PHONEMES AND SWAHILI'S VOWELS

Understanding Kiswahili Vowels

Abstract

Phonemes have been identified by linguists as the main phonological inputs of all human spoken

languages. These phonemes are divided mainly into two-consonants and vowels. Each language

has selected from the universal phonetic pool its own type and number of phonemes for its

communicative purposes. Most of them have more consonants than vowels. Several languages

share the same phonemes but use them differently to perform a variety of language specific

linguistic functions. Kiswahili being one of these languages that has been studied extensively

presents an interesting, scenario with regard to its use of phonemes. Kiswahili has over thirty

phonemes. Traditional Kiswahili phonologists have identified five as vowels (Current linguists

have identified more vowels), yet any consonant with the exception of syllabic C, cannot be used

alone without it forming syllabicity with a vowel. Any user (speaker or reader) of Kiswahili

language will notice that vowels though fewer than consonants have the highest use frequency.

This indicates that its habitual users creatively use them to perform a variety of linguistic

functions. This paper then, seeks to discuss and analyze the nature and functions of Kiswahili

vowels.

Background: Kiswahili Origin and Utility

Kiswahili is a North-Eastern Coast bantuphone of Southern group of Niger–Congo language
family (Cortini-Morava in http://www3.iath.virginia.edu/swahili/ 08/12/06, Center for World
Languages (CWLs)i http://www.Imp.ucla.ed/ 23/05/07, Ogwana: 2001, Amidu 1995:105 and
Mwita 1995: 1). Its base and origin is the Coast of Eastern Africa from Mogadishu in Somalia to
the north and to the mouth of river Lurio in Mozambique to the south (Chiragdin & Mnyampala
1977:21-25, Mohamed 2001). Present day Kiswahili is a descendant of proto Kiswahili called
Kingozi which is believed to be one of the languages spoken by the Washungwaya Bantus who
were the ancestors of latter day speakers of various Kiswahili dialects (Amidu: 1995, Chiragdin
& Mnayampala: 1977).
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Kiswahili has since spread out from this coastal region to the inlands. It is now present in many
countries of Eastern and Southern Africa (Ogwana: 2001, CWLs http://www.Imp.ucla.edu/,
Amidu: 1995 and Kipacha: 2006). It is spoken in Kenya, Tanzania, Southern Coast of Somalia,
Northern Coast of Mozambique and the various islands dotting the Indian Ocean. It is also
spoken in Uganda, southern parts of Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC), northern parts of Zambia, Malawi, the Comoros islands and north western Coast of
Madagascar. Currently, Kiswahili is being spread to southern Sudan by southern Sudanese
refugees who are returning home after being in Kenya for over two decades. Their children
schooled in Kenya where Kiswahili is a language of instruction and a subject. Some of these
children speak Kiswahili as their first language. Kiswahili therefore is the main lingua franca in
Eastern Africa and in some parts of central and southern Africa with about 150,000,000 speakers
and a mother tongue to Swahili communities.
Besides being a lingua franca, Kiswahili too is an official and national language in Kenya and
Tanzania, and only the recently in Uganda. Currently, it is being studied in primary, secondary
and tertiary institutions within and without Africa. It is the language of instruction in Tanzania in
primary schools (Webb and Kembo-Sure 2001:50) and a medium of instruction in Kenya in
lower classes (1-3) in primary schools whose pupil composition is of mixed linguistic
backgrounds. It is a discipline of academia in many Universities globally.
Currently, the African Union (AU) has adopted it as one of the languages to conduct its
businesses. President Chisano of Mozambique was mentioned in one of Kenyan daily
newspapers in an article entitled ‘Swahili set back for delegates in Chisano speech’(Daily Nation
