Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'African languages, phonology'

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2001.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The concern of the study of phonetics and phonology is the speech sounds of languages. Phonetics is concerned with the description and the classification of speech sounds. Phonology, on the other hand is responsible for the sound patterns of speech sounds in a given language namely, the sound inventory, permissible sequences and how the sounds change in different circumstances. This study examines and evaluates the manner in which phonetic-phonological information is applied in South African dictionaries with particular reference to Nguni dictionaries. Dictionaries are regarded as authoritative linguistic tools, therefore, the phonetic-phonological aspects of the language is one of the important information categories that is included in dictionaries. A word as the linguistic unit consists of speech sounds which are in turn regarded as phonological units as well as phonetic entities. The phonetic-phonological signification of the lexical unit in the dictionary entry plays a role in access to facilitating the spoken form of the language recorded. This critical analysis and evaluation of Nguni dictionaries reflects on the current approaches pertaining to the presentation of both segmental and suprasegmental features of speech sound. Secondly, it also demonstrates the types of pronunciation information that is lexicographically relevant for the thorough treatment of the lemma. Although phonetic-phonological information is almost the prevalent feature of all dictionary types, there are problems encountered during its presentation. In the evaluation of Nguni dictionaries the treatment of pronunciation information is coupled with inadequacies and inconsistencies. This is due to the lack of lexicographic planning and the sound application of lexicographic principles. It is evident from the investigation that pronunciation information remains the essential component of the dictionary entry. The inclusion of phonetic-phonological information requires lexicographic planning that is actually based on linguistic theories that are primarily aimed at practical lexicography. The general guidelines that are presented in this study compel lexicographers to introduce innovative methods when handling pronunciation. The proposed approaches in future dictionaries will enhance the accessibility of information when harmonised. It is concluded that lexicographical products in the multilingual South Africa should begin to document the spoken form of various languages for the general record of the sounds of the language and also for pedagogic purposes. A good phonological and phonetic description of the official languages is also pertinent especially in the design stage of the dictionary. The lexicographic approaches followed in the treatment of any linguistic information should based on the (a) functional criteria of the dictionary compiled and (b) also on the prospective user's skills.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Fonetiek en fonologie is die studie van die spraakklanke van tale. Fonetiek sien om na die beskrywing en klassifikasie van spraakklanke. Fonologie daarenteen is verantwoordelik vir die klankpatrone van spraakklanke in 'n gegewe taal nl. die klankinventaris, die toelaatbare sekwensies en hoe die klanke omvorm word in wisselende omstandighede, dit wil se die fonologiese proses. Hierdie studie ondersoek die manier waarop foneties-fonologiese inligting in Suid-Afrikaanse woordeboeke, veral die van die Nguni-tale, vergestalt word. Woordeboeke word gesien as gesaghebbende linguistiese werktuie en die foneties-fonologiese aspekte van taal kom as 'n vername informasiekategorie daarin voor. Die woord as linguistiese eenheid bestaan uit spraakklanke wat op hul beurt beide as fonologiese eenhede sowel as fonetiese entiteite beskou word. Die foneties-fonologiese komponent van die leksikale eenheid speel 'n betekenisvolle rol in die toegang tot die gesproke vorm van die opgetekende taal. Die kritiese analise en evaluasie van Nguni-woordeboeke oorweeg die huidige benaderings wat betrekking het op die aanbieding van beide segmentele en suprasegmentele kenmerke van spraakklanke. Tweedens toon dit ook die tipes uitspraakinformasie wat leksikografies relevant is vir die deeglike uiteensetting van die inligting. Alhoewel foneties-fonologiese inligting die mees algemene verskynsel in alle woordeboektipes is, is daar nietemin probleme met die aanbieding daarvan. Uit die evaluasie van Nguni woordeboeke blyk dit dat ontoereikendhede en inkonsekwensies voorkom. Dit is toe te skryf aan die gebrek aan leksikografiese beplanning en die tekort aan deeglike toepassing van leksikografiese beginsels. Dit blyk uit die ondersoek dat uitspraakinformasie 'n essensiele komponent van die woordeboekinskrywing bly. Die insluiting van foneties-fonologiese inligting verg leksikografiese beplanning wat gebaseer is op 'n linguistiese teorie primer gefokus op praktiese leksikografie. Die algemene riglyne wat in hierdie studie aangebied word dwing leksikograwe om innoverende maatreels toe te pas by die hantering van uitspraak. Die voorgestelde benaderings vir woordeboeke van die toekoms sal die toeganklikheid tot hul inhoud verhoog indien die benaderings harmonieer word. Die slotsom is dat leksikografiese produkte in die veeltalige Suid-Afrika die gesproke vorm van die verskillende tale moet dokumenteer beide as 'n algemene rekord en ook vir pedagogiese doeleindes. 'n Goeie fonologiese en fonetiese beskrywing van die amptelike tale is ook van belang veral in die ontwerpstadium van die woordeboek. Die leksikogafiese benaderings wat gevolg word in die behandeling van enige linguistiese informasie moet gegrond wees op (a) funksionele kriteria van die saamgestelde woordeboek en (b) ook op die vaardighede van die voorgestelde gebruiker.

