| dc.description.abstract | This study is an investigation of phonological and morphological adaptation of loanwords from English and Kiswahili into Gl-Gichugu dialect of Gikuyu language using Source-Similarity model. The data used in this work reflect the Gi-Glchilgii dialect spoken in Kirinyaga County. The research study is divided into five chapters.
Chapter one is the introductory chapter that gives the problem statement, objectives, hypotheses, literature review and methodology amoung other expositions. Chapter two shows the GiGichugu phonemic inventory, GI-Gichugu syllable structure, Gl-Gichugu tone and the noun classes. Chapter three gives the analyses of the phonological processes of English and Kiswahili loanwords in Gi-Gichugu. Both Gi-Gichugu consonant and vowel adaptation processes are analyzed. Chapter four discusses the morphological process involved in the adaptation of loanwords from English and Kiswahili into Gi-Gichugu. Chapter five gives a summary of the research findings, conclusions and recommendations for further research.
This study aimed at investigating how English and Kiswahili loanwords are adapted into GIGichugu dialect of Gikuyu language. In their adaptation, several phonological and morphological processes were found to take place for the loanwords to be acceptable to Gl-Gichugu speakers. The processes that were identified include substitution, preservation, deletion, insertion (epenthesis), importation and suffixation, prefixation as well as zero transmorphemisation. A further finding is that loanwords into Gl-Gichugu that do not correspond to its phonemic inventory and syllable structure are made to conform through adaption strategies so as to attain the preferred syllable structure .
The study adopted the Source-Similarity model. This model demands identity between the perceived source form and the corresponding source form. Using the above strategies, it has been found that Gi-Gichugu observes maximal similarity between the borrowed word and its corresponding source counterpart. Consequently, the Source-Similarity model allows flexibility of adaption strategies. In the case of Gi-Gichugu, as mentioned above, it has been found that diverse adaptation strategies are applied but they can all assist in relating the borrowed form to the source form. | en_US |
