| dc.description.abstract | This work investigates if downdrift exist in Dholuo and what downdrift means in Dholuo sentences. The work also seeks to find out the pattemsthat downdrift forms in Dholuo sentences. Of most importance is to establish the effect of downdrift on Dholuo sentences. The data used in this work are from Kisumu-South Nyanza dialect (KSN). Words were
transcribed and their various tones were marked in isolation. The words were then used to form sentences which were tone marked in relation to the tones of the neighbouring syllables.
The sentences were then grouped according to the sentence types and analysis done within the Autosegmental Phonology framework. It has been established that AP can adequately be used to analyze tone in Dholuo sentences. Chapter one provides the background to the study. It gives a brief background to the language of study and it goes further to provide relevant information to this study. Generally, it provides information on tone in Dholuo and narrows down to recent studies on downdrift. Most importantly, this chapter provides the statement of the problem from which the study is based.
The chapter also provides information on Autosegmental Phonology. Chapter two gives a review of phonemic inventory of Dholuo sounds. It also provides a background on Dholuo grammatical categories and sentence types. Specifically, the chapter reviews the syllable structure of Dholuo and shows the relationship between the syllable structure and tone.
Chapter three in general deals with tone in Dholuo. In this chapter our data is displayed and tone is marked at word level. The chapter also looks at Dholuo tonal inventory. Of great importance, the chapter analyses downdrift in Dholuo grammatical categories.
Chapter four is a continuation of analysis of downdrift in sentences. It also investigates the patterns that downdrift forms and the effects of downdrift on Dholuo sentences. This chapter also gives a definition of downdrift in Dholuo. Finally, chapter five provides a summary of the entire work giving a conclusion for the study. The chapter also provides recommendations for further studies in phonology. | en_US |