Este trabalho propõe uma análise preliminar de aspectos da fonologia e da morfologia da língua lembaama2, que pertence ao subgrupo banto, B.62 (Guthrie, 1971), do grupo Benuê- Congo, phylum Niger-Congo. Como esta língua não apresenta ainda nenhum estudo deste gênero, espera-se que esta primeira análise possibilite estudos posteriores mais aprofundados neste e em outros campos lingüísticos. A análise fonológica revelou de um lado, a existência de consoantes palatalizadas, labializadas, pré-nasalizadas, e pré-nasalizadas-palatalizadas, de outro, mostrou a existência de vogais longas. A análise de processos fonológicos demonstrou que a nasalidade é uma propriedade das consoantes que se transmite às vogais adjacentes aos segmentos nasais. Quanto à análise nominal, ela definiu a composição dos nomes da seguinte maneira: Prefixo Nominal (PN) + raiz, e os classificou em 12 classes. Foram também identificados em lembaama fenômenos fonológicos como a semivocalização, o alongamento vocálico, o apagamento vocálico, a variação livre e a palatalização que servem para evitar a ditongação e manter a estrutura CV desta língua. A análise dos tons evidenciou dois tons pontuais: um alto [´] e um baixo [`] e uma regra de apagamento do primeiro tom quando dois tons se encontram.
This work proposes a preliminary analysis of the phonological and morphological aspects of the lembaama language (B62) according to Guthrie (1971). This language is officially called obamba in Gabon. Lembaama is a Bantu language, from the Benue-Congo group and Niger-Congo phylum. As far as we know this language has not received any detailled study yet. Lembaama shows some interesting features. Endeed, the phonological analysis shows the existence of palatalized, labialized, and prenasalized consonants and of long vowels in the phonemic inventory. The analysis of phonological processes shows that nasality is a property of nasal or of prenasalized consonants which is transmitted to adjacent vowels.

Desde os primeiros trabalhos lingüísticos efetuados sobre o quimbundo, língua banta H20 na classificação de Guthrie (1948), nota-se uma ausência de informações detalhadas e confiáveis a respeito de elementos sua estrutura prosódica e de sua fonologia como um todo. Essa lacuna me instigou a realizar, seguindo o quadro de pesquisas sobre as línguas africanas estabelecido pelo Departamento de Lingüística da Universidade de São Paulo, um estudo descritivo da fonologia segmental e supra-segmental do quimbundo, cujos resultados se organizam nesta tese de doutorado. O presente trabalho, tomando como base de investigação quatro variedades regionais representadas por cinco falantes nativos do quimbundo, abrange, no bojo da descrição lingüística, fenômenos verificáveis na estrutura segmental e prosódica da língua, tais como a harmonia vocálica, alterações de natureza fonética na configuração da estrutura silábica, casos de mudança de timbre vocálico, apagamento de segmentos, direção e extensão do espraiamento de traços consonantais e de tons fonológicos. Finalmente, a observação e a análise do fenômeno de sândi ao nível dos suprasegmentos permitem afirmar que o quimbundo utiliza variações de altura com valor distintivo apenas numa perspectiva paradigmática, o que comprova, portanto, seu estatuto de língua tonal. Acredito que a descrição aqui realizada é uma forma de lançar visibilidade ao quimbundo nas pesquisas sobre as línguas africanas e de atualizar as perspectivas de estudo da língua dentro das teorias lingüísticas.
From the first linguistic works on Kimbundu, a Bantu language coded as H20 according to Guthries zone classification (1948), there has been a lack of detailed and reliable information about the elements comprising its prosodic structure, and its phonology altogether. This gap has instigated my conducting a detailed description of both segmental and prosodic phonology of Kimbundu within the research framework for African languages set forth by the Linguistics Department of the University of São Paulo, and whose results make up this Ph.D. dissertation. Based on four regiolects represented by five native Kimbundu speakers, this descriptive study covers phenomena which can be found in the segmental and prosodic structure of this language, such as vowel harmony, phonetic alternations in the setup of the syllable structure, vowel quality changes, segment deletion, and the direction and range of consonantal feature and phonological tone spreading. Finally, the study of prosodic sandhi corroborates that Kimbundu makes use of different distinctive pitches only on a paradigmatic perspective, which proves true the claim that this is a tonal language. I strongly believe that this description work can be used to shed light upon Kimbundu on further research on African languages, in addition to updating the prospect studies of this language within linguistic theories.

