Student Number : 0311394E -
MA research report -
School of Literature and Language Studies -
Faculty of Humanities / The present study on ‘Multilingualism and change on the Kinyarwanda sound system
post-1994’ focuses on sociolinguistic approaches oriented to the effects of language
contact to Kinyarwanda sound change. Many studies on various multilingual societies
have been conducted, and most of them have focused on multilingualism and language
policy, education and social integration in different multilingual societies. In particular,
most studies conducted on the new linguistic configuration of Rwanda have focused on
language attitudes in a multilingual context, but none of them has tackled the issue of
multilingualism and sound change as a result of language contact. The main hypothesis
expounded in this research is that Kinyarwanda sound variants that can be heard from
current speech arise owing to Kinyarwanda speakers’ language background.
In the light of the literature review on multilingualism and sound change, an extensive
analysis of the most prominent linguistic variables of sound variation in Kinyarwanda
was done, and its evaluation shows that there have been shifts in the sound system of
Kinyarwanda post-1994. It has been shown that some sounds were modified or shifted to
other sounds which exist in neighbouring languages because of contact. In addition to
that, it has been argued that this sound variation has been possible mainly because
Kinyarwanda came into contact with other languages which have different sound
systems. It is hoped that this research will add a new dimension to studies of
multilingualism within Bantu languages and will contribute to yielding a solution to the
Rwandan language problem because of suggestions related to how the Kinyarwanda
sound system can be standardized.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/2123 |
| Date | 26 February 2007 |
| Creators | Habyarimana, Hilaire |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 37736 bytes, 324085 bytes, 10877 bytes, 329896 bytes, 1072609 bytes, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf |
Page generated in 0.0122 seconds