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‘Similar’ Language Contact But ‘Different’ Language Change: Historical Lessons from Loanwords in Tanzanian Bantu Communities
Journal of Humanities & Social Science (JHSS),
Vol. 3 No. 1 & 2 (2014): Volume 3, Nos. 1 & 2, 2014
Abstract
This paper contributes to the on-going discussion about integration of foreign cultures
into African communities, one of the areas documented by Sam Maghimbi. It articulates
the results of human contacts through examination of loanwords for similar semantic
notions across Bantu languages of Tanzania. The rationale for this study emanates from
a lacuna in previous works that focused on phonological and morphological changes,
and undervalued the power of internal semantic modifications that accommodate new
concepts. The paper analyses loanwords of individual words that surround three contact
areas: western (formal) education, Christian religion, and (modern) healthcare. The paper
shows that contact situations may lead to adoption of new words in some cases, or
adjustments of the semantics of existing lexicons to accommodate new concepts, in
other instances. In addition, it argues that Bantu languages differ significantly as regards
the sources and flow of integration of new concepts.
Keywords
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- Batibo, H. M. 2005. Language decline and death in Africa: Causes, consequences and challenges.
- Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
- Batibo, H.M. 2002. The evolution of the Swahili syllable structure. South African Journal of African
- Languages, 22(1): 1–10.
- Bergenholtz, H., S. Tarp & S. Nielsen. (eds.). 2009. Lexicography at a Crossroads: Dictionaries and
- Encyclopedias Today, Lexicographical Tools Tomorrow. Berlin: Peter Lang.
- Botne, R. & Schafer, L. 2008. A Chindali and English Dictionary with an Index to Proto-Bantu Roots.
- Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society.
- Charsley, S.R. 1969. The princes of Nyakyusa. Kampala: Makerere Institute of Social Research.
- Felberg, K. 1996. Nyakyusa-English-Swahili and English-Nyakyusa Dictionary. Dar es Salaam: Mkuki na
- Nyota Publishers.
- Foster, P. 1994. Has anthropology a future in Africa after colonialism? UTAFITI, 1(1): 47–67.
- Gower, R.H. 1952. Kiswahili borrowings from English. Journal of the International African Institute,
- (2): 154–157.
- Iliffe, J. 1969. Tanganyika under German Rule 1905–1912. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- Johnson, F. 1935. Kamusi ya Kiswahili. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Kalinga, O.J.M. 1983. Cultural and political change in northern Malawi c. 1350–1800. African Study
- Monographs, 3: 49–58.
- Kahigi, K. (2008). Kahe-Swahili-English and English-Kahe-Swahili Lexicon. Dar es Salaam: University of Dar
- es Salaam, LOT Publications.
- King’ei, K. 1999. Swahili technical terminology: Problems of development and usage in Kenya.
- Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere, 60: 147–160.
- Lusekelo, A. 2013. Swahili loanwords nativisations in the languages of Tanzania. HURIA Journal of
- the Open University of Tanzania, 14: 151–162.
- Maghimbi, S. 2012. The quality of education in Tanzania: An exploration into its determinants.
- Journal of Education, Humanities and Sciences, 1(1): 1–15.
- —. 2008. Water, nomadism and subsistence ethic in Maasailand (Kiteto district). In I.N. Kimambo,
- G. Hyden, S. Maghimbi & K. Sugimura (eds.). Contemporary Perspectives on African Moral
- Economy. Dar es Salaam: Dar es Salaam University Press, pp. 63–71.
- Maghimbi, S. & P.G. Forster. 1992. Introduction. Forster, P.G. & Maghimbi, S. (eds.). The Tanzanian
- Peasantry: Economy in Crisis. Aldershot: Avebury, pp. xi–xxiii.
- Mapunda, B.B.B. 2009. Water, iron and soil in a matrix of culture: Analysis of the prosperity of
- Milansi and Karagwe kingdoms, Tanzania. In T. Oestigaard (ed.) Water, Culture and Identity:
- Comparing Past and Present Traditions in the Nile Basin Region. Nile Basin Research Programme,
- BRIC Press. pp. 83–108.
