Genealogical Reconstruction of the Proto -Luluhyia Language
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GENEALOGICAL RECONSTRUCTION OF THE PROTO -LULUHYIA LANGUAGE DAVID WAFULA LWANGALE A thesis submitted to the Graduate School in partial fulfillment for the requirements of Doctor of Philosophy degree in English Language and Linguistics of Egerton University EGERTON UNIVERSITY NOVEMBER, 2018 DECLARATION AND RECOMMENDATION Declaration This is my original work and has not been presented to any other university or college for any academic award. Signature______________________ Date________________________ David Wafula Lwangale Reg. No.AD13/0252/09 Recommendation This thesis has been submitted for examination with our recommendation as university supervisors. Signature______________________ Date________________________ Professor James K. Mutiti Department of Literature, Languages and Linguistics Pwani University Signature______________________ Date________________________ Dr. Phylis J. Bartoo Department of Literature, Languages and Linguistics Egerton University ii COPYRIGHT © 2018 David Wafula Lwangale All rights reserved. No part of this thesis may be produced, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the author or Egerton University on his behalf. iii DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my wife Ruth Khakasa for standing by and with me through constant reminder that time was running out; my children for always asking about my graduation day, the question which brightly lit the academic effort and determination in me; my father, John Lwangale and my mother, Elizabeth Khaoma for setting the academic foundation in me. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost, I'm grateful to Almighty God for his everlasting Grace that saw me through till completion of this study. I thank Egerton Univeristy for providing the platform that enabled me futher my studies. This thesis would not have been a success without a number of individuals lending a hand. I wish to categorically acknowledge the guidance of my supervisors: Professor James Kariuki Mutiti and Dr. Phylis Bartoo. I acknowledge Ruth Khakasa for typing my work, Professor Charles Ngome for encouraging me to finish my doctorate programme, Dr. Dishon Kweya for guiding me to adopt a multifaceted approach which goes beyond linguistic dimension in uniting the Luhyia nation and Professor Onyango for suggesting some reading list in relation to my study. I would like to further acknowledge the contributions of Professor Emilia Ilieva. Dr. Wathika and Dr. Walunywa had valuable input during the oral examination of this thesis. Dr. Joyce Imali Wangia is humbly acknowledged in this thesis for her guidance and correction suggestions as my external examiner. I lastly, but not least, acknowledge the role of Dr. Josephine Khaemba who oversaw the suggested corrections. v ABSTRACT A genealogical reconstruction of any language is geared towards the formulation of a protolanguage. The reconstruction of a target language is largely dependent on the current use of its presumed varieties or dialects. In this case, the genealogical reconstruction of the Proto- Luluhyia language was possible through consideration of its dialects. The existing literature shows that genealogical reconstruction of a proto-language for all Luluhyia dialects had not been done. It was, therefore, necessary for a study to be undertaken to genealogically reconstruct Proto-Luluhyia language for all dialects under it. The study was guided by three objectives: establish the genealogical relatedness of the Luluhyia dialects, genealogically reconstruct Proto-Luluhyia language and determine phonological, semantic and morphological variations of Luluhyia dialects. The study was guided by the genetic hypothesis theory. The study employed qualitative method in which ethnography design was applicable. The researcher collected open-ended, emerging data with the primary intent of developing themes from the data. Sample in this study was selected from the native speakers of the Luluhyia dialects who formed the target population. The sample size of 170 respondents was used with each of the 17 Luluhyia dialects represented by 10 subjects. All the 17 Luluhyia dialects were purposively involved in the study for the purpose of reconstructing an all inclusive Proto-Luluhyia language. Purposive sampling technique was also used in the selection of subjects from each dialect. The main instrument of data collection in this study was interview. The comparative method was involved in data analysis, especially in the reconstruction of the Proto-Luluhyia language after transcription being done. The study contributes new knowledge in the fields of Sociolinguistics and Historical Linguistics. The study established that the Luluhyia dialects are genealogically related. It was shown through resemblance of cognate forms cutting across the dialects in the vocabulary areas involving naming systems, days of the week, human body parts, domestic animals and historical origin that the Luluhyia dialects are genealogically related. Generally, orthographically, the Luluhyia dialects appear the same to the ears of non-native speakers. However, to a linguist certain variations are noticeable. These variations are though limited and do not entirely cut across the Luluhyia dialects. Reconstruction of the Proto-Luluhyia language was genealogically done based on the current use of the Luluhyia dialects in the vocabulary areas mention above. Phonological similarities of the cognate forms played a key role in the identification of the sounds to be reconstructed and subsequent reconstruction of the lexical items of the Proto-Luluhyia language. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION AND RECOMMENDATION............................................................... ii COPYRIGHT ...................................................................................................................... iii DEDICATION..................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ....................................................................................................v ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. vii LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ ix CHAPTER ONE ................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Background to the Study .................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem ................................................................................................. 4 1.3 Objectives ......................................................................................................................... 5 1.4 Research Questions .......................................................................................................... 5 1.5 Justification of the Study .................................................................................................. 6 1.6 Scope and Limitations ...................................................................................................... 6 1.7 Definition of Terms .......................................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER TWO................................................................................................................ 11 LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK............................. 11 2.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 11 2.1 Theoretical Perspectives of Language Families ........................................................ 11 2.2 Comparative Review of Reconstruction of Protolanguage ....................................... 13 2.3 Classification and Language History ........................................................................ 19 2.4 Language and Dialect ................................................................................................ 19 2.5 Delimitation of Varieties Mutual Intelligibility ........................................................ 20 2.6 African Languages .................................................................................................... 21 2.7 The Bantu Language Family ..................................................................................... 23 2.8 Luluhyia Dialects Phonology .................................................................................... 26 vii 2.9 Geographical Distribution of Luluyia Dialects ......................................................... 30 2.10 The Misiri Myth and Historical Background of Luluhyia Dialects .......................... 34 2.11 Cultural Aspects of Luluhyia Dialects’ Speakers ..................................................... 40 2.12 Language Variation ................................................................................................... 41 2.13 Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................. 44 CHAPTER THREE ..........................................................................................................