July 7 2004:12) where he put this decision to test when he addressed the African Union
Assembly in Kiswahili in its 2004 meeting in Addis Ababa. It is also the language of East Africa
Community (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi) and of various media—broadcast
(television & radio) and print (newspapers, books & posters) in and outside Africa.
Noun Classification
Kiswahili has three ngelisationii(noun classification) systems namely:-semantic (numerical),
morphological and syntactical (Mbaabu :1985, Mgullu: 2005, Waihiga: 2003, Cortini-Morava
http://www3.iath.virginia.edu/swahili/). The three systems produce different ngelisiii (noun
classes) as listed below.
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(1) semanti iv morphologicalv syntacticalvi
1 mu mu-wa a-wa 1-2
2 wa mu-mi u-i 3-4
3 mu ji-ma li-ya 5-6
4 mi ki-vi ki-vi 7-8
5 ji n-n u-nvii i-zi 9-10
6 ma u-u u-zi 11-14
7 ki ku u-ya 15-16
8 vi pa u-u 17-18
9 n ya-ya 19-20
10 n i 21
11/14u ku 22
pa-ku-mu 23
This paper adopts the syntactical classification system because it is informative on the use of
vowels. As such, it guides the reader to understand a variety of Kiswahili vowels and their
functions.
Kiswahili Phonemes
The identification and documentation of Kiswahili phonemes is still continuous. Earlier linguists
have put them at either 32 or 37. Out of these, they identified five as vowels /i, ɛ, a, u & כ/, two
as semi vowels, /w/ & /j/ and the rest as consonants /p, b, t, d, k, ɡ, f, v, θ, ð, s, z, ɲ, ŋ, x, r, h, m,
n, ʃ, ʧ, χ, ɟ, ɣ, ɭ, & ʤ/ (Massamba et.al 2004:24-25, Webb & Kembo-Sure 2001:192 Katamba
1989:27 & Mbaabu 1985:55-87). Mgullu (2005:69) does not have/ʤ/). On the other hand,
Nchimbi (1992:14) has thirty-one phonemes; all of the above, with the exception of /ʤ/.
Moreover, he has identified five more consonants namely /Ɲ, Ŋ, <b, N/, & c/. With the
exception of /c/, the rest are nasalized voiced plosives. In this paper, I have identified other seven
phonemes, five long vowels /i:, ɛ:, a:, u: & כ:/ and two diphthongs /au & כa/. From this
explanation, it is evident that the total number of Kiswahili phonemes is yet to be identified and
documented.
In this paper I will not discuss the Kiswahili consonants’ functions since the focus of the paper is
the vowel functions. Any discussion of the consonants will be to the extent to which they aid and
enhance the understanding of Kiswahili vowels and their functions. The following Kiswahili
vowel chart will help us understand the type, position and manner of articulation involved in the
production of Kiswahili vowels.
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Literature Review
Studies into Kiswahili have been carried out by many a scholar from different approaches.
Several of these studies have touched on Kiswahili phonology and morphology with minimal
emphasise on the vowel and its roles. Scholars whose works have touched on the vowel are
Wilson (1985), Mbaabu (1985), Nchimbi (1998), Mohamed (2001), Waihiga (2003), Russell
(2003), Mgullu (2005) and Cortini-Morava http://www3.iath.virginia.edu/swahili/ 08/12/06
among many others. Among them all, Mohamed’s work is a bit detailed and recent on the study
of the vowel. He has identified nine vowels- five cardinal vowels: /a, i, u e & o/ and four
secondary vowels: /Ι, ɛ, U & כ/. Following his view, Choge (2007) did an analysis of vowels in
twenty Kiswahili words per vowel and identified the five vowels which other scholars of
Kiswahili have attested to. They are three cardinal vowels: /a, i, u/ and two secondary vowels: /ɛ
כ & /. She did not find the other four vowels Mohamed identified. Her view is that Mohamed’s
analysis could have been influenced by idiolectical and dialectical variations. However, she
identified seven other vowels- five long vowels and two diphthongs which are shown on the
vowel chart above.
Theoretical Framework and Methodology
