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Linguistic Ecology of North Mara “Languages”: A Comparative Study of Sound System Among the Selected “Languages”

Received: 9 May 2018     Accepted: 25 May 2018     Published: 12 June 2018
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Abstract

Language sounds are sounds which construct meaningful phrases in languages. Although human beings produce many sounds of different types, human language uses only a certain number and types of sounds. Sounds of languages are of two types; either consonants or vowels due to articulatory system. The studied North Mara “languages” are Kurya, Simbiti, Kiroobha, Sweeta, Kabwa, Suba1, Kine and Kenye, There are two perspectives relating to North Mara “languages”: In one perspective, these languages are regarded as similar and related to each other while in the other perspective the languages are regarded as different. The article focuses on the comparison of sound system in North Mara “languages”. According to data obtained, there are several syntactical criteria discussed: these are compensatory lengthening, deletion and minimal pairs. The study was led by “Comparative and Historical Linguistics” theory in portraying the relationship of “languages” being studied. The study used group discussion method to obtain data that gives similarities and differences of investigated “languages”. The results obtained from the research prove that there is a great similarity among the investigated “languages” in the case of sound system. Hence, linguistically these “languages” are more like dialects that relates closely to each other and are not independent languages as are seen in sociolinguistics perspective.

Published in International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 6, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijll.20180603.14
Page(s) 80-89
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2018. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Comparisons, Similarities and Differences, Consonants and Vowels

References
[1] Anttila. R (1972). An Introduction to Historical and Comparative Linguistics. Universityof Califonia, Los angeles, USA: Maxmillan Publishing Co.
[2] Bubenik. V and Luraghi. S (2010). Continuum Companion to Historical Linguistics. London: Continuum International Publishing Group.
[3] Bynon. T. B (1977). Historical Linguistics. London: Cambridge University Press.
[4] Campbell. L. (1998). American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics ofNative America. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[5] Chomsky. N and Morris. H (1968). Sound Pattern of English. New York. Harper andRow.
[6] Habwe. J and Karanja. P. (2004). Misingi ya Sarufi ya Kiswahili. Nairobi. Phoenix Pumblishers.
[7] Kavitskaya. D. (2002). Compensatory Lengthening: phonetics, phonology, diachrony. Doctoraldissertation. University of California, Berkley.
[8] Kihore. Y. M, Massamba. D. P. B and Msanjila. Y. P (2003). Sarufi Maumbo ya Kiswahili (Samakisa) Sekondari na Vyuo. Dar es Salaam: TUKI.
[9] Massamba. D. P. B, Kihore. Y. M and Msanjila. Y. P (2013). Fonolojia ya Kisawhili Sanifu (FOKISA): Sekondari na Vyuo. Dar es Salaam: TUKI.
[10] Massamba. D. P. B (2011). Maendeleo Katika Nadharia ya Fonolojia. Dar es Salaam: TUKI.
[11] Massamba. D. P. B (2012). Misingi ya Fonolojia. Dar es Salaam: TUKI.
[12] Nasibu. M. K and Basil. E. B. (2016). A Handbook of English Phonetics and Phonology. Mwanza: Bagoka Publishing Company Limited.
[13] Rahimy. R and Haghighi. M. (2017). The Effect of L2 Minimal Pairs Practice on Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners’ Pronunciation Accuracy. Islamic Azad University, Tonakabon, Iran.
[14] Sayeekumar. M (2015). “The Sounds of English”. Journal of English Language and Literature (JOELL). Vol. 2. Issue 4. Retrieved 23rd may, 2018 from http//www.joell.in.
[15] Veysi. E. (2016). “Description and Analysis of Phonological Processes in Dezfuli Dialect Based on the Framework of Optimality Theory”. The Caspian Sea Journal. Volume 10, Issue 1, Supplement 4, 266-272. Retrieved 24th May, 2018 from http://www.csjonline.org/.
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  • APA Style

    Boniphace Morango Alphonce. (2018). Linguistic Ecology of North Mara “Languages”: A Comparative Study of Sound System Among the Selected “Languages”. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 6(3), 80-89. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20180603.14

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    ACS Style

    Boniphace Morango Alphonce. Linguistic Ecology of North Mara “Languages”: A Comparative Study of Sound System Among the Selected “Languages”. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2018, 6(3), 80-89. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20180603.14

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    AMA Style

    Boniphace Morango Alphonce. Linguistic Ecology of North Mara “Languages”: A Comparative Study of Sound System Among the Selected “Languages”. Int J Lang Linguist. 2018;6(3):80-89. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20180603.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijll.20180603.14,
      author = {Boniphace Morango Alphonce},
      title = {Linguistic Ecology of North Mara “Languages”: A Comparative Study of Sound System Among the Selected “Languages”},
      journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
      volume = {6},
      number = {3},
      pages = {80-89},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20180603.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20180603.14},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20180603.14},
      abstract = {Language sounds are sounds which construct meaningful phrases in languages. Although human beings produce many sounds of different types, human language uses only a certain number and types of sounds. Sounds of languages are of two types; either consonants or vowels due to articulatory system. The studied North Mara “languages” are Kurya, Simbiti, Kiroobha, Sweeta, Kabwa, Suba1, Kine and Kenye, There are two perspectives relating to North Mara “languages”: In one perspective, these languages are regarded as similar and related to each other while in the other perspective the languages are regarded as different. The article focuses on the comparison of sound system in North Mara “languages”. According to data obtained, there are several syntactical criteria discussed: these are compensatory lengthening, deletion and minimal pairs. The study was led by “Comparative and Historical Linguistics” theory in portraying the relationship of “languages” being studied. The study used group discussion method to obtain data that gives similarities and differences of investigated “languages”. The results obtained from the research prove that there is a great similarity among the investigated “languages” in the case of sound system. Hence, linguistically these “languages” are more like dialects that relates closely to each other and are not independent languages as are seen in sociolinguistics perspective.},
     year = {2018}
    }
    

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    AB  - Language sounds are sounds which construct meaningful phrases in languages. Although human beings produce many sounds of different types, human language uses only a certain number and types of sounds. Sounds of languages are of two types; either consonants or vowels due to articulatory system. The studied North Mara “languages” are Kurya, Simbiti, Kiroobha, Sweeta, Kabwa, Suba1, Kine and Kenye, There are two perspectives relating to North Mara “languages”: In one perspective, these languages are regarded as similar and related to each other while in the other perspective the languages are regarded as different. The article focuses on the comparison of sound system in North Mara “languages”. According to data obtained, there are several syntactical criteria discussed: these are compensatory lengthening, deletion and minimal pairs. The study was led by “Comparative and Historical Linguistics” theory in portraying the relationship of “languages” being studied. The study used group discussion method to obtain data that gives similarities and differences of investigated “languages”. The results obtained from the research prove that there is a great similarity among the investigated “languages” in the case of sound system. Hence, linguistically these “languages” are more like dialects that relates closely to each other and are not independent languages as are seen in sociolinguistics perspective.
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Author Information
  • Department of Kiswahili Language and Literature, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

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