- Massamba, D.P.B. 1997. Problems in terminology development: The case of Tanzania. Kiswahili:
- Journal of the Institute of Kiswahili Research, 59: 86–98.
- —. 2005. Eciruuri: Ciruuri–Kiswahili–English and English-Ciruuri–Kiswahili Lexicon. Dar es Salaam:
- University of Dar es Salaam, LOT Publications, Lexicon Series. 3.
- Mdee, J.S. 2008. Jita-Swahili-English and English-Jita-Swahili Lexicon. Dar es Salaam: Language of
- Tanzania (LOT) Project.
- Mekacha, R.D.K. 2011. Isimujamii: Nadharia na Muktadha wa Kiswahili. Dar es Salaam: TUKI.
- Mkude, D.J. 2004. The impact of Swahili on Kiluguru. In K. Bromber & B. Smieja (eds.).
- Globalisation and African Languages: Risks and Benefits. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 181–197.
- Mochiwa, Z. 2008. Zigula-Swahili-English Lexicon. Dar es Salaam: Language of Tanzania (LOT)
- Project.
- Mous, M. & M. Qorro. 2009. Loanwords in Iraqw, a Cushitic Language of Tanzania. In:
- Haspelmath, M. and Tadmor, U. (Eds.). Loanwords in the World's Languages: A Comparative
- Handbook. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 103–123.
- Mreta, A. 2008a. Chasu-Swahili-English Lexicon. Dar es Salaam: Language of Tanzania Project.
- —. 2008b. Simbiti-Swahili-English and English-Simbiti-Swahili Lexicon. Dar es Salaam: Language of
- Tanzania Project.
- Msanjila, Y,P. 2003. Kushuka kwa hadhi ya lugha za jamii nchini Tanzania. Nordic Journal of African
- Studies, 12(3): 296–309.
- Mushi, P.A.K. 2012. History and Development of Education in Tanzania, second edition. Dar es Salaam:
- Dar es Salaam University Press.
- Muzale, H,R.T. (2006). Ruhaya-English-Kiswahili and English-Ruhaya-Swahili Dictionary. Dar es Salaam:
- University of Dar es Salaam, LOT Publications.
- —. 1998. A reconstruction of the Proto-Rutara tense/aspect systems. Doctoral thesis (unpublished),
- University of Newfoundland, Canada.
- Muzale H.R.T. & J.M. Rugemalira. 2008. Researching and Documenting the Languages of Tanzania.
- Language Documentation & Conservation, 2(1):68–108.
- Nurse, D. 2000. Inheritance, Contact, and Change in Two East African Languages (Language Contact in
- Africa 4). Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.
- —. 1979. Classification of the Chaga dialects: Language and history on Kilimanjaro, the Taita Hills and
- the Pare Mountains. Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag.
- Nurse, D. & T.T. Spear. 1985. The Swahili: Reconstructing the History and Language of an African
- Society, 800–1500. Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press.
- Rockel, S.J. 1997. Caravan Porters of the Nyika: Labour, Culture, and Society in Nineteenth Century
- Tanzania. Doctoral thesis, University of Toronto.
- Rugemalira, J.M. 2002. Orunyambo: Runyambo-Kiswahili-English Lexicon. Dar es Salaam: Language of
- Tanzania Project.
- Sankoff, G. 2001. Linguistic outcomes of language contact. In P. Trudgill, J.K. Chambers & N.
- Schilling-Estes (eds.). Handbook of Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, pp. 638–668.
- Shembuli, M.M.S. 2010. Mabadiliko ya kifonolojia na kimofolojia wakati wa utohoaji maneno ya
- Kiarabu katika Swahili: Mifano kutoka Kamusi ya Swahili Sanifu (TUKI 2004). KISWAHILI:
- Journal of the Institute of Swahili Studies, 73, pp. 45–57.
- Siemund, P. 2008. Language contact: Constraints and common paths of contact induced language
- change. In P. Siemund & N. Kintana (eds.). Language Contact and Contact Languages.
- Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, pp. 3–11.
- Sote, A. 2010. Nativization process of Kiswahili borrowed nouns into Shimalila. MA dissertation,
- University of Dar es Salaam.
- Sutton, J.E.G. 1993. The antecedents of the Interlacustrine Kingdoms. The Journal of African History,
- (1): 33–64.
