An Analysis of Gikuyu Reduplication in the light of Prosodic Morphological Approach
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Date
2013-04-19
Authors
Komu, Mary W.
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Abstract
Linguistic studies on Bantu languages in general and Gikuyu in particular are
rather scanty compared to studies on Western languages. Theories rarely test their
claims on African languages. There is a tendency to generalize what holds for
English to be true in general. The need to test such theories on Gikuyu data is the
driving force behind this study. The study, a Morpho- Phonological analysis of
reduplication as a productive word formation process in Gikuyu applies a Morpho
-Semantic Perspective to Gikuyu nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.
Reduplication, in linguistics, is a morphological process in which the root or stem
of a word or only part of it is repeated. Reduplication is used in inflections to
convey semantic functions, such as plurality, intensification and genuinity and in
lexical derivation to create new words. It is often used, when a speaker adopts a
tone more expressive or figurative than the ordinary speech. Reduplication is often
but not exclusively, iconic in meaning. It is found in a wide range of languages and
language groups, though its level of linguistic productivity varies.
Reduplication is also defined as the doubling of a syllable, part of a word or a
word, sometimes with modifications. As we analyse this phenomenon in Gikuyu,
we find that it often goes beyond the mere suggestion of a certain playfulness or
intimacy it has in some languages and often serves a crucial grammatical function.
Research involves formulating concepts and generalization on a given theory. The
goal of this study is three- fold: to provide an analysis of the variant patterns of
reduplication; to describe the various semantic functions associated with the
variant patterns, and finally to determine how Gikuyu reduplication patterns could
be described using the Prosodic Morphology theoretical approach. This study has
applied the tenets of Prosodic Morphology Theory to Gikuyu data. The effects of
the reduplicant on the language have been explained using the same tenets.
This qualitative study sampled nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs for the
investigation. The data was in form of words and it revealed that there are variant
patterns of reduplication in Gikuyu. Secondly, various semantic functions
associated with those patterns were numbered, described and discussed. Logical
deductions were drawn in relation to the behaviour of the reduplicating
morphemes. Data analysis and presentation was done using principles of the
Prosodic Morphology Theory.
The findings of the analysis of reduplication in this study confirm that there are
variant patterns of Gikuyu reduplication. Those patterns are associated with
various semantic functions. The patterns are drawn from both full and partial
reduplication. Distinct word classes exhibit varying semantic functions. The
reduplicative morphemes that form the patterns are suffixal for full reduplication.
Partial reduplication is typically prefixal. The Prosodic Morphological theoretic
approach is applied to analyse Gikuyu reduplication. Our recommendations were
that a similar study could be done to investigate other Bantu languages or a
comparative study of Bantu languages be conducted to give an overall description
pertaining to this phenomenon.