A DESCRIPTIVE AND HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE KINGOME DIALECT OF SWAHILI Ahmadi Kipacha This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 2004. ProQuest Number: 10672869 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10672869 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Abstract This thesis provides a comprehensive phonological and morphological description of the KiNgome dialect of Swahili as currently spoken in the Northern Division of Mafia Island District on the south-east coast of Tanzania. Unlike other Swahili dialects, which are succumbing to the encroachment of Standard Swahili (SSW) forms and only found in small pockets of older generation speakers, KiNgome does not face extinction at present. It stands up to be a major means of daily communication among northern inhabitants of Mafia Island. The thesis has two primary goals: The first is to provide a synchronic linguistic description of this undocumented main variety of Mafia Swahili (designated as G43d under Guthrie’s classification) at the phonological and morphological levels. The second goal is to examine the KiNgome data in a diachronic perspective by comparing its phonological and morphological systems with the reconstructed Proto-Sabaki (PSA) as proposed by Nurse and Hinnebusch (1993). Where necessary I have referred to a more distant proto-language, namely Common Bantu (CB) as proposed by Guthrie (1969-71) and which we assume to be the earliest common ancestor of the Bantu languages including PSA. Relative to the rest of the Swahili dialects, KiNgome is a conservative dialect, retaining older forms presumably from a proto stage prior to the massive influence of KiUnguja (Ung) and SSW. Most of these forms survived unchanged in KiNgome and nearly so in the surrounding rural non-Unguja Southern Swahili dialects (SD). The study shows that the contemporary KiNgome forms by and large can be linked to PSA and CB: Phonologically, KiNgome has kept more transparent forms of a prenasalised voiced/ voiceless series segments than any other Swahili dialect. It has largely preserved stops, both with restricted and unrestricted distribution which link directly to CB proto-segments. However, changes have also been noticed: KiNgome has a 5-vowel system when compared to the PSA/CB 7-vowel system and has undergone fully the Bantu spirantization process. It has lost an earlier tone system. Aspiration is a regular feature of KiNgome. It has no /r/: /I / distinction; instead it has flap [r]. It also attests certain palatalised consonants in the form of /k y -/ and /ry -/, and there is a palatal jnf which has derived from /n i-/ that ii expresses Isg. A homorganic moraic nasal (N) has resulted from syncopation in classes 1, 3, and 18 where the nominal prefix was /mu-/. In congruence with other Non-Unguja SD, KiNgome displays a full 5- suffix vowel copying (CV) phenomenon and a common VHH process. In addition, it uniquely displays a ku-/ko- prefix VHH determined by verb root vowel. Morphologically, it has retained a simple verbal system characterised by an unmarked perfective/past tense with VC operating in the final vowel suffix. The most significant morphological aspect of the KiNgome nominal system is a clear opposition between classes 11 and 14. It also joins other non-Unguja SD, Comoro and Pokomo in displaying sets of 2sg and 3sg persons which are mainly determined by certain tense/aspect formatives, polarity and finite form (subjunctive). Although I have not subjected KiNgome lexical data to a lexicostatistic analysis, the thesis demonstrates the existence of a set of a peculiar lexical items that are also found in the neighbouring KiMwani, KiEkoti, Makonde, KiMakunduchi and in Old KiUnguja. The results of my field fieldwork largely corroborate Nurse and Hinnebusch's reconstruction of many features of PSA. In some cases, I have proposed a reconsideration of some aspects of their reconstruction in the light of the new data from KiNgome. The case of KiNgome is of interest to the field of Swahili dialectology and Bantu linguistics in general. Undoubtedly, it will offer valuable material for systematic comparison with other Swahili dialects as well as for the contemporary study of Swahili phonology, morphology and lexicon. Acknowledgements