A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF STANDARD BEMBA AND UNGA DIALECT BY Bwipwa Chilambe A dissertation submitted to the University of Zambia in partial fulfilment of the requirementsfor thedegree of Master of Arts in Linguistic Science THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA Lusaka 2020 DECLARATION I, Bwipwa Chilambe, do hereby declare that this dissertation is my own work, and that it has not been submitted for a degree at this university or any other, and that it does not include any published work or material from another dissertation or thesis without acknowledgement. Signed: ________________________________________________________________ Date: __________________________________________________________________ ii COPYRIGHT All rights reserved. No part of this dissertation may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing from the author or the University of Zambia. © Bwipwa Chilambe, 2020 iii APPROVAL This dissertation of Bwipwa Chilambe is approved as fulfilling part of the requirements for the award of degree of Master of Arts in Linguistic Science by the University of Zambia. Examiner 1 Name: ________________________________________________________________________ Signature:_________________________________ Date: ________________________________ Examiner 2 Name: ________________________________________________________________________ Signature:__________________________________ Date: _______________________________ Examiner 3 Name: ________________________________________________________________________ Signature: ____________________________________ Date: ____________________________ Chairperson, Board of Examiners Name: ________________________________________________________________________ Signature: ______________________________________ Date: __________________________ Supervisor Name: ________________________________________________________________________ Signature: ________________________________________ Date: ________________________ iv ABSTRACT While Unga is known to be a dialect of Bemba, some of its linguistic features tend to diverge from Standard Bemba. The extent of this divergence had not been investigated on. There had been no study undertaken to corroborate the proposition of linguistic divergence at phonological, morphological, semantic and lexical levels. Through a comparative approach, this study was therefore designed to investigate and establish the divergence of Unga dialect at phonological, morphological, semantic and lexical levels with reference to Standard Bemba. With a view to realising the practicality of the study, the following objectives were designed: To examine the phonology of Unga in relation to Bemba;To identify the morphological features of Unga in relation to Bemba; To compare and contrast the semantics of Unga and Bemba lexemes; andTo describe the salient lexical features of Unga in relation to Bemba. The study was informed by the descriptive and comparative methods to language study. For sampling, data collection and analysis, the study employed the qualitative method which was supported by the descriptive design. The exercise of data collection on Unga dialect was carried out in Nsamba area of Lunga District while data on Standard Bemba was obtained from some individuals in Kawambwa and Mansa Districts. Being a native speaker of Bemba, the researcher also used introspection to collect data on Bemba. Data on Unga was collected from twelve informants subjectively until the point of saturation. Books, journals and articles were used to collect secondary data. Central Statistics Office in Mansa helped to provide the map of Unga which was further modified to realise the linguistic map of Unga as presented on page three. The findings of the study revealed that some linguistic features in Unga were at variance with those in Bemba at all the four levels of linguistic analysis that includelexical, morphology, semantics and phonology. The presence of a trill /r/ in the consonant inventory of Unga provides a variation between Unga and Bemba.The morphology of Unga differs greatly from that of Bemba in terms of root morphemes, suffixes and prefixes. Being a dialect of the swamps, Unga is characterised by water vocabulary with nasal sounds /m/ and /n/more prominent as linguistic features. Meanings attached to some words in Unga are in variance to the Bemba counter parts. Despite some words taking the same lexical forms in the two dialects, they however exhibit some variations in terms of meaning. Nevertheless, similarities were also noted as attested by the same vowel inventory, similarphonological and morphophonological rules and related noun class system in the two languages. Based on the above findings, it should be concluded that there are idiosyncratic features inherent in Unga that set it off from Standard Bemba. Generally, the variations that Unga exhibit at all the four levels of linguistics are attributed to divergence. The geographical continuum of Unga has prevented it from contacts with other varieties thereby setting it free from linguistic contamination. Key words: Divergence, variation, Unga, Standard Bemba, Town Bemba, Typical Bemba v DEDICATION To my beloved wife and children: Mwape Fridah Bwipwa (wife), Mambepa, Chilambe Jr, Chola, Mumba, Chomba, Bwipwa Jr. and Mwape Jr. Thank you for your support. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A research study is an adventurous activity in an academic journey. No one, not even an academic genius can accomplish this academic task without any hand from some academic precursors. Bearing this fact in mind, I have no objection to sincerely thank the following people for their immeasurable contribution towards this academic paper. Great thanks go to my supervisor, Dr. Mambwe Kelvin, who provided constructive criticisms that became serious insights for me to produce this work. Apart from my supervisor, I would also like to recognise the immense input from Dr. Simwinga who introduced me to the rudiments of research at the onset of my postgraduate studies at University of Zambia. Many thanks also go to Prof. Chanda who empowered me with vast knowledge on African Linguistics. Time and again, I frequented his office to learn more about African Linguistics as this has been my area of study. I should also thank Dr. Jimaima, the Head of Department and Dr. Lubinda for their great contribution to my study. Without these two, I wouldn’t have been a champion in Phonology and Morphology. Failure to recognise the contribution of the entire staff of Language and Literature Department to this noble course might be an irrefutable negligence. May I simply say job well done to you my academic scaffolds. This acknowledgement would be incomplete if I fail to recognize the input from His Royal Highness, Chief Nsamba who provided to me a conducive and favorable environment during the time of data collection in his area. I enjoyed the stay despite being in the foreign land. Kabwe Benard Ngoma, Suze Charles and Mutale Charles deserve special thanks for their help and support. These were friends in need and friends indeed who championed my desire to finish the studies in time amidst numerous challenges. I also wish to thank Mr. Mwango the Headteacher for Ng’ona Secondary School who gave me permission to go for studies during the time my services were needed most. In the same respect, vii Iwould like to thank Ms. Mwansa of Ng’ona Secondary School who helped to type part of my dissertation at no cost. May the Almighty God abundantly bless you madam. Many, many thanks go to my beloved family members, more especially my wife, Mwape Fridah Bwipwa who never complained of being left lonely during the time of my studies. You are so special my dear wife. My greatest thanks go to the one and the only true God, Jehovah for giving me the good health to run this academic marathon full of physical, social, psychological and financial challenges. I know you are always there for me. Thank you. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE OF DISSERTATION……………………………………………………………………i DECLARATION……………………………………………………………….…………………ii COPYRIGHT………………………………..…………………………………….……………..iii APPROVAL……………………………………………………………...…………….…………iv ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………….………………………v DEDICATION…………………………………………………………….…………………..…vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………...……………...…………………………………...…viii TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………...……………..…..ix LIST OF TABLES………………………...……………………………………...………....…xvii LIST OF FIGURES.......................................................................................................................xx LIST OF APPENDICES..............................................................................................................xxi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS………………………………………...……………...….……xxiii DEFINITION OF TERMS ........................................................................................................xxv CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 1 1.1 Overview ......................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Background to the Study ................................................................................................................. 1 1.3 Background to Standard Bemba ..................................................................................................... 1 1.4 Background to Unga Dialect ..........................................................................................................