- Swilla, I.N. 2000. Borrowing in Chindali. In: K. Kahigi, Y. Kihore & M. Mous (eds.). Lugha za
- Tanzania/Languages of Tanzania. Leiden: Research for Asian, African and Amerindian Studies,
- pp. 297–307.
- Taasisi ya Uchunguzi wa Swahili (TUKI). 2001. Kamusi ya Swahili-Kiingereza. Dar es Salaam: Institute
- of Swahili Research.
- Wilson, M. 1958. The peoples of the Nyasa-Tanganyika Corridor. University of Cape Town,
- Communications from the School of the African Studies, No. 29.
References
Batibo, H. M. 2005. Language decline and death in Africa: Causes, consequences and challenges.
Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
Batibo, H.M. 2002. The evolution of the Swahili syllable structure. South African Journal of African
Languages, 22(1): 1–10.
Bergenholtz, H., S. Tarp & S. Nielsen. (eds.). 2009. Lexicography at a Crossroads: Dictionaries and
Encyclopedias Today, Lexicographical Tools Tomorrow. Berlin: Peter Lang.
Botne, R. & Schafer, L. 2008. A Chindali and English Dictionary with an Index to Proto-Bantu Roots.
Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society.
Charsley, S.R. 1969. The princes of Nyakyusa. Kampala: Makerere Institute of Social Research.
Felberg, K. 1996. Nyakyusa-English-Swahili and English-Nyakyusa Dictionary. Dar es Salaam: Mkuki na
Nyota Publishers.
Foster, P. 1994. Has anthropology a future in Africa after colonialism? UTAFITI, 1(1): 47–67.
Gower, R.H. 1952. Kiswahili borrowings from English. Journal of the International African Institute,
(2): 154–157.
Iliffe, J. 1969. Tanganyika under German Rule 1905–1912. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Johnson, F. 1935. Kamusi ya Kiswahili. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kalinga, O.J.M. 1983. Cultural and political change in northern Malawi c. 1350–1800. African Study
Monographs, 3: 49–58.
Kahigi, K. (2008). Kahe-Swahili-English and English-Kahe-Swahili Lexicon. Dar es Salaam: University of Dar
es Salaam, LOT Publications.
King’ei, K. 1999. Swahili technical terminology: Problems of development and usage in Kenya.
Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere, 60: 147–160.
Lusekelo, A. 2013. Swahili loanwords nativisations in the languages of Tanzania. HURIA Journal of
the Open University of Tanzania, 14: 151–162.
Maghimbi, S. 2012. The quality of education in Tanzania: An exploration into its determinants.
Journal of Education, Humanities and Sciences, 1(1): 1–15.
—. 2008. Water, nomadism and subsistence ethic in Maasailand (Kiteto district). In I.N. Kimambo,
G. Hyden, S. Maghimbi & K. Sugimura (eds.). Contemporary Perspectives on African Moral
Economy. Dar es Salaam: Dar es Salaam University Press, pp. 63–71.
Maghimbi, S. & P.G. Forster. 1992. Introduction. Forster, P.G. & Maghimbi, S. (eds.). The Tanzanian
Peasantry: Economy in Crisis. Aldershot: Avebury, pp. xi–xxiii.
Mapunda, B.B.B. 2009. Water, iron and soil in a matrix of culture: Analysis of the prosperity of
Milansi and Karagwe kingdoms, Tanzania. In T. Oestigaard (ed.) Water, Culture and Identity:
Comparing Past and Present Traditions in the Nile Basin Region. Nile Basin Research Programme,
BRIC Press. pp. 83–108.
Massamba, D.P.B. 1997. Problems in terminology development: The case of Tanzania. Kiswahili:
Journal of the Institute of Kiswahili Research, 59: 86–98.
—. 2005. Eciruuri: Ciruuri–Kiswahili–English and English-Ciruuri–Kiswahili Lexicon. Dar es Salaam:
University of Dar es Salaam, LOT Publications, Lexicon Series. 3.
Mdee, J.S. 2008. Jita-Swahili-English and English-Jita-Swahili Lexicon. Dar es Salaam: Language of
Tanzania (LOT) Project.
