CONTEMPORARY JOURNAL OF LINGUISTICS AND LITERARY STUDIES

Swahili Loanwords in Jita: A Sociolinguistic Study of Patterns and Borrowing Factors

Baraka Kasinge Mwikwabe — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The thrust of this paper lies in Swahili loanwords in Jita, with particular attention to sociolinguistic patterns and the factors influencing lexical borrowing. Jita is a Bantu language mainly spoken in Mara Region, Tanzania. While loanwords from languages such as Swahili, English, and neighbouring languages reflect historical, economic, and political influences, the specific motivations and sociocultural changes behind their adoption have not been thoroughly investigated in the language. In this regard, this study has identified the common lexical categories borrowed from Swahili into Jita, as well as the factors underlying this lexical borrowing. This study was guided by the interpretivism paradigm, and it employed qualitative descriptive design. The study employed convenience purposive sampling. The data was collected using non-participant observation and semi-structured interview to explore and thematically analyse Swahili loanwords in Jita and the sociolinguistic factors behind their borrowing. The findings were analysed using thematic analysis, in which the data were grouped according to their similarities (common borrowed words and factors) and sub-themes. In the first objective, the study revealed that in 1,000 Swahili loanwords studied in Jita, 684(68.4%) were nouns, 253(25.3%) were verbs, 34(3.4%) were adjectives, 24(2.4%) were adverbs, 4(0.4%) were conjunctions, and 1(0.1%) was a preposition. In this regard, the nouns and adjectives are the most borrowed words in Jita. The findings for the second objective highlighted that the primary reasons for borrowing in Jita include expressing new concepts and prestige, as Swahili holds more social prestige than Jita. The findings also show that cultural and economic interactions with other languages, particularly through Swahili and English, lead to lexical borrowing in Jita, introducing terms related to technology, trade, and social structures. The analysis dealt with the dynamic nature of linguistic evolution, emphasising factors such as cultural contact, socio-political influences, and technological advancements. The study recommends that future studies should investigate how globalisation and technological changes continue to affect lexical borrowing in Jita and other Bantu languages, encouraging cross-linguistic studies in African languages

Syntactic Analysis of Left Dislocation in Swahili

Elishafati J. Ndumiwe , Kulikoyela Kahigi — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The Change in Personal Names and Naming Practices in the Iraqw Speech Community

Celina Tumainiel Teri, Chrispina Alphonce, Felician Boniface Mgimba — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Personal names and naming customs have changed in the contemporary Iraqw speech community. Most members of the Iraqw speech community today bear foreign names in their formal domain. This is revealed in aspects such as official documents, hospitals, and schools. The traditional naming customs and naming ceremonies for newborns have also evolved. Prior to the implementation of these modifications, the Iraqw speech community's traditional names and naming customs were based on customary ceremonies and rituals. This descriptive qualitative study was conducted in Karatu District, Arusha Region, to analyse the reasons behind changes in personal names and naming customs within the Iraqw speech community. Although many studies, including Arega (2016), Lusekelo and Muro (2018), and Mensa et al. (2020), have examined changes in personal names across different languages, the causes of these changes in the Iraqw language have not been adequately addressed. This study was grounded by the Communication Accommodation Theory. The data for this study were collected from Iraqw native speakers from three schools and two villages in Karatu District. The two villages and their respective schools were purposefully selected because of their limited interaction with other speech communities. To achieve the study’s objective, a semi-structured interview was conducted with 50 informants from the two villages. These were selected through purposive sampling, and the number was determined using the saturation principle to determine an appropriate sample size. The school register books were also reviewed from the three schools, and the collected data were analysed thematically. The study found that foreign religions, specifically Christianity and Islam, as well as the Swahili language, have had a significant influence on Iraqw names. Other factors driving changes in Iraqw names include personal preference, mispronunciation, and spelling errors. Thus, this study suggests that, since Iraqw traditional names are potential lexicons in the Iraqw language, initiatives should be taken to safeguard the remaining Iraqw traditional names.

Exploring Gender Honorifics in Tanzanian Sign Language: Cultural and Linguistic Perspectives

Ildephonce Mkama , Hyasinta Izumba — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Sign Language is the primary mode of communication among members of the deaf community. Sign language is not only influenced by sex distinctions but also reflects the general concern about language and gender equality. That is, analysing sign language can unveil rich insights on how social identities are constructed and communicated within a deaf community. Sign language, as a tool for the transmission of deaf culture, bears cultural influence in both the formation of signs and their use. However, most sociolinguistic studies have been conducted on spoken languages, rather than sign languages. Studies in Tanzania, for instance, have focused on power and participation, as well as gender-responsive language use among students and teachers, leaving sign language discourse largely unexplored. It is against this backdrop that this study examines the influence of cultural-linguistic attributes on the formation of signs in Tanzanian Sign Language (TSL). The study focuses on the extent to which honorifics are represented in these signs. The study analysed the sign language lexicon to identify signs that denote gender, where 10 signs were identified from the Tanzanian Sign Language Dictionary to represent the male and female genders. Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis was adopted as the main analysis tool, complemented with Critical Discourse Analysis to highlight language and gender in their respective contexts of use. Thematic and ethnographic analyses were the main methods employed in the study. The analysis shows that cultural-linguistic attributes have contributed to the formation of gender-based signs. Language attributes, such as dominance and diversity, have underscored the choice and use of such gender-based signs.

The Syntax of Arguments in Sukuma

Joseph Josiah Masaga, Kulikoyela K. Kahigi — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Previous studies have primarily focused on the phonological, morphological, and morphosyntactic aspects of the Sukuma language (cf., e.g., Batibo, 1985; Matondo, 2003, 2006; Jackson, 2013; Alqarni, 2017; Luhende, 2018; Simon & Masanja, 2025), but a significant gap remains in relation to syntactic argument structure and movement processes. Hence, this study fills this gap by analysing the syntactic positions of arguments, their movement patterns, and the role of INFL in Case assignment, as accounted for within the Government and Binding (GB) framework. A sample of four native Sukuma speakers was deliberately selected based on their proficiency in the language. Data were collected using documentary review and unstructured interview. The study adopted a qualitative approach and a case study design, using the Kimunasukuma dialect as a representative of other Sukuma dialects. Sentences are analysed using syntactic trees that reflect the three levels of projection represented in the X-bar schema. The study reveals that the type of verb determines the number of arguments used in a sentence. Additionally, a syntactic argument may be moved from a non-Case-receiving position to a Case-receiving position to satisfy the Case filter. It is also shown that the moved element leaves a co-indexed trace (t_i) to fulfil the requirements of the structural preserving principle. Furthermore, the study displays that INFL assigns nominative Case to external arguments while verbs and prepositions are used to assign accusative and oblique Case to internal arguments, respectively. Consequently, the article contributes to the field of linguistics by examining the syntactic properties of arguments, an area that has been least explored in Sukuma grammar.