Town The copyright of this thesis rests with the University of Cape Town. No quotation from it or information derivedCape from it is to be published without full acknowledgement of theof source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non-commercial research purposes only. University A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Variation in a Rural African Community Chasu in Same District, Tanzania Rafiki Yohana Town Thesis Presented for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHYCape In the Department of Englishof Language and Literature (Linguistics) UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN DECEMBER, 2009 University Town Cape of University DECLARATION 1. I know that plagiarism is wrong. Plagiarism is to use another‟s work and pretend that it is one‟s own. 2. I have used the LSA convention for citation and referencing. Each contribution to, and quotation in, this THESIS from the work(s) of other people has been attributed, and has been cited and referenced. 3. This THESIS is my own work. Town 4. I have not allowed, and will not allow, anyoneCape to copy my work with the intention of passing it off as his or her own work. of Signature: ______________________________ University Date: 23/12/2009 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is a pleasure to have so many people to thank for their contribution in producing this work. First and foremost, I am grateful to my creator and sustainer, God Almighty. I am particularly grateful to my main supervisor, Professor Rajend Mesthrie, for accepting me to be one of his students. He has been tremendously supportive, a role model and mentor. I have been enormously enriched by his insights, critical reading and teachings. I am indebted to him for his moral support and intellectual contribution, but foremost for his patience in showing me the ropes for being a professional linguist. Professor Daniel Mkude, my co-supervisor based at the University of Dar es Salaam, has also encouraged me with supportive academic advice Townthroughout this project. Havachenisha vose. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the USHEPiA office for accepting me to be a member of USHEPiA family. I have Capebenefited from financial support and it is through a USHEPiA Fellowship that I haveof managed to do this work. It would be an injustice not to mention Nan Warner, the director of the USHEPiA program for her positive support. Asante sana mama Afrika. I also appreciate their consideration in arranging All Africa House to be my home; it has been a quiet and peaceful area conducive to academic enhancement. I gratefullyUniversity acknowledge the support of Professor Thomas Hoffman of the University of Regensburg, for assisting me with my data in the Rbrul program and drawing the CART tree model for analysis. Carrying out this research would not have been successful without the help of the participants themselves. I am particularly grateful to my informants from Mamba Myamba, for lending their valuable time and voices to the data collection procedure. Mfumwa namuinke lute lwedi vose. ii I do not have enough words to express my gratitude to my parents, Yohana Sebonde and Nazihirwa Lightness for their wealth of love, daily prayers, moral support and the encouragement they have given throughout this project. May the good Lord add on you more days of life. Many thanks to my brothers Hoyange Robert, Sebonde Heriel, Juma Reward and my sister Mchikirwa Sirinael for their continuous encouragement. God bless you tremendously. Finally but not least, I would like to acknowledge the contribution of Dr.Sarah Rowan for editing this work. I also appreciate the assistance of Ms Nuroo Ismail from the Knowledge Commons, UCT Libraries and Ms. Moonde Kabinga for formatting this project. Thank you all. Town Cape of University iii ABSTRACT This study mainly investigates whether language variation due to sociolinguistic stratification in Western urban speech communities is similar to that in rural African communities, using as a case study the multilingual Chasu of Same district in Kilimanjaro Tanzania. Primarily, the study addresses the question of language use and variation in a multilingual context in which an analysis of the frequency of occurrence of lexical borrowings and code-switching from Swahili and English is undertaken. The study firstly investigates whether the key sociolinguistic variables of social class, gender, style, age and educational levels have as much bearing in explaining the occurrence of code-switching and lexical borrowings in multilingual Chasu. Secondly, the study examines whether social stratification correlates with the phonological variables (s) and (z) in Chasu, along lines established in Western variationist sociolinguistics.Town In order to obtain a valuable representative sample of data, the “Labovian” model of the sociolinguistic interview incorporating narrativesCape of personal experience was used. Other complementary techniques such asof participatory observation and rapid surveys with wordlists and questionnaires are employed as well. In the context of language contact, the analysis demonstrates that highly educated, young and middle-class speakers are the ones who borrow words and code-switch from word to sentence levels from Swahili and sometimes from English. Through VARBRUL and Rbrul analysis of phonological variation this study reveals further that, while in Western urban communities socialUniversity factors particularly social class - have significant impact on language variation and change, in Chasu society internal structural factors are the ones that are more influential. Education attainment is a prime external factor in regulating the use of standard variants [z] and [s] against non-standard variants [ð] and [θ] respectively. However, such external social factors are significant only when associated with syllable position, vowels following the variables or the status of the lexical item-i.e. whether a word is borrowed from Swahili or native Chasu words. iv List of abbreviations AdvP Adverbial Phrase APPL Applicative form CAUS Causative form COP Copula DIM Diminutive form ECL Ethnic Community Language EL Embedded Language EM Eastern Maroon Town ESR Education and Self Reliance FIN Final vowel Cape IMP Imperative form INF Infinitive form of MC Main Clause ML Matrix Language MLF Matrix Language Framework University NC Noun Class NEG Negation NP Noun Phrase OP Object prefix/pronoun PL Plural form PP Prepositional Phrase v PRES/CONT Present continuous tense PRES Present tense PST Past tense PSV Passive form RECP Reciprocity RLP Relative prefix SC Subordinate Clause SG Singular form SP Subject prefix/pronoun SSR Socialism and Self Reliance SUBJ Subjunctive form Town T/A PROG Tense /Aspect Progressive form T/A Tense and Aspect form Cape UPE Universal Primary Educationof VP Verb Phrase University vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ........................................................................................................................................... I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................................ II ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................... IV LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................................................................... IV TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................................................. VII LIST OF MAPS .......................................................................................................................................... XI LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................................... XII LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................................... XI LIST OF GRAPHS ......................................................................................................................................Town XI CHAPTER ONE .......................................................................................................................................... 1 BACKGROUND TO THE SOCIOLINGUISTIC STUDY OF CHASU .................................................................... 1 1.0 INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................................Cape 1 1.1 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY ...........................................................................................................................of 2 1.2 THE COMMUNITY AND THE LANGUAGE OF THE STUDY ........................................................................................3 1.2.1 The language of the study and its major dialects .........................................................................3 1.2.2 Salient linguistic aspects of Southern Chasu in relation to its neighbouring Languages .............7 1.2.3 Geographical Location ................................................................................................................12 1.2.4 Ethnography of Asu Community .................................................................................................16 1.3 SOCIAL GROUPS .......................................................................................................................................19