A Contrastive Study of IciBemba and Mambwe at Phonological Level
Keywords:
Standard IciBemba, Rural Mambwe, Mutual Intelligibility, Linguistic Convergence, Semivocalisation, Coalescence, Vowel Harmony
Abstract
A contrastive study between IciBemba and Mambwe at phonological level sought to find out how Standard Bemba and Rural Mambwe differ in terms of phonology. The investigation was motivated by the proximity of Bemba and Mambwe speaking communities in Mbala district of Northern province. The researcher used qualitative research design because he sought to focus on words rather than on numbers. His methods were exploratory and descriptive: seeking to unearth the opinions, thoughts and feelings of the respondents. In this study, respondents were freely able to disclose their experiences, thoughts and feelings without constraint. This research design enabled the researcher to have an in-depth involvement by way of semi-structured interviews, focus-group discussions and observation. The researcher had an opportunity to follow up, through focus-group discussions, on the responses given earlier by the key informant who is very proficient in Mambwe. All the informants are proficient in the languages under study. It is this in-depth involvement by the researcher with the informants and his analysis and interpretation of the data that has shaped the outcome of this study. The differences have been noted in segmental phonology with regard to vowels and consonants, the application of deletion, insertion and allophonic rules, sound segments in causative and intensive verbal forms, semivocalisation, coalescence and vowel harmony It is, therefore, concluded from the study that the phonological differences between the languages under study contribute to: (1) mutual unintelligibility between IciBemba and Mambwe speakers who have had no experience of each other’s language and (2) the absence of linguistic convergence between IciBemba and Mambwe despite that they are spoken in the same geographical space.References
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2. Crystal, D. (1991), A dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. Oxford. Blackwell Publishers.
3. Crystal, D. (2008), A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
4. Halemba, A. (1994), Mambwe-English Dictionary. Ndola: Mission Press.
5. Hudson, R.A. (1980), Sociolinguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
6. Jimaima, H. (2016), Social Structuring of language and the mobility of Semiotic Resources across the Linguistic Landscapes of Zambia: A Multimodal Analysis. (Unpublished) PhD Thesis. University of Western Cape.
7. Kamfuli, B.A. (2009), A Grammar of Verbal Extensions in Bemba. (Unpublished) MA dissertation. UNZA.
8. Kandeke, T. (1990), A Handbook of Icibemba Synonyms. Lusaka: Kenneth Kaunda Foundation.
9. Kangwa, N.K. (2007), A Study of English Derived loan words in Bemba. (Unpublished) MA dissertation. UNZA.
10. Kashoki E.M. (1967), A Phonemic Analysis of Icibemba: A Presentation of Bemba Syllable Structure, Phonemic Contrasts and their Distribution. (Unpublished) MA dissertation. Michigan State University: USA.
11. Kashoki, E.M. (1975), Migration and Language Change: The interaction of town and country. In Town and Country in Central and Eastern Africa, D. Parkin (Ed.), 228 – 249. London: International Africa Institute.
12. Kashoki, E.M. (1977), Language in Zambia: Grammatical Sketches, Volume. Lusaka: Grammatical Printers.Kashoki, E.M. and Ohannessian, S. (1978), Language in Zambia. London: International African Institute.
13. Kashoki, E.M. and Mann, M. (1978), ‘A general sketch of the Bantu languages of Zambia’ in S.I. Ohannessian and M.E.
14. Kashoki (Eds.): Language in Zambia. London, International African Institute, pp. 47-100.
15. Kashoki, E.M. (2000), Notes on Mother Tongue Literacy Education Language Issues in Developing Countries. Stockholm University Centre for Research on Bilingualism.
16. Kombo, D.K. and Tromp, D.L.A. (2006), Proposal and thesis writing: An introduction. Nairobi: Pauling’s Publications Africa.
17. Lumwanga, C.R. (2015), Some linguistic variations of Bemba: A Dialectological study of standard Bemba, Luunda and Ƞumbo. (Unpublished), MA dissertation. UNZA. Mambwe at Ethnologue (18th Ed. 2015)
18. Mann M. (1999), An Outline of Bemba Grammar. Lusaka: Book world.
19. Marten, L. and Kula, N.C. (2008), Zambia: one Zambia, One Nation, Many Languages. In A Simpson (Ed.), Language and National identity in Africa, pp. 291-313.
20. Mathews, P.H. (2005), The concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
21. Musonda, M. and Kashoki, E.M. (1982), Lexical adaptability in Bemba and Luunda: Some implications for present-day communication. In Africa Social Research; No. 34, 293-298.
22. Sloat, C., Taylor, S.H. and Hoard, J.E. (1978), Introduction to phonology. New Jersey (USA): Prentice –Hall, Inc. Englewood Cliff.
23. Spitulnik, D. and Kashoki, E.M. (2001), Brief Bemba linguistic profile.
24. Udema, S. (2004), The Theory of Lexical phonology. Munich: GRIN Publishing.
25. Wakumelo, M.N. (2013), A Critical analysis of Zambia’s language-in education policy: Challenges and lessons learned. In H. Mcllwraith (Ed). Multilingual education in Africa: Lessons from the Juba language in education conference. pp. 127-146. London: British Council.
26. Werner, M. and Tucker, A.N. (2009), Mambwe Proverbs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
27. Zambia Central Statistical Office (ZCSO) 2002/2010 Census of Population and Housing: National Analytical Report. Lusaka: Central Statistical Office.
Published
2022-05-27
How to Cite
Lumwanga, C., Lubinda, J. and Jimaima, H. (2022) “A Contrastive Study of IciBemba and Mambwe at Phonological Level”, Journal of Law and Social Sciences, 4(3), pp. 31-44. doi: https://doi.org/10.53974/unza.jlss.4.3.760.
Section
Articles