Assessment of Zinza Language Lexical Change: a Case of Kome Island Sengerema District
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The University of Dodoma University of Dodoma Institutional Repository http://repository.udom.ac.tz Humanities Master Dissertations 2016 Assessment of Zinza language lexical change: A case of Kome island Sengerema district Kulwa, Bahati The University of Dodoma Kulwa, B. (2016). Assessment of Zinza language lexical change: A case of Kome island Sengerema district. Dodoma: The University of Dodoma. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12661/1127 Downloaded from UDOM Institutional Repository at The University of Dodoma, an open access institutional repository. ASSESSMENT OF ZINZA LANGUAGE LEXICAL CHANGE: A CASE OF KOME ISLAND SENGEREMA DISTRICT By Bahati Kulwa A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Linguistics of the University Of Dodoma The University Of Dodoma October, 2016 CERTIFICATION The undersigned certifies that she has read and hereby recommends for acceptance by the University of Dodoma the dissertation entitled Assessment of Zinza Language Lexical Change: A Case of Kome Island Sengerema District, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Linguistics of the University of Dodoma. Signature……………………………….. Dr. Rafiki Y. Sebonde (SUPERVISOR) Date………………………………… i DECLARATION AND COPYRIGHT I, Bahati Kulwa, declare that this dissertation is my original work and that it has not been presented and will not be presented to any other university for a similar or any other degree award. Signature………………………. No part of this dissertation may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission of the author or the University of Dodoma. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am firstly and sincerely indebted to offer my thanks to the Almighty God, the redeemer who empowered me throughout the route in the whole process of this study. It is also imperative to acknowledge that the successful accomplishment of this work was also due to other individuals though it is impossible to mention them all here. I acknowledge them all though only a few are going to be mentioned. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my supervisor, Dr. Rafiki Yohana Sebonde for her countless hours of significant discussions, constructive suggestions, and criticism. Her guidance, encouragement and cooperation during the entire research proceedings made my study both possible and successful. May God bless you for your academic commitment. I would like to record my thanks to Flora Ferdinand Kimasa for her financial assistance, and moral support in hard times I passed during research process. May the Almighty God take care and hear your needs. Last but not least, I cannot forget my colleagues in M.A Linguistics programme at the University of Dodoma for their cooperation, genuine scholarly criticism and suggestions the moment I inquired help from them. iii DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my beloved parents Deogratias Tiluhongelwa Mataba and Leticia Isaakwile Paskari for their tireless parental care and teachings they built upon my academic endeavours. I owe you for that care. This work is also dedicated to my friends Juma Ludaila, Shukrani Ezekieli and Gerlad Kija for their genuine peer coaching in the lower levels of education which built a strong base to pursue further studies. iv ABSTRACT The principal concern of this study was the assessment of lexical change in Zinza language. In particular, the study firstly explored the extent of Zinza lexical change in Kome Island; secondly, it examined linguistic factors for Zinza lexical change; and thirdly, described non linguistic factors behind Zinza lexical change. This study employed both purposive and simple random sampling methods. The data were gathered from four villages namely Luhiza, Isenyi, Bugolo, and Buhama located in Kome Island, Sengerema district through semi structured interview, introspection and elicitation. The study was guided by the theory, known as Assimilation Theory. The findings in this study revealed that, Zinza has been affected heavily by lexical change. There are a lot of lexical replacements which have been borrowed from other languages. These replacements are used alongside proto Zinza lexical items while others are used without proto lexical items. However, there are some aspects of language use where lexical items in this language enjoy maintenance. These aspects include greetings, parts of the body, gender reference, and how to offer condolences. The study also found that, linguistic factors such as the nature of Zinza language and language contact were the driving force for Zinza lexical change. Moreover, non linguistic factors such as intermarriage, education, advancement of science and technology, decline of socialization gap between the youth and elders, immigration and children shift in language transmission were recorded to influence lexical change in Kome Island. It is recommended in this study that, further study should be carried out to examine whether or not the other linguistic aspects such as phonology, morphology, and syntax have been subjected to changes. v TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATION ......................................................................................................... i DECLARATION AND COPYRIGHT ........................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................ iii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................. v LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................... x CHAPTER ONE: BACKGROUND INFORMATION TO THE STUDY ............ 1 1. 1 Overview Concept of Lexical Change ................................................................. 1 1. 1. 1 Definition of Lexical Change ............................................................................ 2 1.1.1.2 Lexical Replacement ........................................................................................ 4 1. 1. 2 Dimension of Lexical Change ........................................................................... 7 1.1.2.1 The Morphological Dimension ........................................................................ 7 1.1.2.2 Semantic Dimension ........................................................................................ 8 1. 1. 3 Lexical Change Processes ................................................................................. 9 1.1. 4 Multilingual Situation and Lexical Change ....................................................... 9 1. 2 Background of the Problem ................................................................................. 11 1. 3 Statement of the Problem .................................................................................... 12 1. 4 Objectives of the Study ....................................................................................... 13 1.4.1 General Objective .............................................................................................. 13 1.4.2 Specific Objectives ............................................................................................ 13 1.5 Research Questions .............................................................................................. 14 1. 6 Significance of the Study .................................................................................... 14 1. 7 Scope of the Study ............................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................................... 16 2.1 Theoretical Framework ........................................................................................ 16 2. 2 Literature Review ................................................................................................ 19 2. 2. 1 The Magnitude of Lexical Change .................................................................. 19 2. 2. 1. 1 Lexical Change in Kibondei ........................................................................ 19 2. 2. 1. 2 Lexical Change in Kihaya ........................................................................... 20 2. 2. 1. 3 Lexical Change in Kizigua .......................................................................... 21 vi 2. 2. 1. 4 Lexical Change in Chindali ......................................................................... 21 2.2.1.5 Lexical Change in Kimaswitule ..................................................................... 22 2. 2.2 Linguistic Factors for Lexical Change ............................................................. 23 2.2.2.1 The Influence of Lexical Borrowing .............................................................. 24 2. 2.2.2 Word Length ................................................................................................. 27 2.2.2.3 Lexical Competition ....................................................................................... 28 2.2.2.4 Phonological Factors ...................................................................................... 30 2.2.3 Non linguistic Factors for Lexical Change ...................................................... 31 2.2.3.1 Age Factor ...................................................................................................... 32