Re-syllabification and morphophonological nativisation of English loans in Rukwangali

Authors

  • Collen Sabao University of Namibia
  • Oiva Sikwaya Nauyoma University of Namibia
  • William Zivenge Great Zimbabwe University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32642/julace.v5i1.1527

Keywords:

re-syllabification, Rukwangali, morphophonological nativisation

Abstract

We here examine and discuss the phonological and morphological nativisation of English loan words in Rukwangali. The analysis, couched within the theoretical explications of CV Phonology (Clements & Keyser, 1983) and Distinctive Features Theory (Chomsky and Halle, 1968), argues that Rukwangali evinces a high level of resyllabification of borrowed words – increasing syllable count in the nativised forms. This, we argue, is largely motivated by the desire to preserve the canonical Consonant-Vowel (CV) syllable structure. The historical contact situation between English and Rukwangali in Namibia culminated in a transference of lexical items between the languages. Being one of the most widely used languages of the world, English has developed into the most influential donor of words to other languages such as Rukwangali. Of course, in the Namibian context, because of the close genetic affinities between English and Afrikaans and similarities in lexicon, it is sometimes difficult to locate objectively the donor of some words in Rukwangali. The words were randomly collected from the English Rukwangali dictionary and tested through one of the authors, who is a native Rukwangali speaker and a teacher of Rukwangali for the past 11 years. The infiltration of English and Afrikaans words into the Rukwangali lexical inventory led to the adoption and subsequent nativisation of English words by the native Rukwangali speakers. Words from English are then adopted and nativised in Rukwangali, since Rukwangali asserts itself as an independent language that can handle loans on its own. The main focus of this study, therefore, is to try and account for the phonological and morphological behaviour and changes that take place in English words that enter into Rukwangali. Analyzing phonological processes that are employed during nativisation of loan words entails analyzing how Rukwangali speakers handle aspects of English language such as syllabification, diphthongs, triphthongs, cluster consonants, Consonant-Vowel-Consonant (CVC) syllable structure and sounds in repairing unacceptable phonemic sequences in Rukwangali.

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Author Biographies

Collen Sabao, University of Namibia

Dr Collen Sabao is an amateur footballer and an Elder Elect of Records in the House of Nyabhinghi Rastafari.  His  research  interests  are in Pan Africanism, Afrocentricity, Phonetics  and  Phonology, Political Discourse, Media Discourse, Appraisal Theory, Argumentation, World Literatures and Rhetoric. He has published  extensively  in  these  areas. He  also holds  a  PhD  in  Applied  Linguistics from Stellenbosch University and is a Senior  Lecturer of Linguistics, Literature and Communication in the Languages and Literature Department at the University of Namibia. He is also an American Council of Learned Societies Fellow’14 and an African Humanities Fellow ‘14. Email: csabao@unam.na

Oiva Sikwaya Nauyoma, University of Namibia

Mr Oiva Sikwaya Nauyoma is a lecturer in the Department of Early Childhood and Development, Faculty of Education at the University of Namibia, Rundu Campus. He holds a Master of Arts in English Studies from the University of Namibia. His research interests are in the areas of multiculturalism, Rukwangali Linguistics, African Literature, Masculinities and Femininities. 

William Zivenge, Great Zimbabwe University

Dr William Zivenge is a senior lecturer of African Languages and Culture at Great Zimbabwe University. He has published immensely in areas of African Languages, Phonology and Phonological Theory, Heritage Studies, African Cosmology, Lexicography and Literary Studies. He currently lectures in two departments - Department of African Languages and Culture and Department of Heritage Studies at Great Zimbabwe University.

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Published

2021-04-22

How to Cite

Sabao, C., Nauyoma, O. S., & Zivenge, W. (2021). Re-syllabification and morphophonological nativisation of English loans in Rukwangali. JULACE: Journal of the University of Namibia Language Centre, 5(1), 58–71. https://doi.org/10.32642/julace.v5i1.1527

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