I have based my analysis of vowels on Systemic Functional Linguistics SFL(also referred to as
Systemic Functional Grammar/Grammatics –Theory (McGuire 2006 and Haspelmath 2005).
This theory views linguistic resources of any language as functional and thematic. In this regard,
Kiswahili vowels perform two activities, that of form and another of meaning. Vowels are coparticipants
with consonants in Kiswahili word formation as shown in the following words:-
mama ‘mother’ whose skeletal tier is cvcv and ukuta ‘wall’ whose tier is vcvcv.
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Half-close
Close
Half-open
Open
i I: u
Front Central Back
u:
Ɛ : כ כ
a:
Ɛ:
a
Besides this, Kiswahili vowels participate in creating and changing meaning in words. For
instance, kunja ‘fold’ becomes kunjua ‘unfold’. In this context, {-u-} has been used to transform
meaning. Therefore, Kiswahili vowels are significant in generating infinite forms and meanings
in an effort to meet speakers varied communication needs. Thus, I have generated data based on
my own linguistic competence and performance in Kiswahili. I have also purposely selected data
from Kiswahili text books to supplement my generated data.
Analysis of Kiswahili Vowel Functions
This paper will only analyse vowel functions that are universal for all Kiswahili vowels. In this
context, universality of functions refers to the linguistic roles which all or most of Kiswahili
vowels perform.
Universal Vowel Functions in Kiswahili
There are certain linguistic functions which all Kiswahili vowels perform. They are divided into
two- morphophonological and morphosyntactic. The first division comprises those functions that
fall in two disciplines of phonology and morphology. The second one comprises vowel functions
that fall into the disciplines of morphology and syntax. An analysis of these functions is
discussed below.
Morphophonological Functions
In this category there are many functions that Kiswahili vowels perform phonologically or
morphologically. In observing the Bantu phonological rule that requires all words to end in
vowels, Kiswahili uses its vowels as end phonemes in all Kiswahili words.
(2) word type end vowel ngeli
a. mtu ‘person’ noun /u/ a-wa
b. abiri ‘travel’ verb /i/ -
c. mwiko ‘taboo’noun /o/ u-i
d. -baya ‘bad’ adjective /a/ -
e. jiwe ‘stone’ noun /e/ li-ya
f. kuu ‘main’ adjective1 /u:/ -
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Phonologically, vowels nativises words of foreign origin. Any new non Bantu word that enters
into Kiswahili language is accepted phonologically mainly by using vowels to convert it into a
Kiswahili word according to Bantu vowel positioning in words. Those of Bantu origin and those
from other languages with open syllable system, like Japanese, are integrated into Kiswahili
without undergoing any morpho-phonological restructuring, even if they may not carry their
meanings into Kiswahili. In cases where the morpho-phonological system is different from
Kiswahili, the word is restructured to an open syllable. The following are some of the foreign
words which have been adapted into Kiswahili through vowel addition (Chiraghdin &
Mnyampala 1977:15-18, Mbaabu 1955: 35 and Suleiman 1999: 3,11).
(3) source word navitised word nativising vowel
a. German skul skuli ‘school’ /i/
b. English school shule ‘school’ /e/
c. Hindi hundir hundi ‘cheque’ /i/
d. French champ shamba ‘farm/shamba’ /a/
e. Arabic kitab kitabu ‘book’ /u/
f. Arabic hadīth hadithi ‘story’ /i/
Kiswahili does not use /ɔ/ as an end phoneme in nativisation of foreign words unless it is in
nounce borrowing (Webb and Kembo-Sure, 2001:91). In this type of borrowing, the loan word
retains some of its structure in the adoptive language. Some nativised non-bantu words in
Kiswahili have retained their original end vowels in spite of the changes made to the other
phonemes in the word (Chiraghdin & Mnyampala ibid and Suleiman ibid: 156). Examples are:
(4) source word nativised word end vowel
a. Hindi bhangri bangili ‘bangles’ /i/
