Phonological Processes of Shambaa

Abstract

This study set out to describe the phonological processes of Shambaa and establish phonological rules governing the phonological processes of Shambaa. The study was done at Mlalo, Ubiri and Vuga villages found in Lushoto District Tanga Region-Tanzania. The target population of the study were adult native speakers of Shambaa. The study used a purposive sampling procedure to select 10 participants from whom data was collected through interviews, documentary review and observation. The data were presented and analyzed using phonetics and phonological rules. The findings of the study reveal that phonological processes which occur in Shambaa are glide formation, vowel lengthening, high vowel deletion, glide insertion, vowel nasalization, consonants deletion, epenthesis, voicing, homorganic nasal assimilation, aspiration and substitution. Finally, the study recommends, that other researchers conduct more research on the Shambaa language and come up with more theories and results