Le cuwabo est une langue bantoue parlée par plus de 800.000 locuteurs au Nord-Est du Mozambique. Elle est répertoriée sous le code P34 selon la classification de Guthrie et appartient donc au groupe makhuwa (P30). Le cuwabo se divise en cinq variétés: le cuwabo central, le karungu, le mayindo, le nyaringa, et le manyawa. Ce travail se base sur le cuwabo central parlé dans le district de Quelimane. Des données de première main ont pu être collectées auprès d’une dizaine de locuteurs, lors de trois terrains réalisés entre 2011 et 2013, totalisant 10 mois. Cette thèse fournit une description grammaticale de la langue couvrant en détail les domaines de la phonologie et de la morphosyntaxe. La phonologie comprend deux chapitres : le premier est dédié à la phonologie segmentale tandis que le deuxième analyse le fonctionnement du système tonal de la langue. Notons que le cuwabo est l’unique langue P30 ayant retenu un ton lexical contrastif sur les thèmes lexicaux et verbaux. Morphologiquement, le syntagme nominal est dominé par un riche système d’accords des classes nominales, typique dans les langues bantoues. Le verbe cuwabo a une morphologie de type agglutinant, qui renferme un riche système de Temps-Aspect-Mode combinant préfixes et suffixes finaux. Il convient de noter l’existence de plusieurs enclitiques selon les constructions (enclitiques locatifs, enclitiques pronoms personnels dans les relatives, enclitiques comitatif ou instrumental). Enfin, la syntaxe s’étend sur trois chapitres : le premier s’intéresse aux constructions prédicatives verbales et non-verbales ; le deuxième s’intéresse aux constructions relatives et à la formation des questions ; le dernier aborde la question de l’ordre des constituants en lien avec la structure informationnelle. Les domaines préverbaux et postverbaux sont examinés, ainsi que leur interaction avec le marquage morphologique sur le verbe qui distingue les formes conjointes et les formes disjointes. L’annexe de cette thèse compile sept textes, glosés et traduits, qui permettent d’illustrer en contexte un grand nombre d’items grammaticaux présentés dans les chapitres descriptifs
Cuwabo is a Bantu language, spoken by more than 800,000 people (INE 2007) in the north-eastern part of Mozambique. It is numbered P34 in Guthrie’s classification, and thus belongs to the P30 Makhuwa group. Cuwabo can be subdivided into five main varieties: central Cuwabo, Karungu, Mayindo, Nyaringa, and Manyawa. This work is based on central Cuwabo spoken in the district of Quelimane. First-hand data were recorded from 10 speakers in the course of three fieldtrips realised between 2011 and 2013, achieving a total duration of 10 months. This thesis provides a grammatical description of the language, covering in detail its phonology and its morphosyntax. Phonology is divided into two chapters: the first is devoted to segmental phonology whereas the second describes the tonal system of the language. Note that Cuwabo is the only P30 language whose nominal and verbal stems have retained a lexical tone contrast. Morphologically, the noun phrase is marked by a rich agreement system ruled by the noun classes, as typical in Bantu. Cuwabo has a highly agglutinative verbal morphology, which conveys a rich Tense-Aspect-Mood system combining both prefixes and final suffixes. Note the existence of several enclitics depending on the constructions (locative enclitics, personal pronoun enclitics in relative clauses, comitative or instrumental enclitics). The last three chapters address syntactic issues: the first presents a description of the basic clause structure, involving verbal and non-verbal predication; the second looks into the relative constructions in close interaction with question formation; the last one investigates word order and information structure in Cuwabo. Preverbal and postverbal constituents are examined, as well as their interaction with the morphological marking on the verb, distinguishing conjoint and disjoint tenses. The appendix contains seven Cuwabo texts glossed and translated into English, which allow to illustrate in context many of the grammatical items presented in the descriptive chapters

ATR, advanced tongue root, is a phonological feature among vowels. As vowels assimilate to share the same value of that feature, they display ATR harmony. This is a common phenomenon among many African languages. ATR harmony is examined in this paper as manifested across morpheme boundaries wihin nouns in a Surmic language of Ethiopia called Bale. The data presented was collected at a workshop on ATR harmony held by SIL International in Mizan Teferi, Ethiopia, 2009. The vowel system in Bale displays a nine vowel inventory with a feature dominance of [+ATR] vowels which spread their feature both leftward and rightward to recessive [–ATR] vowels. The [+ATR] dominance is also present as a floating feature without any phonological material. The vowel /a/ is analysed as a neutral vowel, co-occuring with both [+ATR] and [–ATR] vowels within roots.