b. Portuguese vinho mvinyo ‘wine’ /o/
c. English cinema sinema ‘cinema’ /a/
d. Hindi pesa pesa ‘money’ /a/
e. Turkish bugsha bahasha ‘envelope’ /a/
f. Arabic samhili samahani ‘pardon’ /i/
g. Arabic sadaqa sadaka ‘offering’ /a/
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However, there are some foreign words which undergo changes when they are adapted into
Kiswahili. They drop the original end vowel and adopt a different one depending on the
preceding phonemes (Chiraghdin & Mnyampala 1977: 15-18).
(5) source word nativised word nativizing vowel
a. Portuguese beirame beramu‘flag’ /u/
b. Persian pilao pilauviii ‘pilau’ /u/
c. Hindi katho katu ‘truly’ /u/
d. English chalkø chaki ‘piece of chalk’ /i
Kiswahili is an open syllable language with two types of syllable skeletal tiers of cv or v. Vowels
are syllabic and any syllable therefore must have a vowel or it is formed by a single vowel. In the
case of the latter, no two vowels forms a single syllable. However, all Kiswahili vowels with the
exception of /u & i/ form syllabicity with /w & y/. These semi vowels are allophones of /u & i/ in
complimentary distribution. Their participation in syllable formation is discussed in the
following subsections.
(6) a. with consonants
word syllables syllable structure
pata ‘get’ $pa$ta$ $cv$cv$ix
sema ‘say’ $se$ma$ $cv$cv$
chora ‘draw’ $cho$ra$ $cv$cv$
b. on their own
i) When they precede a consonant
word syllables syllable structure
ita ‘call’ $i$ta$ $v$cv$
oka ‘bake’ $o$ka$ $v$cv$
amu ‘paternal uncle’ $a$mu$ $v$cv$
-ema ‘virtuous’ $e$ma$ $v$cv$
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ii)When they (alone) form a word.
word syllables syllable structure
oa ‘marry’ $o$a$ $v$v$
ua ‘kill, or 'fence’ $u$a$ $v$v$
au ‘or’ $a$u$ $v$v$
Vowels’ functions can also be derived from their participation in verb root formation. They alone
form verb roots or do so in conjunction with one or two consonants. Many verb roots have
skeletal tiers of cvc, cv and vc. Very few are formed with only v tiers. However, monosyllabic
verbs have consonant roots. The examples below expound this vowel functions
(7) verb root skeletal tiervowel used
pika ‘cook’ pik- cvc /i/
cheza ‘play’ chez- cvc /e/
choma ‘burn’ chom- cvc /o/
pata ‘get’ pat- cvc /a/
jua ‘know’ ju- cv /u/
uza ‘sell’ uz- vc /u/
oa ‘marry’ o- v /u/
ua ‘kill’ u- v /u/
-fa ‘eat’ -f- c -
-la ‘eat’ -l- c -
-pa give’ -p- c -
Morphosyntactic Vowel Functions
Kiswahili vowels also carry out roles that are definable both morphologically and syntactically.
By virtue of these functions, Kiswahili vowels too by extension execute semantic functions.
These types of functions are discussed in details in this section.
Vowels are instrumental in morphological derivation processes such as creating deverbatives
from various Kiswahili parts of speech by replacing the end vowels in the source words
(Mohamed 2001:29-33, Kahiga et al 2000:193-194, Waihiga 2003:100-107). /i, u ɛ & כ/ are used
to generate nouns from verbs of Bantu origin by replacing the verb end vowel {-a}. Other
deverbatives retain it. Many verbs of non-bantu origin devebatize by replacing their end vowels
with {-a} or carry it into the nouns they form in Kiswahili. In this case, the deverbatising {-a} is
suffixed to the end vowel of the loan word as in abiria in the example below.
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(9) a) Deverbatives from verbs of bantu origin
verb noun deverbatising vowel
Shinda ‘win’ mshindi ‘winner’ {-i}
Mshinde ‘looser’ {-e}
Tua ‘land’ kituo ‘station’ {-o}
Tulia ‘be calm’ mtulivu ‘calm person’ {-u}
Pata ‘get’ pato ‘profit’ {-o}
-nywa ‘drink’ kinywax ‘mouth’ {-a}
b) Deverbatives from verbs of non-bantu origin
tubu ‘repent’ toba ‘repentance’ u >xi {-a}
samehe ‘forgive’ msamaha ‘forgiveness’ e > {-a}
jadili ‘discuss’ mjadala ‘discussion’ i > {-a}
Sali ‘pray’ sala ‘prayer’ i > {-a}
Safiri ‘travel’ msafaraxii ‘procession’ i > {-a}
Abiri ‘travel’ abiria ‘traveler’ i +xiii{-a}