Mekacha, R.D.K. 2011. Isimujamii: Nadharia na Muktadha wa Kiswahili. Dar es Salaam: TUKI.
Mkude, D.J. 2004. The impact of Swahili on Kiluguru. In K. Bromber & B. Smieja (eds.).
Globalisation and African Languages: Risks and Benefits. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 181–197.
Mochiwa, Z. 2008. Zigula-Swahili-English Lexicon. Dar es Salaam: Language of Tanzania (LOT)
Project.
Mous, M. & M. Qorro. 2009. Loanwords in Iraqw, a Cushitic Language of Tanzania. In:
Haspelmath, M. and Tadmor, U. (Eds.). Loanwords in the World's Languages: A Comparative
Handbook. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 103–123.
Mreta, A. 2008a. Chasu-Swahili-English Lexicon. Dar es Salaam: Language of Tanzania Project.
—. 2008b. Simbiti-Swahili-English and English-Simbiti-Swahili Lexicon. Dar es Salaam: Language of
Tanzania Project.
Msanjila, Y,P. 2003. Kushuka kwa hadhi ya lugha za jamii nchini Tanzania. Nordic Journal of African
Studies, 12(3): 296–309.
Mushi, P.A.K. 2012. History and Development of Education in Tanzania, second edition. Dar es Salaam:
Dar es Salaam University Press.
Muzale, H,R.T. (2006). Ruhaya-English-Kiswahili and English-Ruhaya-Swahili Dictionary. Dar es Salaam:
University of Dar es Salaam, LOT Publications.
—. 1998. A reconstruction of the Proto-Rutara tense/aspect systems. Doctoral thesis (unpublished),
University of Newfoundland, Canada.
Muzale H.R.T. & J.M. Rugemalira. 2008. Researching and Documenting the Languages of Tanzania.
Language Documentation & Conservation, 2(1):68–108.
Nurse, D. 2000. Inheritance, Contact, and Change in Two East African Languages (Language Contact in
Africa 4). Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.
—. 1979. Classification of the Chaga dialects: Language and history on Kilimanjaro, the Taita Hills and
the Pare Mountains. Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag.
Nurse, D. & T.T. Spear. 1985. The Swahili: Reconstructing the History and Language of an African
Society, 800–1500. Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Rockel, S.J. 1997. Caravan Porters of the Nyika: Labour, Culture, and Society in Nineteenth Century
Tanzania. Doctoral thesis, University of Toronto.
Rugemalira, J.M. 2002. Orunyambo: Runyambo-Kiswahili-English Lexicon. Dar es Salaam: Language of
Tanzania Project.
Sankoff, G. 2001. Linguistic outcomes of language contact. In P. Trudgill, J.K. Chambers & N.
Schilling-Estes (eds.). Handbook of Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, pp. 638–668.
Shembuli, M.M.S. 2010. Mabadiliko ya kifonolojia na kimofolojia wakati wa utohoaji maneno ya
Kiarabu katika Swahili: Mifano kutoka Kamusi ya Swahili Sanifu (TUKI 2004). KISWAHILI:
Journal of the Institute of Swahili Studies, 73, pp. 45–57.
Siemund, P. 2008. Language contact: Constraints and common paths of contact induced language
change. In P. Siemund & N. Kintana (eds.). Language Contact and Contact Languages.
Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, pp. 3–11.
Sote, A. 2010. Nativization process of Kiswahili borrowed nouns into Shimalila. MA dissertation,
University of Dar es Salaam.
Sutton, J.E.G. 1993. The antecedents of the Interlacustrine Kingdoms. The Journal of African History,
(1): 33–64.
Swilla, I.N. 2000. Borrowing in Chindali. In: K. Kahigi, Y. Kihore & M. Mous (eds.). Lugha za
Tanzania/Languages of Tanzania. Leiden: Research for Asian, African and Amerindian Studies,
pp. 297–307.
Taasisi ya Uchunguzi wa Swahili (TUKI). 2001. Kamusi ya Swahili-Kiingereza. Dar es Salaam: Institute
of Swahili Research.
Wilson, M. 1958. The peoples of the Nyasa-Tanganyika Corridor. University of Cape Town,
Communications from the School of the African Studies, No. 29.