| dc.description.abstract | This study is essentially a study of reduplication in Kiembu. As explained in chapter 1,
the study sought to establish the linguistic units affected by reduplication, how
reduplication interacts with morphological and phonological processes, the semantic
value of reduplication and whether reduplication in Kiembu is considered morphological
doubling or phonological copying. The study is carried out within the framework of
Morphological Doubling Theory. The theory is used to represent Kiembu reduplication.
This theory looks at reduplication as morphological doubling. Since the study included
both morphological and phonological analysis, it was necessary in chapter 2 to carry out
a phonemic inventory of Kiembu consonant and vowel systems as well as provide a
comprehensive description of Kiembu word classification that includes nouns, verbs,
adjectives, adverbs, pronouns and prepositions. The findings of the study are then stated
in chapter 3 and 4. The study found out that there are different types of reduplication in
Kiembu which have various semantic contributions. This means that reduplication affects
the semantic value of words in Kiembu. Derivation is established to be a major
morphological process responsible for creation of reduplicatives in Kiembu. Vowel
harmony, vowel substitution and vowel lengthening are the phonological processes that
interact with reduplication in Kiembu. It is also established that reduplication affects the
tone of words in Kiembu. A summary of the same findings are given in chapter 5 and it
is in this chapter that it is concluded that reduplication in Kiembu is a case of
morphological doubling and that reduplication targets the root and stem of a word. Total
reduplication was found to be the most common mode of reduplication. More
importantly, it is concluded in this chapter that Morphological Doubling Theory is
applicable in the analysis and representation of reduplication in Kiembu | en_US |