In all agglutinative languages, agents, datives and objects are marked and grammaticalised by
bound morphs. In Kiswahili, vowels /a, i & u/ with the exception of / כ & ɛ/, functions as
pronouns in four ngelis of a-wa, u-i, i-zi and u-zi. The diplay below shows these vowels in these
role positions.
9) ngeli pronoun personnumber examples in a sentence
a-wa u- 2nd singular (wewe) umeenda nyumbani
(you) you have gone home
a- 3rd singular (yeye) ameenda nyumbani
(s/he/it) s/he/it has gone home
u-i u- - singular (mti) umeanguka
(tree) it has fallen
i- - plural (miti) imeanguka
(trees) they have fallen
i-zi i- - singular (ndoo) imeanguka
(the jerrican) it has fallen)
u–zi u- - singular (ukuta) umeanguka
(the wall) it has fallen
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u-ya u- - singular (ugonjwa) umezidi
(disease) it has increased
u u- - neutral (urembo) unapendeza
(beauty) it is pleasant/attractive
i i- - neutral (chai) imepikwa
(tea) it has been made
Vowels too take up the prepositional function in Kiswahili. Syntax being the discipline that
conveys meaning through word order and grammatical agreement of words has assigned words
and morphs in a language’s syntactic construction, various functions such as nouns, verbs,
adjectives, prepositions, and adjectives. These roles are language universals but their surface
representations in terms of lexical and syntactic positioning are language specific across
languages. In isolating languages like English, these grammatical categories are represented by
independent morphs as opposed to their representation in agglutinative and fusional languages
like Kiswahili which mark these categories by use of dependent morphs attached to roots or
stems of words. A good example in Kiswahili is preposition representation. Some scholars of
Kiswahili like Ashton (1947) opine that there are no true prepositions in Kiswahili. These
scholars are influenced by the principles of translational grammar theory which postulates that
language one (L1) and language two (L2) have one to one relationship in terms of form and
semantic representation.
Kiswahili does not have the type of prepositions like those of English. In Kiswahili, prepositional
functions are carried out by phrases whose functions are determined by their positions in a
Kiswahili sentence (Amidu 2004) and vowels affixed to verb roots. This conjugational process in
Kiswahili applies progressive assimilation in the choice of conjugational vowel (Webb &
Kembo-Sure 2001:171). The choice of this vowel is determined by verb root vowel. If cvc verb
root has /a, i, & u/, the conjugational vowel is /i/ and if the root has /ɛ & כ/, then, the
conjugational vowel is /ɛ/. In Kiswahili, many verb roots have skeletal tiers of cvc. Those whose
roots have syllabic tiers of cv, conjugational vowels are suffixed to the lateral /ɭ/. These vowels
of conjugation perform many prepositional functions (Russell 2003:60, Mohamed 2001:209 and
Amidu 2007:55) as shown in the following examples.
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(10) verb root conjugated verb prepositional vowel
pika ‘cook’ pik- pik-i-a ‘cook for/with/in’ -ipanga
‘plan’ pang- pang-i-a ‘plan for/on/in’ -ileta
‘bring’ let- let-e-a ‘bring for/with/to’ -esoma
‘read’ som- som-e-a ‘read for/to/in’ -elia
‘cry’ li- li-li-a ‘cry for/to/because’ -ilea
‘raise’ le- le-le-a ‘raise for/in/at/on’ -etoa
‘remove’ to- to-le-a ‘remove for/because/with’ -esaga
‘grind’ sag- sag-i-a ‘grind for/of’xiv -i-
In this context, {-i-} and {-ɛ-} are allophones. These vowels which are morphs of verb inflection
are prefixed, infixed or suffixed to consonant morphs in other verb conjugation processes.
Examples of these morphs are {-iw-,-ew-, -liw-, -ik-, -lek-, -iz-,& -esh-} among others. Vowel /a/
plays the role of a preposition when suffixed to noun and ngeli referents. This preposition is
equivalent to for, of, {-s}, & φ in English (Russell 2003:60, Mohamed 2003: 68).
(11) Noun prepositions