Cette thèse est une description phonologique et grammaticale de l’ikposso uwi, langue de la famille kwa, du phylum Niger-Congo. Elle est parlée au Togo par la population akposso, située dans la Région des Plateaux et comptant environ 150 000 personnes. Cette langue se divise en six dialectes : le logbo, l’uma, l’uwi, le litimé, l’ikponou et l’amou-oblo. Le corpus sur lequel se base cette étude est constitué (i) de 36 textes narratifs, (ii) de phrases élicitées à partir de livres d’images, (iii) du lexique issu de ces données, (iv) ainsi que de phrases d’élicitation libres, généralement en rapport avec les textes. La langue de travail et de traduction a toujours été le français. Phonologie et tonologie : La phonologie segmentale de l’ikposso uwi (chap. 1) est relativement simple. Les schèmes syllabiques sont peu nombreux et peu complexes. La principale caractéristique de la phonologie segmentale est l’harmonisation vocalique, avec un système à 10 voyelles. L’ikposso est une langue tonale (chap. 2). Les tons sont essentiels au niveau lexical mais supportent aussi des informations grammaticales. Il y a quatre tons ponctuels en uwi. Morphologie : Le nom et le syntagme nominal sont étudiés dans le chap. 3. La morphologie nominale est peu développée, contrairement à la morphologie verbale qui est très riche. Les adpositions font l’objet du chap. 4 et les pronoms celui du chap. 5. Les autres catégories de mots sont répertoriées dans le chap. 6. La morphologie verbale est beaucoup plus complexe que la morphologie nominale, avec de nombreux auxiliaires et préfixes de personne et d’aspect (chap. 7). Ce chapitre montre la richesse du système aspectuel.Syntaxe : L’ikposso est une langue avec un ordre des mots relativement fixe, SVOX. Cette caractéristique est toutefois en évolution, comme le montrent les constructions sérielles avec le verbe yɔ̄‘prendre’ (chap. 13) qui conduisent à un ordre des mots SOVX dans certains contextes discursifs. Le chap. 8 présente les différents types énonciatifs de phrases ainsi que les prédicats non verbaux. Le chap. 9 décrit le système de transitivité et de valence de la langue
Introduction : This thesis is a phonological and grammatical description of Ikposo Uwi, language of the phylum Niger-Congo and Kwa family. It is spoken in Togo by the people Akposso, about 150 000 people that live in the Région des Plateaux. This language divides itself into six dialects : Logbo, Uma, Uwi, Litimé, Ikponou and Amou-Oblo. The study relies on a corpus composed of (i) 36 narratives, (ii) elicitedsentences from picture books, (iii) the lexicon build on these data, (iv) and elicited sentences, generally in connection with the texts. The language used during work session and for translation has always been French.Phonology et tonology : The segmental phonology of Ikposo Uwi (Chapter 1) is quite simple. There are few syllabic schemes and they are not complex. The main characteristic is vocalic harmony, with a 10 vowel system.Ikposo is a tonal language (Chapter 2). Tones are very important on a lexical level, but they encode grammatical informations too. There are four level tones in the Uwi dialect.Morphologie : Nouns and nominal phrases are studied in Chapter 3. Nominal morphology is not very much developed, on the contrary to the rich verbal morphology, with auxiliaries, person index and aspectual prefixes (Chapter 7). Adpositions are studied in Chapter 4 and pronouns in Chapter 5. The other categories are identified in Chapter 6.Syntaxe : The word order is quite rigid : SVOX. This feature is however evolving, as we can see with the yɔ̄ serial verb construction (Chapter 13) that lead to a SOVX word order in some specific discursive contexts.Chapter 8 presents the different enunciative sentence types as well as non verbal predicates.Chapter 9 describes the transitivity and valency system of the language. Modifications in the argument structure are generally not morphologically marked. The only exception is the grammaticalization of 3rd person singular commitative pronoun fà : it makes a transitive-causative construction out fromverbs usually found in intransitive constructions. Ikposo uses massively serial verb constructions. Syntax and types of Ikposo’s serial verb constructions are studied in Chapter 10.The verb dʊ́‘to be at, to put’ (Chapter 11) is one of the most frequent positional verbs, due to its broad meaning. It is also used a lot as V2 in serial verb constructions : with this function dʊ́ undergoes either a grammaticalization process or a lexicalization process. The verb ká‘to give’ (Chapter 12), as V2 of serial verb constructions, undergoes a grammaticalization process, with a global dative meaning.The verb yɔ̄‘to take’ (Chapter 13) is used in serial verb constructions that tend to modify the word order of the arguments from SVO to SOV in some discursive contexts. yɔ̄introduces the object of the main verb or represents it on the main verb. In the latter case, the grammaticalized verb is prefixed yɔ̄-.Chapter 14 gathers the other frequent verbs that do not have a dedicated chapter. Among them, we find lɛ́‘to be, to be at’ used as a copula, bá‘to come’ and ɣā‘to go’ used as deictic verbs, tʊ̄‘to come from’ that grammaticalizes into a prepositional locution, and bā ‘to exceed’ used in comparative serial verbconstructions. Chapter 15 analyses the complex sentences of Ikposo. Among them, completivesare probably the most interesting. They are from two types : build with nominalized verbal predicates or with the quotative nʊ̄, more generally marker of reported speech.Finally, Chapter 16 shows the information structure of the language. I mostly studied the morphological markers of that structure, but a deeper analysis should show that the structure is more complex that these markers let think

Dans l'étude présente, nous avons fait une analyse distributionnelle du ngam, langue sara parlée au Sud du Tchad et au Nord de la République Centrafricaine. L'étude s'est subdivisée en cinq parties:

- la phonologie

- une description générale des structures du syntagme nominal

- une description du nom

- un chapitre consacré à l'expression de la qualification en nous basant essentiellement sur la définition de la catégorie des adjectifs qualificatifs

