University of Groningen Computational morphology and Bantu language learning Katushemererwe, Fridah IMPORTANT NOTE: You are advised to consult the publisher's version (publisher's PDF) if you wish to cite from it. Please check the document version below. Document Version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Publication date: 2013 Link to publication in University of Groningen/UMCG research database Citation for published version (APA): Katushemererwe, F. (2013). Computational morphology and Bantu language learning: an implementation for Runyakitara Groningen: s.n. Copyright Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Take-down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Downloaded from the University of Groningen/UMCG research database (Pure): http://www.rug.nl/research/portal. For technical reasons the number of authors shown on this cover page is limited to 10 maximum. Download date: 11-02-2018 RIJKSUNIVERSITEIT GRONINGEN Computational Morphology and Bantu Language Learning: An Implementation for Runyakitara Proefschrift ter verkrijging van het doctoraat in de Letteren aan de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen op gezag van de Rector Magnificus, dr. E. Sterken, in het openbaar te verdedigen op dinsdag 25 juni 2013 om 9.00 uur door Fridah Katushemererwe geboren op 7 juli 1972 te Rubaga, Uganda Promotor : Prof. dr. ir. J. Nerbonne Copromotores : Prof. dr. A. Hurskainen Dr. R. Baguma Beoordelingscommissie : Prof. dr. C.L.J. de Bot Prof. dr. M. Mous Prof. dr. G. van Noord ISBN: 978-90-367-6346-2 ii Dedication To God be the Glory, this work is dedicated to my family: Robert, Naomi, Jeremiah, Jerome, Jethro, Jenninah & Jotham. iii iv Acknowledgements This space cannot be enough to thank everyone who helped me during a journey of my PhD studies. I thank you all and I pray that God gives you the grace. Allow me; however, mention those I cannot miss to point out. First of all, I thank God, the source of wisdom, who led me into all this and has given me the strength to keep ‘right on up to the end of the road’. To Him be the Glory. In a special way, I extend my infinite appreciation to my supervisors: Prof. John Nerbonne whose contribution to this work is invaluable; Prof. Arvi Hurskainen who laid a firm foundation to this work and continued polishing it up to the end; Dr. Rehema Baguma whose insights have greatly shaped this thesis; Dr. Thomas Hanneforth who enabled me to work on the basic but core part of this thesis; and Prof. Irina Zlotnikova whose knowledge and advice have contributed greatly to this work. I thank you all and may the Almighty reward you abundantly. I also extend my gratitude to Prof. Venansious Baryamureeba and Dr. Jude Lubega for encouraging me to do a PhD and for working tirelessly to secure NUFFIC funds from which I have benefited to complete this dissertation. I thank Dr. Josephine Nabukenya, the Dean of School of Computing and Informatics Technology, and all the academic staff in the School for the conducive academic atmosphere and their availability for consultation. My sincere thanks go to all NUFFIC administrators in Uganda and in the Netherlands for their endless support in ensuring that my PhD journey is pushed ahead. Special thanks go to Erik Haarbrink, Gonny Lekerveld, Peace Tumuheki, and Margreet van der Giezen for their tireless effort in making sure that my stay on a PhD program is comfortable. I would like to thank DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) and its administrators both in Uganda and in Germany for a six month research grant that enabled me do great work on this PhD program. Special thanks go to Dr. Gerald Heusing and Jennifer Schenk (DAAD 2009) who facilitated my stay in Germany up to the end of the grant period. I wish to thank Dr. Sake Jager and André Rosendaal for their great academic contribution and for allowing me to use Hologram to test Runyakitara ideas. In the same vain, I thank Dr. Geoffrey Ondogah and Mr. Milton Kaye for developing a software interface for one of the prototypes in this dissertation. I extend my sincere gratitude to Marjoleine Sloos who agreed unconditionally to be my paranymph during the defense ceremony at the University of Groningen. Marjoleine, thanks for your kindness. I sincerely thank my respondents both in Kampala and other areas. Special thanks go to the staff and students of Runyakitara at Makerere University. Mention goes to Dr. v Celestino Oriikiriza, Ms. Allen Asiimwe, Mr. Gilbert Gumoshabe and Mr. Innocent Mugabe. Your insights contributed greatly to this dissertation. I also extend my sincere thanks to my Colleagues at the former Institute of Languages, now School of Languages, Literature and Communication for their support during this research journey. Mention goes to Prof. Oswald Ndoleriire, Dr. Edith Natukunda, Mr. Ahmed Kaggwa, Dr. Susan Kiguli, Dr. Saudah Namyalo and Ms. Jane Alowo. Your encouragement kept me on the road. My colleagues on a PhD program at Makerere University, University of Groningen, and University of Potsdam, I thank you. You were a wonderful source of encouragement. The PhD jokes you cracked, the different PhD songs and poems you shared were a major source of inspiration up to the end of the journey. Just to mention but a few, I sincerely thank Prossy Olango, Irene Nakiyimba, Gideon Kotze, Peter Nabende, and Florian Kuhn for your support and encouragement throughout the PhD journey. Last but not least, my family members who missed my presence while I was away for my PhD studies. I am greatly indebted to my husband, Mr. Robert Tweheyo, my children: Musiimenta Naome, Nabimanya Jeremiah, Nabaasa Jerome, Naahurira Jethro, Naayebare Jenninah and Nareeba Jotham for being patient on this long journey. You were a great source of encouragement to continue and complete the PhD. vi Table of Contents Dedication.......................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................. v Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. vii Chapter 1 ............................................................................................................................ 1 General Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Background to the study ..................................................................................................... 3 1.2.1 Conceptual background ................................................................................................................ 3 1.2.2. Theoretical background ............................................................................................................... 5 1.2.3 Context of this study ...................................................................................................................13 1.3 Reason for the study .......................................................................................................................18 1.4 General and specific objectives ......................................................................................................18 1.5 Structure of the dissertation ...........................................................................................................19 Chapter 2 Finite State Methods in Morphological Analysis of Runyakitara Verbs ..... 21 2.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 21 2.2. Runyakitara Verb Morphology and the Computational Challenge ............................ 22 2.2.1 Number of morphemes involved ...........................................................................................23 2.2.2 Excursus on morphological complexity.................................................................................25 2.2.3 Morpheme combination .........................................................................................................26 2.2.4 Morpheme order ....................................................................................................................27 2.2.5 Allomorphy ............................................................................................................................28 2.2.6 Vowel harmony .....................................................................................................................28 2.3. Formalization and Implementation ................................................................................ 28 2.3.1 The structure of RUNYAGRAM ...........................................................................................30 2.3.2 Symbol signature ...................................................................................................................30 2.3.3 Word grammar .......................................................................................................................31