Maji ya (y- + -a) kunywa
Water for drinking or drinkingφ water
Mtoto wa (w- +-a) Chebet
A/the child of Chebet or Chebet’s child
Kiti cha (ch- + -a) mwalimu
A/the/ chair for/of the teacher or a/the/ teacher’s chair
All the five Kiswahili vowels participate in formation of ngeli demonstratives. /i, a, u/ are used
in formation of demonstratives of nearness-extreme proximity to the speaker. On the other hand,
כ/ / is used to form demonstratives of furtherness which as Mgullu (2005:175) puts it, signifies a
relative further distance from the speaker. The Demonstratives of this nature in all ngelis are
created by the process of phoneme embedmentxv (Webb and Kembo-Sure 2000:172). Likewise,
/ɛ/ is suffixed to the lateral root {-l-} to form {-le}, which is the stem of demonstratives of
furthestness-less proximity to the referent- such as yule, ile, zile, vile and pale (Okombo and
Habwe 2007: 82-83). Examples of these vowel functions are discussed below. The following
letters are used as follows:- s = singular, p = plural.
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(13) ngeli nearness furtherness furthestness
- (nearer) (further) (furthest)
a (s) huyu huyo yule
wa (p) hawa hao wale
u (s) huu huo ule
i (p) hii hiyo ile
li (s) hili hilo lile
ya (p) haya hayo yale
ki (s) hiki hicho kule
vi (p) hivi hivyo vile
i (s) hii hiyo ile
zi (p) hizi hizo zile
u (s) huu huo ule
zi (p) hizi hizo zile
ku huku huko kule
pa - hapa hapo pale
ku huku huko kule
mu mumu mumo mle
The above demonstratives are represented in English by this and that regardless of the noun type.
This is a demonstrative of nearness while that is a demonstrative of furtherness and furthestness.
Demonstratives of furtherness are formed in Kiswahili by suffixing {- כ} to the demonstrative of
extreme proximity/nearness to the speaker as shown below.
(14) nearness morph furtherness morph changes
huyu ‘this’ + o huyo (a - wa)s ‘that’ u is embedded
hawa ‘these’ + o hao (a - wa)p ‘those’ wa is embedded
hii ‘this’ + o hiyo (u - i)p ‘that’ y replaces last -i
hiki ‘this’ + o hicho (k - vi)s ‘that’ ch replaces -ki
hivi ‘these’ + o hivyo (ki - vi)p ‘those’ y replaces -i
In the above examples, two morphophonemic changes have taken place – phoneme embedment
and phoneme dissimilation. In the third and fifth examples above, dissimilation has caused /j/ to
replace /i/ which precedes /ɔ/ in order to form hiyo and hivyo. In the first and second examples,
phoneme embedment has taken place. {u & wa} have been removed from the surface structure.
In the fourth example, {ki-} has been replaced by the affricative /ʧ/. This is an attempt to reduce
the pronunciation challenge caused by the need to successively pronounce a high front vowel /i/
in {-ki-} and a back middle vowel / ./כ
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Conclusion
The discussion has proved that Kiswahili vowels form a linguistic system which enables
replicative use of the same phonemes with different semantic and pragmatic outputs. This system
has enabled systematic creativity in the production of Kiswahili phonology, morphology,
semantics and pragmatics. The latter has enhanced language economy through the application of
systematic and generative principles which efficiently use the finite phonemes to generate
infinite linguistic structures, which carry the users varied intended meanings. Therefore, this
system is central to every aspect of Kiswahili linguistic structures. This system is also charged
with lexical transformation and meaning changes and shifts. Competence and performance in
Kiswahili entails knowing the application of these vowels to derive a variety of meanings from a
given Kiswahili lexicon. The system of vowel application has enhanced language economy
through maximum utilization of few linguistic resources by replicative and generative use of
finite set of phonemes.
Present and ever-growing utility of the language as I mentioned in the introduction of this paper,