- une étude pronominale

Le verbe ne fait partie de cette étude, elle fera l'objet d'une publication dans un futur proche. L'annexe comprend un lexique et un texte d'illustration.
Doctorat en Langues et lettres
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Les Nubi, une communauté musulmane répartie principalement entre l'Ouganda, le Kenya et la Tanzanie, sont originaires du Sud du Soudan. Ils sont arrivés à la fin du 19ème siècle en Afrique de l'Est, mais ils sont conservé leurs traditions et surtout leur langue :le kinubi. Il s'agit d'un créole arabe, proche du parler de Juba (Soudan), fortement influencé par le kiswahili (et l'anglais). Le but de cette recherche est de comparer le parler de Mombasa à ceux de Kibera (Kenya) et de Bombo (Ouganda), et d'analyser l'importance et les causes de l'influence du kiswahili sur cette langue, sur le plan du vocabulaire et de la grammaire.

The Nubi, a Muslim community living mainly in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, originate from Southern Sudan, which they left at the end of the 19th century. They kept their traditions alive, as well as their language :the Kinubi. This language is an Arabic based Creole, related to Juba Arabic (Sudan) but strongly influenced by Swahili (and English). Our aim is to compare the Kinubi spoken in Mombasa with the one of Kibera (Kenya) and Bombo (Uganda), and to analyze the way Swahili influences this language, in both vocabulary and grammar, as well as the reasons of this phenomenon.
Doctorat en philosophie et lettres, Orientation langue et littérature
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

La présente thèse propose une étude comparative des langues bantu A80 (aussi appelées « makaa-njem »). Celle-ci répond à un double objectif : proposer une synthèse des connaissances linguistiques (et des disciplines connexes) sur les langues du groupe A80, en apportant des données et analyses nouvelles pour le bekwel du Gabon, d’une part et présenter les résultats d’une étude comparative sur deux niveaux – synchronique et diachronique – d’autre part. La comparaison prend en compte huit langues A80 : le shiwa, le kwasio, le bekol, le makaa, le konzime, le njem, le bekwel et le mpiemo. Cette étude comparative adopte en premier lieu une perspective synchronique (correspondances « horizontales ») pour ensuite aborder les données sous un angle diachronique (correspondances « verticales », reconstructions et réflexes). Elle porte sur la phonologie et plus marginalement sur la morphologie nominale et verbale. L’étude se base également sur un lexique de 1029 cognats établis à partir de données de premières mains pour le bekwel et de données issues de la littérature spécialisée pour les autres langues. Les données ont été traitées à l’aide des outils du site du projet RefLex. La première partie de la thèse constitue une synthèse globale des connaissances sur les langues A80 et sur le bekwel en particulier. La deuxième partie présente le corpus (modalités de constitution, puis nature, provenance et traitement des données) et une série d’esquisses phonologiques (et morphologiques) synthétiques pour les huit langues élaborées sur la base des données collectées et/ou rassemblées. La troisième et dernière partie présente les résultats de l’étude comparative. Celle-ci met en lumière les processus morphologiques et phonologiques qui ont façonné les langues du groupe makaa-njem au cours de leur évolution. Au niveau morphologique, on relève une simplification du système des classes nominales (due à l’intégration de plusieurs anciens préfixes aux bases démultipliant le nombre de préfixe zéro), de nombreux cas de reclassement, le rôle d’anciens préfixes nasals dans le dévoisement des occlusives en initiale de base nominale ainsi que l’émergence de mi-voisées en bekwel. Au niveau de la phonologie, on observe une tendance au monosyllabisme plus ou moins avancé selon les langues. Celle-ci s’explique par l’étude diachronique qui met en évidence que les langues A80 ont souvent subi la chute de la voyelle finale (V2) ou parfois même de la syllabe finale. La voyelle initialement en V2 est généralement maintenue d’une manière ou d’une autre par des anticipations qui peuvent prendre plusieurs formes : diphtongaisons, séquences V11-V12 (parfois avec dévocalisation de V11), nouveaux timbres par coalescence, etc. Enfin, la conclusion de la thèse récapitule les principaux résultats concernant la morphologie, la phonologie et le lexique, et montre comment ces résultats pourront être utiles pour l’analyse et la description (futures) des langues A80
This thesis presents a comparative study of the Bantu languages of the A80 group (also known as Makaa-Njem). The goal of the thesis is two-fold: (i) offer a synthesis of the state of knowledge in linguistics (and related disciplines) about the languages of the Bantu A80 group by adding new data and analysis for the Bekwel language of Gabon ; (ii) present the results of a comparative study at the synchronic and diachronic levels. The comparative study includes eight A80 languages: Shiwa, Kwasio, Bekol, Makaa, Konzime, Njem, Bekwel and Mpiemo. The study adopts in the first place a synchronic perspective ("horizontal" correspondences) then approaches the same data from a diachronic point of view ("vertical" correspondences, reconstructions and reflexes), focusing mainly on phonology, and to a lesser extent, on nominal and verbal morphology. It is based on a 1029 cognate lexicon established on the basis of first-hand data for Bekwel and published data for the other languages. Data was processed using the online tools of the RefLex project.The first part of the thesis establishes a general summary of the knowledge on the Bantu A80 languages and on Bekwel in particular. The second part presents the corpus (gathering methods then nature of the data, sources and processing) and a series of concise phonological (and morphological) sketches for all eight languages constituted on the basis of the collected and/or compiled data. The third and final part presents the results of the comparative study. It brings into light the morphological and phonological processes that have shaped the languages of the Makaa-Njem group through their evolution. At the morphological level, it reveals a process of simplification of the noun class system (due to the assimilation of old prefixes into the stems leading to an increase in the number of zero prefixes), numerous cases of re-classification and the role of old nasal prefixes in occlusive devoicing stem initially as well as the mergence of semi-voiced consonants in Bekwel. At the phonological level, a tendency to monosyllabicity can be observed, at a greater or lesser extent depending on the language. This finds an explanation in the diachronic analysis that shows that the languages of the A80 group often were subject to final vowel dropping (V2), in some cases even the whole final syllable. The vowel originally in V2 is generally preserved thanks to anticipations of various types: emergence of diphthongs, V11-V12 sequences (sometimes including devocalization of V11), new vowel quality by fusion, etc. Finally, the conclusion of the thesis summarizes the main results with regards to morphology, phonology and the lexicon, illustrating how these results will be useful for (future) analyses and descriptions of languages of the A80 group