I am indebted to many people who have contributed time and knowledge to help me produce this thesis. First and foremost my thanks go to Dick Hayward, my supervisor, who has painstakingly read my work and offered me many invaluable comments without which this study would not have been in its present shape. The sudden death of my teacher and co-supervisor, Dr Katrina Hayward, during the writing of this thesis, has denied me a vital expertise at a time when I most needed it. I am also grateful to Michael Mann who willingly identified and made available to me some items of the growing literature on Bantu languages. I also thank Prof. Pat Caplan who offered me substantial anthropological data on the Wangome, Despite her tight schedule, she has been supportive to me throughout this study. Likewise to Derek Nurse, Sam Mchombo, Gerard Philippson, Lutz Marten, Nancy Kula, Taeko Maeda, and Arturo Servades. I say to you 'Asanieni sana\ However, in spite of their assistance and encouragements, I remain solely responsible for any shortcomings of the thesis. I have also sought assistance from a considerable number of people during the preparation of this thesis: My first debt of gratitude is to the late Mikidadi Kichange for his hospitality during my several visits in Kanga village, to Ahmed Mwatanda and Mzee Ali who persevered throughout my rather long elicitation sessions without flagging, and to the rest of the Wangome - it is difficulty to mention all - I wish to express my sincere 'shukurani' for allowing me to be part of their community. I extend my appreciation to the Commonwealth Scholaship Commission and the Research board of the Open University of Tanzania for grants to undertake my Ph.D at SO AS and my field research on Mafia Island. Finally, I thank my wife, Joseline, for patiently and generously taking on all the chores at Beaumont Leys, and giving me unwavering support even at a time when I was despairing . To my Lut, Isaaq, Waqia and Mwanasha let me say you are my great inspiration. Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgements iv Table of Contents Abbreviations xiv Map 1: The Sabaki coast xv Map 2: The KiNgome dialect Area and Mafia Island District xvi Chapter 1: Introduction 1 1.0 Background: the problem 1 1.1 Bantu ancestry and spread 3 1.2 Sociohistorical setting 4 1.3 Historiography of the Mafia Archipelago 6 1.4 The KiNgome dialect and its speakers 7 1.4.1 Linguistic neighbourhood 11 1.5 Field research 11 Chapter 2 : Phonology 15 2.0 The segmental phonology 15 2.1 The consonant inventory 15 2.1.1 Stops 17 2.1.1.1 Aspirated versus unaspirated voiceless stops 18 2.1.1.2 Contrasting voiceless stops and implosives 18 2.1.1. 2.1 Aspirated voiceless stops in KiNgome 20 2. 1. 1. 2. 2 Aspiration of obstruents in word-initial position 20 2. 1* 1. 2. 3 Aspirated stops in word-internal position 23 2. 1.1. 2. 4 Aspiration of stops in the penultimate mora 25 2.1.1, 2, 5 Aspiration of stops effected by sibilant 26 2.1.2 Fricatives 27 2.1.2.1 The Labial fricatives 27 2.1.2.2 Alveolar and palatal fricatives 28 2.1.2.3 The laryngeal fricative 29 2.1.3 Prenasalized obstruents 30 2.1.3. .1 Prenasalized stops (NS) 30 v 2.1. 3.2 Prenasalized fricatives (NF) 36 2.1.4 Nasals 37 2.1. 4.1 Simple nasals 38 2.1. 4.2 Moraic nasals 38 2.1.4.3 Nasal palatalization 40 2.1.5 Glides 42 2.1.6 Rhotic 44 2.1. 6.1 Allophonic variation /r/ and /y / in KiNgome 44 2.2 Vowels 45 2. 2.1 The KiNgome vowel system 45 2.2.1.1 The distribution of vowels in noun stem with polysyllabic structure 46 2.2.1. 2 The co-occurrence restriction of vowels in verb stems with (C)VCVC-V structure 46 2.2.2 Vowel Height Harmony (VHH) in KiNgome 48 2. 2. 2.1 Front VHH in KiNgome 48 2. 2. 2.2 Round VHH in KiNgome 48 2.2.2. 3 On prefix VHH in KiNgome 49 2.2. 2. 4 Final vowel copying (VC) 53 2.3 The syllable inventory in KiNgome 54 2.3.1 Syllable structure and epenthetic glides in KiNgome 56 2. 3.2 Word-stress patterns 57 2. 3.2.1 The metrical stress theory (Hayes 1995) 57 2. 3. 2.1.1 The minimal word constraint 58 2. 3.2.1. 2 Syllable weight 59 2.3. 2. 2 Moraic stress theory (Maeda 2001) 59 2. 3. 2. 3 Word stress in KiNgome 61 2.4 Sum m ary 62 Chapter 3: Morphology I 63 3.0 Nominal morphology 63 3.1 The norm Class system in KiNgome 63 3.1.1 The KiNgome noun-class prefixes 69 3.