BORROWING IN TANZANIAN NGONI LEXICON:SOME SEMANTIC TRENDS IN A LANGUAGE
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Date
2015-09-01
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Language Matters: Studies in the Languages
Abstract
The 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
Description
Borrowing is almost part and parcel of the Ngoni language.
Keywords
contact situation, borrowing, hypernymy, Ngoni, semantic trends, Tanzania, Songea District, substitutive borrowing