This dissertation offers to make new insights into certain aspects of the tonal phonology in mutually intelligible dialects of the Nko (Mande) language, namely the two major (with larger number of speakers) dialects of, Bamana and Maninka, and the two minor dialects, Jula and Mandingo. Theoretical analyses of tone assignment and tonal interaction in these languages have been diverse, often conflicting, and at times contradictory. The divergence between tonal analyses reported in the literature is likely to have arisen for a variety of reasons including dialectal variation, limited data, and limited speaker access. Among these proposed analyses are those that support the presence of specific tonal configurations considered to be marked structures in the language (Green 2010), as well as those that draw upon the proposition of multiple abstract floating tones whose spreading, deletion, and surface effects are predicted only by complex derivations (cf. Rialland & Badjime 1989). Moreover, an attempt will be made to bring together generalizations that previous analyses did not make regarding the tonal patterns of the Nko dialects. Specifically, I argue for three novel analyses: 1) that the definite marker in Nko is a Mid tone suffix, rather than an abstract Low tone suffix as analyzed in previous literature, 2) that Nko noun forms are derived from an underlying form that I refer to as ‘citation form’ which can be distinct from both the surface definite and indefinite nouns, and 3) that a final High tone is used as a marker of nouns in the major dialects of Nko (Courtenay 1974). These analyses have implications for the understanding of the tonal structure of Nko, especially with respect to the nature of lexical and grammatical tones in both the major and minor dialects. My analysis is consistent with that of other researchers in positing just two lexical tones, Low and High. The posited Mid tone to mark definiteness is a grammatical tone. Further, I agree with previous research in viewing that the surface tonal contours found in these varieties are due to the restricted tonal inventory and are not lexical tones. These result from multiple tones associating to the same syllable. Several analyses of tone in Nko dialects will be discussed and a full picture of the tonal schemas (or melodies) in the language is proposed.

This dissertation provides a description of aspects of the phonology, morphology, and morphosyntax of Bangime. Bangime is a language isolate spoken in the Dogon language speaking area of Central Eastern Mali. Although the Bangande, the speakers of Bangime, self-identify with the Dogon, their language bears practically no resemblance to the surrounding Dogon languages. Bangime has limited productive morphological processes whereas Dogon languages are agglutinating, with productive morphemes to indicate inflectional and derivational verbal and nominal processes.

Bangime has a complex tonal system. General tendencies of the tonal patterns are described, with the many exceptions which frequently occur also outlined. Nominal tonal melodies are apparent in plural forms. Objects in verb phrases receive tonal agreement with tones on the verb in accordance with the subject of the sentence.

The tense, aspect, and mood system of the language is also complicated. Inflectional marking on the verb, auxiliaries, and the word order all contribute to the indication of the tense, aspect or mood of the sentence. An overview of these multifaceted phonological and morphological processes is provided in this dissertation with hypotheses as to how the language might have evolved.

The study investigated the nature of the listener confusion which occurs when Black South African English (BSAE) speakers communicate a list of common English words to speakers of standard South African (StdSAE) English. BSAE and StdSAE subjects were grouped into 10 dyads. BSAE subjects read 120 monosyllabic English words to StdSAE subjects. Written data of StdSAE subjects were analysed to determine patterns of success and failure in the communication of single word items by BSAE subjects. Specific difficulties with vowels, dipthongs and consonants are discussed in terms of their effect on intelligibility. Findings are evaluated in the light of previous research, and in terms of Flege's Speech Learning Model (1987, 1991, 1995). It is suggested that all segmental features of BSAE relate to two distinct levels: a functional (meaning) level and an aesthetic level. This study focussed on the functional level, and aimed to describe the segmental features of BSAE speech which affect meaning. Such a distinction has particular relevance for speech and language therapists who need to have a clear rationale for their work with BSAE-speaking clients. Clinical implications specific to this emerging client group within South Africa are discussed.

