Vowel Harmony in Kuria

Authors

Mary Zacharia Charwi, University of Dar es salaamFollow

Abstract

This paper describes vowel harmony in Kuria, an Eastern Bantu Language spoken in Tanzania and Kenya. It is indicated that Kuria has seven vowels which are contrastive in length, and which are not freely distributed. Two types of vowel harmony are explained, namely ‘the stem controlled vowel harmony’ and ‘the dominant vowel harmony’, each of which could be progressive or regressive. The paper also shows the distribution of Kuria vowels in nominal prefixes and pre-prefixes. Essentially long vowels can occur in any position but not in initial and final positions. The phonological processes that affect Kuria vowels are also accounted for.

Recommended Citation

Charwi, Mary Zacharia (2012) "Vowel Harmony in Kuria," Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences: Vol. 1 : No. 2 , Article 9.
Available at: https://doi.org/vlm1.2.2