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

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dc.contributor.authorMapunda, Gastor
dc.contributor.authorRosendal, Tove
dc.date.accessioned2016-05-05T10:41:14Z
dc.date.available2016-05-05T10:41:14Z
dc.date.issued2015-09-01
dc.descriptionBorrowing is almost part and parcel of the Ngoni language.en_US
dc.description.abstractThe 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 maintenanceen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipCOSTECH, SIDA and WOTROen_US
dc.identifier.doi10.1080/10228195.2015.1016093
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11810/1797
dc.publisherLanguage Matters: Studies in the Languagesen_US
dc.relation.ispartofseriesVol 46;Issue No. 2
dc.subjectcontact situationen_US
dc.subjectborrowingen_US
dc.subjecthypernymyen_US
dc.subjectNgonien_US
dc.subjectsemantic trendsen_US
dc.subjectTanzaniaen_US
dc.subjectSongea Districten_US
dc.subjectsubstitutive borrowingen_US
dc.titleBORROWING IN TANZANIAN NGONI LEXICON:SOME SEMANTIC TRENDS IN A LANGUAGEen_US
dc.typeJournal Article, Peer Revieweden_US
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