SOME LINGUISTIC VARIATIONS OF BEMBA: A DIALECTOLOGICAL STUDY OF STANDARD BEMBA, LUUNDA AND ŊUMBO BY CHIBWE RONALD LUMWANGA A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN LINGUISTIC SCIENCE THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA 2015 DECLARATION I, Chibwe Ronald Lumwanga, 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 a thesis without acknowledgement. Signed............................................................................. Date................................................................................. © Chibwe Ronald Lumwanga, 2015. All rights reserved. i ii APPROVAL This dissertation of Chibwe Ronald Lumwanga is approved as fulfilling part of the requirements for the award of the degree of Master of Arts in Linguistic Science of the University of Zambia. Signed: ............................................................. Date: ................................................................. Signed: ............................................................. Date: ................................................................. Signed: ............................................................. Date: ................................................................. iii ABSTRACT This study investigated some linguistic variations among three Bemba dialects, namely: Standard Bemba, Luunda and Ŋumbo. Standard Bemba is classified by Guthrie (1948) as M42. It should be made clear that the dialect known as Luunda is different from Lunda, one of the languages spoken in North-western Province of Zambia, classified by Guthrie (1948) as L52. Standard Bemba is spoken in some districts of Northern and Muchinga Provinces, Luunda in Mwansabombwe, Mwense and Nchelenge Districts and Ŋumbo in Samfya District which includes Lubwe. The study was conducted to identify differences and similarities at phonological, morphological, and syntactic levels of linguistic analysis, and also at lexical level. The data were collected using nine (9) informants who were distributed as follows: Three (03) from Standard Bemba; Three (03) from Luunda; and Three (03) from Ŋumbo Each of the informants was given a list of words, phrases and sentences written in English and asked to provide the equivalents in their dialects. Data from Standard Bemba and Luunda dialects were provided partly by the researcher’s intuition and partly by the informants. Verification was used in order to ensure validity of data. As for Ŋumbo, the data given by one participant were checked and corrected where mistakes had been made; this was done by members of the group conferring. The data that was collected was later analysed in line with the objectives of the study, which were: To distinguish phonological variations between the dialects: Standard Bemba, Luunda and Ŋumbo; To identify the morphological variations between the dialects: Standard Bemba, Luunda and Ŋumbo; To establish some syntactic variations between the dialects: Standard Bemba, Luunda and Ŋumbo; and To point out lexical variations between the dialects: Standard Bemba, Luunda and Ŋumbo. iv The study was informed by descriptive linguistic as it sought to describe the linguistic structures of the dialects understudy. The study established that there were variations at the levels of linguistic analysis and at lexical level as indicated in the objectives. The study found that there were more variations at lexical and phonological levels than there were at morphological and syntactic levels. The dialectal variations between Standard Bemba, on the one hand, and Luunda and Ŋumbo, on the other were ascribed to divergence while the linguistic similarities between Luunda and Ŋumbo were attributed to convergence: Luunda and Ŋumbo are geographically closer to each other than Standard Bemba is to either of them. v DEDICATION To my late parents: Mr. Duncan Lumwanga and Mrs. Milika Musonda Lumwanga, my wife Enes and the children. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my immense gratitude to my academic supervisor and Lecturer, Dr. Kelvin Mambwe, for his expert knowledge, wisdom and great commitment to the supervision of my work. I also thank Professor Chanda for his kindness to allow me to access his personal library resources which included textbooks and unpublished linguistic materials most of which I have used in the work. Special thanks go to Mr. Stuart Hirst, Dr. Mildred M. Nkolola,Dr. Sande Ngalande, Dr. Joseph Mwansa, and Dr. John Simwinga for their invaluable academic support. I should also take special recognition of the Heads, Mr. Bwalya Lombe Musonda and Dr. Kelvin Mambwe and not forgetting the members of staff in the Department of Literature and Languages for their tremendous support and Mr. Dickson Chasaya Kayula for his role as one of the key informants. Another tribute should be paid to The Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education, the Provincial Education Office (Luapula), Mansa College of Education Administration for granting me study leave and giving me the support in my studies. Other thanks go to the late Dr. F.A. Mwape (posthumously), Mr. N.W. Mundia and Mr. A. Kafimbwa (posthumously) for recommending me for post-graduate studies. I would also like to register my indebtedness to the people who helped me to collect data, and not forgetting Mr. James Mwamba for offering me tuition in computer programmes. To my wife Enes and my children I say thank you for being there for me. I always count on your support. I also make special mention of my classmates for their great support during my post graduate studies. Finally, I give thanks and praise to the Almighty God for making it possible for me to obtain this qualification. TABLE OF CONTENTS vii Title of Dissertation...................................................................................................................0 Declaration..................................................................................................................................i Copyright...................................................................................................................................ii Approval...................................................................................................................................iii Abstract.....................................................................................................................................iv Dedication.................................................................................................................................vi Acknowledgements..................................................................................................................vii Table of contents.....................................................................................................................viii List of abbreviations................................................................................................................xiv List of tables...........................................................................................................................xvii CHAPTER ONE: Introduction 1.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................1 1.1 Background to Bemba..........................................................................................................1 1.1.1 Standard Bemba................................................................................................................2 1.1.2 Ŋumbo...............................................................................................................................2 1.1.3 Luunda...............................................................................................................................2 1.2 Dialect and Dialectology......................................................................................................2 1.2.1 Dialect...............................................................................................................................2 1.2.2 Dialectology......................................................................................................................4 1.2.3 Approaches to dialectology...............................................................................................4 1.2.3.1 Traditional Dialectology................................................................................................4 viii 1.2.3.2 Sociolinguistic Dialectology..........................................................................................4 1.2.3.3 Linguistic Dialectology..................................................................................................5 1.3 Statement of the Problem.....................................................................................................5 1.4 Aim and Objectives of the Study.........................................................................................5 1.4.1 Objectives..........................................................................................................................5 1.5 Research Questions..............................................................................................................6 1.6 Significance of the study……………………………………………………...…………...6