UNIVERSITY OF BAYREUTH FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE Morphosyntactic and Semantic Aspects of Verb Extension Systems in Bantu Languages: A Case Study of Kuria (E43) in Tanzania Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Languages and Literature in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in African Linguistics of the University of Bayreuth by Mary Zacharia Charwi Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Gabriele Sommer Prof. Dr. Dymitr Ibriszimow 17 February, 2017 i STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY Eidesstattliche Versicherung „Ich versichere hiermit an Eides Statt, dass ich die vorliegende Arbeit ohne unzulässige Hilfe Dritter und ohne Benutzung anderer als der angegebenen Hilfsmittel angefertigt habe; die aus fremden Quellen direkt oder indirekt übernommenen Gedanken sind als solche kenntlich gemacht.“ Unterschrift .................................................................................... Datum .............................................................................................. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It was not easy to attain this stage of my research without the help of several people and organisations. Special thanks go to my sponsors, the Tanzania Government (MoEVT) and DAAD for supporting my study in Germany. My deepest gratitude to my employer, the Dar es Salaam University College of Education (DUCE) for not only allowing me to be away from my daily routine which enabled me to be fully engaged in my study but also for the immense support they accorded me during my fieldwork. I would like to express my profound gratitude to my first Supervisor Prof. Dr. Gabriele Sommer, for accepting the request to supervise my study. This was the starting point of the journey which made me to be accepted by the DAAD committee which accorded me the chance to study in Germany. I hereby express my special thanks to her for her advice, commitment and encouragement. Her comprehensive and in-depth reading of my work along with constructive feedback have been crucial for this achievement. I am also very grateful to my second Supervisor Prof. Dr. Dymitr Ibriszimow for being my advisor. I really appreciate his support. The door of Prof. Ibriszimow was open whenever I ran into analytical and methodological difficulties during the thesis writing stage. His steadfastness did not only encourage me to work hard but also gave me confidence to forge ahead. I am indebted to him for his enormous kindness. I would also like to express my thanks to the experts from the Faculty of Languages and Literature within and out of the University of Bayreuth, for their cooperation and advice in the course of this thesis. I want to specifically mention Dr. Irina Turner for co-ordinating a field work seminar-class which was very useful to my study and data collection in general; Dr. Klaudia Dombrowsky-Hahn, Prof. Dr. Eric Anchimbe, and Dr. Rémi Tchokothe, for their advice and support in the entire process of my project. It was not easy to achieve my goal without their input and validation. I am appreciative of Prof. Rugemalira, Dr. Abel Mreta, Prof. Daniel Mkude, and Dr. Gastor Mapunda from the University of Dar es Salaam for their cooperation and support. Special thanks to Prof. Christopher Odhiambo of Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya who during his research period as iii Humboldt Fellow at the University of Bayreuth read my work and gave me invaluable advice. I am also indebted to my dear brother Benedict Phanuel Lema of Dar es Salaam University College of Education for his kindness, support, encouragement, and being part and parcel of my academic career. Many thanks to him. I also express my prompt gratitude to my lovely husband Sospeter Sasi Gitwekere for his love, care, support, encouragement and prayers during my study in Germany. As if not enough, he was playing double roles to our family: taking care of our children as a father and acting on my behalf, which was not an easy task especially in the Kuria society. I must thank my children Jackline Robhi, Emmanuel Gitwekere and Joachim Senso for their patience, tolerance, and for accepting the challenging situation of growing up alone and taking care of themselves during my absence and appreciating my decision to be away from them for my study and for their future. My deepest gratitude to my mother Julitha Zacharia Charwi for her prayers, and encouragement for my study. I thank her and my sister Pasira Zacharia Charwi for their kindness and support to me and my family during my absence. They left their families at certain points to stay with my family and give them support whenever necessary. I deeply express my gratitude to my lovely friends, many of whom it would not be possible to mention. Father Dr. Venance Ndalichako and Father Dr. Francis Ng’atigwa who welcomed me at Bayreuth from Nuremberg and helped me start a new life in Bayreuth; Dr. Daines Sanga, Dr. Victoria Makulilo and her family, Dr. Magdaline Wafula, and Dr. Abdalah Mkumbukwa (who were then students at the University of Bayreuth) for heeding my requests and needs despite their busy schedules. My deepest gratitude to Dr. Gilbert Shang Ndi, Umar Ahmed, Suleiman Chembea and Musa Ibrahim who have moved with me at every step of this journey. The discussions, advice and encouragements we shared with each other enabled me to find a way forward. I will never forget their kindness and company. Special thanks also to Rose Nyakio, Lilian Ngawa, Abel Mwiburi, Goodluck Kiwory, Kimata Said Kimata, Amani, Iman and all my colleagues at University of Bayreuth for their kind support during my study. iv I am very grateful to my friend and brother Mr. Afonso Teca. We assisted each other no matter how busy we were. We were not only friends but also shared the same field in African linguistics discussing different issues and finding solutions for our difficulties. Apart from academics, he was also ready to share with me the little he had that helped us survive at Bayreuth. Finally, I would like to thank my respondents and everyone who facilitated my tasks during fieldwork. This thesis would not have come to fruition were it not for the consultants who facilitated my project by accepting to be investigated and analysed. Many thanks also to the administrators at Tarime council in Mara Region in Tanzania who gave me permission to collect data. v To my husband, Sospeter Sasi Gitwekere and my children, Jackline Robhi, Emmanuel Gitwekere and Joachim Senso for their prayers, patience, torerance and support for the entire period of my study. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ............................................................................................ ii Eidesstattliche Versicherung........................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................................... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................... vii LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................... xv LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................. xvii MAP .......................................................................................................................................... xviii ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................................... xix Zusammenfassung.................................................................................................................... xxiii ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. xxiv CHAPTER ONE ........................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction and Background of the Study ............................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Background of the Study .................................................................................................. 2 1.3 Statement of the Problem ................................................................................................. 8 1.4 Objectives of the Study .................................................................................................... 9 1.5 Research Approach .......................................................................................................... 9 1.6 Organization of the Work ............................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER TWO ........................................................................................................................ 12 Literature Review and Theoretical Framework ...................................................................... 12 2.1 Literature Review ........................................................................................................... 12 2.1.1 Kuria Phonology and Morphology ......................................................................... 12 2.1.1.1 Phonological Aspect ....................................................................................... 13 2.1.1.1.1