Comparing chiShona loanwords of monolingual and bilingual speakers: An Optimality Theory analysis

Abstract

ChiShona is a southern Bantu language spoken mainly in Zimbabwe. In Guthrie (1948) chiShona is classified as an S.10 language, an area which includes other Bantu languages such as chiKalanga and chiNambya. ChiShona like any other language has expanded its lexical stock by borrowing, mainly from the English language. The two languages have different phonologies; English has a much more complex syllable structure than chiShona. There are three major differences: first, chiShona allows open syllables only while English allows closed syllables. Second, chiShona does not allow complex onsets while English can have as many as three consonants in the onset position. Third, chiShona does not permit complex syllable nuclei while English allows long vowels and diphthongs in its syllable structure. This article compares the realisation of loanwords in the speech of chiShona monolinguals and chiShona-English bilinguals. Our findings show that monolingual loanwords are completely assimilated to suit the chiShona phonological structures while in the speech of bilinguals some marked features of the English language such as complex onsets, the lateral approximant and postnasal voiceless obstruents are retained. Both monolinguals and bilinguals do not allow closed syllables and diphthongs which they repair through vowel epenthesis and spreading respectively. The article demonstrates that monolinguals and bilinguals have different constraint hierarchies. The former rank markedness constraints higher than faithfulness constraints while the reverse is true for the latter.

South African Journal of African Languages 2012, 32(2): 141–151