The Integration of Nouns from English and Kiswahili Into the Grammar of Datooga Language Spoken in Tanzania
Journal of Humanities & Social Science (JHSS),
Vol. 12 No. 1 (2023)
Abstract
This article shows both the contact of English and Kiswahili with Datooga and how
noun loans from the two languages are nativized in Datooga. Through elicitation,
extraction from oral narrations and reviewing existing documents, English and
Kiswahili noun loans were identified in Datooga. The article shows that, regardless of
their source, loanwords from the two languages are all integrated into the Datooga
noun structure in a uniform way. Phonologically, the loanwords are nativized through
replacement of foreign sound with a native sound that has almost similar features in
the recipient language, voicing of foreign sounds, vowel heightening and the change
of the quality of the final vowel into a whispered one. Morphologically, the nativized
nouns are treated like other non-prototypical Datooga nouns, where the primary
forms of the nouns become the most used and occurring forms of the nouns. As a
result of number and definite marking, the borrowed nouns give rise to the ternary
opposition in number/definite marking. Semantically, the borrowed nouns are
nativized using the -aj??- formative. The loanwords have been integrated into the
Datooga gender based on their semantics. Further semantic broadening and semantic
shift are some of the changes in meaning observed.
Keywords:
(Received: 2
nd November 2022; Accepted: 4
th May 2023; Revised: 9
th July 2023)
Keywords
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- Batibo, H., M & Rottland, F. 2001. The Adoption of Datooga Loanwords in Sukuma and its
- Historical Implications. Sprache und Geschichte in Africa 16/17: 9–50.
- Creider, C. & Rottland, F. 1997. Noun Classification in Southern Nilotic: Datooga. Afrika und
- Ubersee 80 71–93.
- Ehret, C. 1971. Southern Nilotic History: Linguistic Approaches to the Study of the Past. Evanston:
- Northwestern University Press.
- Griscom, R, T. 2019. Topics in Asimjeeg Datooga Verbal Morphosyntax. PhD Dissertation,
- University of oregon
- Kießling, R. 2001. Number Marking on Datooga Nouns; In, Vossen, R, Mietzner, a &Messner, A.
- (eds) Mehr aus nul Worte 29–43 Cologne: Koppe.
- Kießling, R. Mous, M. & Nurse, D. 2008. The Tanzania Rift Valley Area. In: Bend Heine, Derek
- Nurse (Eds): a Linguistic Geography of Africa. London: CUP. pp 186–227.
- Klima, G. 1970. The Barabaig East Africa Cattle Herders. New York: Waveland Press Inc.
- Languages of Tanzania (LoT). 2009. Atlasi ya Lugha za Tanzania. Dar es salaam: University of
- Dar es Salaam.
- Lusekelo, A. 2019. Adaptation of Sukuma Loanwords in the Western Dialects of Datooga
- (Taturu) and its Dialectological Implications. Ethnologia Actualis, 19(1): 54–89.
- Mdoe, K. 2020. Semantics, Morphology and Gender Marking in Datooga Personal Names.
- Journal of Linguistics and Language in Education, 14(2): 129–150.
- Mdoe, K. 2021. A Morpho-Semantic Classification of Datooga nouns. PhD thesis, University of
- Dar es Salaam.
- Mitchell, A. 2015. Linguistic Avoidance and Social Relations in Datooga. PhD dissertation, State
- University of New York.
- Mhajida, S. 2019. The Collapse of a Pastoral Economy: the Datoga of Central and Northern Tanzania
- from 1830s to 2000s. Gothenburg: Gothenburg University Press.
- Rottland, F. 1982. Die Südnilotischen Sprachen: Beschreibung, Vergleichung und Rekonstruktion.
- Berlin: D. Reimer.
- Rottland, F. I983. Southern Nilotic (with an outline of Datooga). In: Lionel, Bender (ed.), NiloSaharan language studies, 208–238. East Lansing: African Studies Center, Michigan State
- University
References
Batibo, H., M & Rottland, F. 2001. The Adoption of Datooga Loanwords in Sukuma and its
Historical Implications. Sprache und Geschichte in Africa 16/17: 9–50.
Creider, C. & Rottland, F. 1997. Noun Classification in Southern Nilotic: Datooga. Afrika und
Ubersee 80 71–93.
Ehret, C. 1971. Southern Nilotic History: Linguistic Approaches to the Study of the Past. Evanston:
Northwestern University Press.
Griscom, R, T. 2019. Topics in Asimjeeg Datooga Verbal Morphosyntax. PhD Dissertation,
University of oregon
Kießling, R. 2001. Number Marking on Datooga Nouns; In, Vossen, R, Mietzner, a &Messner, A.
(eds) Mehr aus nul Worte 29–43 Cologne: Koppe.
Kießling, R. Mous, M. & Nurse, D. 2008. The Tanzania Rift Valley Area. In: Bend Heine, Derek
Nurse (Eds): a Linguistic Geography of Africa. London: CUP. pp 186–227.
Klima, G. 1970. The Barabaig East Africa Cattle Herders. New York: Waveland Press Inc.
Languages of Tanzania (LoT). 2009. Atlasi ya Lugha za Tanzania. Dar es salaam: University of
Dar es Salaam.
Lusekelo, A. 2019. Adaptation of Sukuma Loanwords in the Western Dialects of Datooga
(Taturu) and its Dialectological Implications. Ethnologia Actualis, 19(1): 54–89.
Mdoe, K. 2020. Semantics, Morphology and Gender Marking in Datooga Personal Names.
Journal of Linguistics and Language in Education, 14(2): 129–150.
Mdoe, K. 2021. A Morpho-Semantic Classification of Datooga nouns. PhD thesis, University of
Dar es Salaam.
Mitchell, A. 2015. Linguistic Avoidance and Social Relations in Datooga. PhD dissertation, State
University of New York.
Mhajida, S. 2019. The Collapse of a Pastoral Economy: the Datoga of Central and Northern Tanzania
from 1830s to 2000s. Gothenburg: Gothenburg University Press.
Rottland, F. 1982. Die Südnilotischen Sprachen: Beschreibung, Vergleichung und Rekonstruktion.
Berlin: D. Reimer.
Rottland, F. I983. Southern Nilotic (with an outline of Datooga). In: Lionel, Bender (ed.), NiloSaharan language studies, 208–238. East Lansing: African Studies Center, Michigan State
University