Browsing by Author "Goodness, Devet"

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    The shinyiha adjective as a distinct lexical category
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 2014) Goodness, Devet
    The question of how to identify and characterize lexical categories in Bantu languages has always been a challenging problem in Bantu Linguistics. This study examines the adjective as a lexical category in shinyiha in order to show its distinctive status. It applies morph syntactic and semantic criteria to identify and characterize lexical items that deserve to be recognized as adjectives in shinyiha. In doing so, the study uses dual representation hypothesis, which combines the classical approach (i.e., Phrase Structure Grammar) and the Cognitive Approach (i.e., Prototype theory).Data about morphosyntactic distribution and semantic properties were obtained from both primary sources through elicitation and Focus Group Discussion and secondary sources (i.e., oral literature texts). The study in shinyiha, an adjective consists of a root and, morphosyntactically appears with or without an overt prefix and/or augment. The co- occurrence of adjectives is governed by semantic rules. It is argued that, there is a covert copula between each adjective in sequence such that each adjective modifies the bead noun independently. Therefore, a sequence of adjectives cannot form a phrase. In shinyiha, it is uncommon, though not ungrammatical, to pile up adjectives against one noun without explicitly showing concatenation of the epiphets.In addition to what are claimed to be universal semantic properties (i.e., grability, modification, semantic oppositions), certain adjectives are time bound in expressing property concepts. It is observed that, there is no such thing as strict core semantic classes since adjectives are capable of expressing various meanings which cannot be strictly confined to definite classes, The study concludes that based on semantic and morphosyntactic properties (i.e., the presence of category establishing morphology e.g., agreement with the head noun) and category establishing morphology (e.g., derivation of verb to adjective, adjective to abstract noun etc.), Shinyiha adjective is a distinct lexical category.
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    Shinyiha Noun Morphology
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 2008) Goodness, Devet
    This study is about Shinyiha Noun morphology. An attempt has been made to describe the morphological structure of Shinyiha Noun using morphosyntactic approach. The study is basically descriptive although some theoretical aspects have been discussed to some extent. The study has attempted to answer the following questions; first, what is the morphological structure of Shinyiha noun? Secondly, is morphology alone a sufficient criterion to the description of Shinyiha Noun? What is the surface manifestation of the noun class prefixes in Shinyiha? In this study we have attempted to use both syntax and morphology to find out how the two aspects can be used together to provide the best description of the noun. With this approach we have tried to see how the noun prefixes behave in certain morph syntactic manifestation. Contexts and their surface Interview and observation have been used as tools for data collection. Data were obtained from six informants who were native speakers. The dissertation is organized into four chapters; chapter one provides the background information which includes statement of the problem, objectives, significance of the study, literature review and theoretical framework. Chapter two provides general overview of the structure of the Bantu Noun, chapter three contains the analysis of the structure of Shinyiha noun and chapter four is the summary and the conclusion of the study.