proves that Kiswahili is still progressing with its linguistic conquest internationally. As it spreads
out from its base in Eastern Africa, more research on its linguistic structure is needed to enable
new and upcoming learners to understand it as a precursor to them gaining linguistic competence
and performance in Kiswahili. Beside this, its expansion opens the doors for outside linguistic
influences. Therefore, Kiswahili’s expansion and diasporic uses are cushioned and guided by
constant researches on its structure and functions of its linguistic materials.
An insightful research as this is important for the teaching of Kiswahili as a second and foreign
language. It provides a useful reference for comparative linguistic studies, terminology and word
coinage. More so, it is a useful resource in understanding Kiswahili language standardisation and
swahilisation of foreign words.
This discussion has not exhausted everything with regard to the Kiswahili vowels. Further
research needs to be done on other functions of Kiswahili vowels and the nature of other vowels
such as the diphthongs. However, this paper has shown some significant features of the
Kiswahili vowelic system. It is central in the coinage and usage of Kiswahili lexicon, is a pillar
of Kiswahili grammaticality and glue for bonding phonemes and words in an acceptable
syntactic order for the sole purpose of effective communication.
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Reference
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Amidu, A. A. 2004: Kiswahili Language Description and Translation
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i CWLs is my own abbreviation of Center for World Languages. I have used it in the rest of the text.
ii Ngelisation refers to the process of grouping nouns according to their relatedness in meaning or structure as per the chosen
classification system.
iii Ngeli is a Kiswahili terminology which refers to a noun class(es). In Kiswahili, it has no overt morphs to identify singular and
plural forms. In this paper, I have pluralised it the English way by adding the {-s} suffix to form ngelis
iv This classification is found in Cortini-Morava cited in the text.
v This classification system is copied form Mohamed (2001:40-45)
vi This classification system is based on Mgullu (2005:174-175), but the numerical system attached to it is my own addition.
vii Scholars who support the seven ngelis put the two ngelis (n-n & u-n) as one (u-n).
viii / כ/ in pilao has changed to /u/ in pilau to conform to Kiswahili diphthong /au/ which is used in a few Kiswahili words. In
present day Kiswahili usage, especially by non Bantu speakers, pilao is more used than pilau. Therefore ao and au are
allophones.
ix $ is used to mark syllable boundary.
x In this example, {-a} has been carried to the deverbative. However, the deverbatising morph is {ki-}.
xi The symbol represents the ‘phrase changes to’.
xii In Kiswahili msafara refers to any procession of animate beings. For instance, there is; msafara wa watu (a procession of
people), masafara wa siafu (a procession of ants) or ‘msafara wa ngamia’ (a procession of camels).
xiii The + symbol stands for ‘added to’.
xiv Amidu (2007: 55) has used the i in sagia to stand for ‘of’’ in the sentence mama wa jiwe la kusagia ‘Lower
grinder of grinding stone’. The African millstones are in two pairs, the lower wider stone which in this context is
referred to as mama wa jiwe and the the upper small one referred to in this context as jiwe la kusagia.
xv I have used embedment instead of deletion which most phonologist use because embedment carries the notion of ‘ it is hidden
and it is retrievable’ as opposed to deletion which connotes complete removal. The phonemes and morphemes referred to in this
context are present in the hidden structure but they are not shown on the surface form. They are retrievable phonologically and
morphologically.
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