Cette thèse est la première description générale du créole capverdien de l'île de Fogo (Afrique de l’Ouest), parlé par la quasi-totalité des 40 000 habitants de cette île ainsi que par de nombreuses personnes qui en sont originaires. Ce travail détaille la structure linguistique de cette variété à partir de données recueillies lors d’enquêtes de terrain effectuées entre 2016 et 2019. Cette thèse se compose de neuf chapitres : (1) introduction, (2) phonologie, (3), structure syllabique, (4) accent tonique, (5) morphologie nominale, (6) morphologie verbale, (7) syntaxe, (8) particularités lexicales et (9) conclusion. Ce travail apporte de nouveaux éléments pour l'analyse synchronique et diachronique du créole capverdien. Elle fournit aussi des données comparatives et partant des pistes pour la reconstruction de la famille linguistique des Créole Portugais de L'Afrique de l'Ouest (CPAO), dont le capverdien fait partie. Ces données démontrent notamment que la variété de Fogo s'est distinguée précocement des autres CPAO et présente des caractéristiques uniques au sein de cet ensemble.Cette étude apporte également des données historiques sur la découverte, le peuplement, les échanges commerciaux et maritimes, la structure sociale et les caractéristiques sociolinguistiques de l'île de Fogo, et montre comment ces caractéristiques et ces contraintes ont façonné le paysage linguistique de la dite île
This thesis is the first book-length description of the Portuguese Creole spoken on the island of Fogo (Cape Verde, West-Africa), spoken by most of the 40,000 island’s inhabitants as well as by its diaspora. This work provides an insight on the linguistic structure of this variety, based on data collected during fieldwork occurred between 2016 and 2019. This study comprises with nine chapters, namely (1) introduction, (2) phonology, (3) syllabic structure, (4), stress, (5) nominal morphology, (6) verbal morphology, (7) syntax, (8) lexical peculiarities and (9) conclusion.This thesis brings new elements both to the synchronic and diachronic analysis of Cape Verdean Creole. At the same time, it contributes with comparative data for the reconstruction of the Upper Guinea Portuguese Creole (UGPC) language family. These data show in particular that Fogo Cape Verdean emerged quite early as a distinct variety among UGPCs and illustrate the main characteristics of this variety.This thesis also provides historical data on the discovery, settlement, trade connections, maritime interactions, social structure and sociolinguistics of the island of Fogo, and shows the role played by these elements in the development and shaping of Fogo’s unique linguistic makeup

This research work has several aims, demanded by a number of external and internal factors. First of all, it aims to identify Lala: whether it is simply a dialect of Tekela- Nguni, or perhaps the substratum Bantu language spoken in the eastern parts of Southern Africa since the fourth century of the first millennium A.D. on which every new migratory wave imposed its language (chapters one and two). The lexical-statistical method has been attempted (chapter three), but with mixed results. In fact, relexification is widely used in southern African societies, and this renders the identification of the core vocabulary a very difficult task. The result is that all that can be said is that Lala indeed shows the characteristics of a Tekela-Nguni language, but it is impossible to determine at this stage whether Lala is the mother or the daughter of Tekela. Another important aim, dictated by an earlier research by Wilkes (1981 ), was to compare the two main branches of Lala, called North and South Lala, to prove whether the differences between the two dialects are so wide as to justify a division into two separate entities or not. Here the verdict is emphatically negative. In fact the various stages of the research abundantly re-affirm the view that Lala is one language, with only marginal differences caused by the different linguistic environments: Zulu in the north and IsiZansi in the south. African societies in this part of the world have affirmed themselves in the realm of the written word only recently, i.e. during the last 150 years or so. The background culture of these societies is still vigorously oral, and this means that the spoken word is used for much more than simple communication of thought and feeling. Language is felt as the major binding element in a society that has seen constant political break-ups, upheavals, migrations, wars, attempted exterminations. This means that Lala, as a language or the dominant dialect of a group, is banded about as a cultural-historical flag around which people are proud to gather. This sense of unity is an emotion, a feeling, rather than a deep reality. The colours of the flag, or the distinguishing elements of the language, may be fading away, and only a core might be preserved. But this is quite enough to kindle emotions and to rally people. At least in areas where people are still proud of their cultural heritage. hnicity and language should not be the same, but most of the people interviewed (cf chapter two) felt very strongly that they were Lalas because they spoke Lala; and that they spoke Lala because they are Lalas. Their either glorious or sad histories are recorded in chapter two to demonstrate how Shaka's wars, and the Mfecane, forced them to leave their homeland and to migrate. The trauma of this latest migration is still felt so strongly that it is often superimposed and confused with the great migrations from Central and Western Africa that took place in mythological times, or very long ago. But through their histories, they keep alive their memories and the certainty of the unity of the Lala nation, even though it is now spread from Kranskop to Harding and IZingolweni. Chapter four examines the phonetics and phonology of the two Lala dialects in the context of Swati and Zulu. Lala is a Tekela dialect indeed, but with its own phonetic and phonological peculiarities. The same can be said with regard to the research exposed in chapter five, on the morphology of Lala compared to Swati and Zulu. The grammatical system among the three languages is extremely similar, and there is hardly any substantial difference between North and South Lala. This can also be said with regard to tonology (chapter six) The last chapter reflects on what has been achieved. The ancient Lala language, about which James Stuart stated in the 1920's that it was nearly extinct, is proving very strong and resilient. Possibly the very dynamism experienced in its ability to adapt to the colonial languages and the new material culture by assimilating many foreign lexical items, and that South Lala has adopted many words from IsiZansi, is proof that Lala has got a life of its own that cannot be taken for granted, nor extinguished. The more one is able to study the local languages, the more one dusts up some ancient treasure that needs to be admired and constantly re-valued. The functional word here is 'treasure': because all languages, as carriers of culture, are a treasure that together form the mosaic of our beautiful "Rainbow Nation".
African Languages
D.Litt et Phil.

