Abstract
This paper describes an exciting case of adaptation versus adoption of sounds from Kiswahili loanwords integrated into Chimalaba. The data were collected through interviews and targeted elicitation of lexical loanwords containing borrowed sounds. The analysis of adaptation and adoption of Kiswahili sounds into Chimalaba was guided by the assimilation theory (AT), which holds that speakers of the borrowing language always change the phonological patterns of loanwords so as to fit into the system of their language. The findings indicate that phonological integration of Kiswahili loanwords into Chimalaba displays two types of conformity: conformity to the phonological structure of the recipient language (RL); and conformity to the socio historical pressure exerted by the source language (SL). In the former, speakers adapt foreign sounds to preserve the structure of the RL, and in the latter speakers adopt foreign sounds in response to socio-historical pressure put forth by the SL. Thus, adaption and adoption are used concurrently in integrating foreign sounds in Chimalaba so as to serve two different purposes: adaptation serves for structural preservation, and adoption responds to socio-historical pressure exerted by the SL on the RL
Recommended Citation
Amani, Hamisi
(2021)
"Adaptation versus Adoption of Sounds from Kiswahili into Chimalaba,"
Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences: Vol. 10
:
No.
4
, Article 6.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.56279/jhss.v10.i5
Publication Date
11-23-2021
DOI
10.56279/jhss.v10.i5
Publisher
Dar es Salaam University College of Education (DUCE)