The results of the study show that Kiswahili has had some influence on TSL but the influence is mruginal at lexical level Of all the signs studied, only 13% were directly related to Kiswahili The majmity of the signs studied were found to be iconic in nature, but only 12% of all signs were semantically tianspru·ent Even in these cases where the signs rue tiansparent, the tiansparency of the signs is not based on one's knowledge of Kiswahili Most of the tianspru·ent signs are common gestures that any person of any ethnic migin can interpret The study has thus established that TSl is more of a sign language than signed language It is an indigenous African sign language, uruelated to the Western Sign Languages, except for the IIWflUal alphabet. Finally, the study predicts that much of the tianspru·ency and iconicity in TSL will gradually fade away as the language develops across time, space, and generations
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    Subject-Verb Agreement in Chiyao Conjoined Noun Phrases
    (Inter Press of Tanzania Ltd, 2014) Taji, Julius J.; Mreta, Abel Y.
    This paper discusses different strategies for establishing concord with conjoined noun phrases in Chiyao (P.21), a cross-border Bantu language spoken by about three million people scattered in five countries of eastern and southern Africa. The findings reveal that various options are available in Chiyao for showing concord in conjoined noun phrases (NPs*). These include the use of default agreement markers a- (class 2) for human nouns, and i- (class 8) for non-human nouns; the use of an agreement marker of the noun closest to the verb, as a default strategy for locative and post-verbal conjoined noun phrases; taking an agreement marker from a human noun in cases where the conjunct involves a human and a non-human noun; and opting for a compound sentence, thus avoiding the conjoined construction. The paper is organized into six sections. The first section introduces the problem and provides background information to the language and its speakers. The second section presents the methodological issues of the study. The third section discusses subject-verb agreement strategies in Chiyao. The fourth section presents a brief review of previous works on conjoined noun phrases in Bantu. The fifth section discusses different strategies for establishing concord with conjoined noun phrases in Chiyao, and the last section provides a conclusion.