In hierdie studie word die fonologie en die morfologie van Lobedu, 'n dialek van die Noordoostelike dialekbundel van Noord-Sotho, beskryf. Historiese gegewens, soos in hoofstuk 1 weergegee, toon aan dat die Balobedu vroeer uitgebreide kontak met die Bavenda gehad het. Die vokale van Lobedu is anders as hulle standaard ewekniee op die vokaalkaart geposisioneer. In hoofstuk 2 word aangetoon dat die vokaalsisteem in sekere opsigte met 'n vyfvokaalsisteem ooreenstem, maar nogtans oor sewe foneme beskik. Tekens van 'n verskuiwing in die rigting van die meer tipiese sewevokaalsisteem is opgemerk. Die konsonante van Lobedu word gekenmerk deur veral vier a-tipiese artikulasies: dentale klanke vervang die standaard laterale sluitklanke, retroflekse sluitklanke vervang alveolere sluitklanke, oorwegend stemhebbende sluitklanke vervang tipiese Noord-Sotho se geejekteerde klanke, en affriksie by die vrylating van retroflekse plosiewe is prominent. In hoofstuk 3 word gekonsentreer op die toonpatrone wat verskillende naamwoorde en werkwoorde kenmerk. lnteressante verskille tussen standaard Noord-Sotho en Lobedu is gedokumenteer, hoewel daar uiteraard ook heelwat ooreenkomste bestaan. In hoofstuk 4 word die oorsprong van foneme diachronies nagespeur, terwyl alle geidentifiseerde klankveranderinge in hoofstuk 5 opgeneem is. 'n Uitstaande kenmerk van Lobedu is dat die kombinasie van labiale konsonante geheel en al anders as in tipiese Noord-Sotho hanteer word. In hoofstukke 6 tot 8 word die woordkategoriee morfologies beskryf en ontleed. Kenmerke van die werkwoord in die verskillende verbale subkategoriee kom ook aan die orde: Daar word na diachroniese feite verwys ten einde die voorkoms van sekere allomorfe te verklaar, terwyl die herkoms van sekere morfeme na Venda en Tsonga teruggevoer word. Hoofstuk 9 bevat 'n gedetailleerde uiteensetting van die struktuur van die verskillende kopulatiewe. In die finale hoofstuk word tot die slotsom gekom dat Lobedu wel as 'n dialek van Noord-Sotho beskou moat word, ten spyte van aansienlike Venda-beinvloeding. Die voorkoms van a-tipiese kenmerke diskwalifiseer Lobedu nie as 'n Noord-Sotho dialek nie; indien wel, moat die status van verskeie ander Noord-Sotho dialekte ook bevraagteken word. Die Balobedu beskou hulleself as Noord-Sotho manse, en die effektiewe kommunikasie tussen die Balobedu en sprekers van Noord-Sotho bewys dat onderlinge verstaanbaarheid 'n werklikheid is
African Languages
D. Litt. et Phil. (Afrikatale)

The rationale for this study was to investigate the implementation of the THRASS literacy programme on a deaf learner who uses the spoken language approach. Particular emphasis was given to the role played by the Phoneme Machine together with Cued Speech. THRASS focuses on phoneme-grapheme correspondence by explicit phonics instruction to develop word analysis and recognition skills. Cued Speech is used as an instructional tool to facilitate visual access to auditory-based phonology. The research was framed within the Interpretivist paradigm and a qualitative case study design predominated, although the launch and landing of the study was quantitative in nature. The findings indicated that the auditory-based phonology of the English language may be accessed by a deaf learner, when supported by a visual instructional tool such as Cued Speech in synchronicity with speech-reading, to develop print literacy skills. This study opens the gateway to further enquiry on enhancing deaf literacy levels.
Inclusive Education
M. Ed. (Inclusive Education)