Swahili Loanwords in Meru Language of the Northeastern Tanzania: A Phonological Analysis of Nouns

Abstract

The study highlights the phonological analysis of nouns borrowed from standard Swahili into the Meru language of Northeastern Tanzania. It describes phonological processes that are involved for these borrowed nouns to have acceptable features and for those words to become part of the recipient language as the major objective of the study. The Optimality Theory (OT) introduced by Prince and Smolensky 1993 guided the study, Data were collected from Meru native speakers in Arusha region specifically in Arumeru District as the targeted population through interviews and Native intuition and data were recorded. These tools provide primary data that are directly obtained from the field (Kothari, 1990). This study used a qualitative research approach since data analysis, presentation, and interpretation take descriptive methods (Mugenda, 2003). According to Soeparno, (2002:117), “…the motto is to describe the fact, all the facts, and nothing but the facts”. The study shows that there are processes that are involved during the nativization of borrowed nouns from Swahili into Meru; prosthesis, anaptyxis, sound tolerance, aphaeresis, devoicing, voicing, rhotacization, sound assimilation, substitution of sounds and vowel lengtherning. All these processes have been very helpful as they have helped Meru language users meet their everyday communication needs. The study has now been potential for linguists for future reference and to the researcher as an academician. The study suggests that other areas of the language that have not received much research and academic attention: phonological analysis of borrowed verbs, semantic shift, negative impacts of language borrowing, the influence of Meru language in second language learning, semantic broadening, narrowing, and amelioration; other language levels including semantic, phonetics, morphology and pragmatics should be highly considered since the studies will act as the way of preserving African indigenous languages and will act as instrumental tools towards promoting local languages.