Phonological Integration of Swahili Loanwords in Hehe
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Abstract
Linguistic borrowing apply to all languages of the World. However, as the contexts in which loanwords are borrowed vary, the way they are integrated into the grammars of the recipient languages differ from language to language. This study investigates the mechanisms used to integrate Swahili loanwords into phonological system of Hehe language. The study is based on data that were collected from Nzihi and Kiponzelo villages in the southern highlands of Tanzania by analysing spoken texts and conducting focus group discussions with the native speakers of Hehe. The findings indicated that the Hehe lexicon has changed because of massive importation of Swahili loanwords owing to various socio-political factors including trade and the authorities’ negligence to promote the use of the language in formal domains. Due to their foreign phonological features, loanwords are often present articulation challenges for native speakers. In order to be accepted by the phonological system of Hehe, loanwords are integrated using one or a combination of replacement, devoicing, epenthesis, feature changing, and re-syllabification. There are notable peculiarities in the way these mechanisms operate in Hehe when compared to the way they operate in other languages. Hence, the findings underscore linguists the language-specific nature of loanword integration.
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