Global Journal of Human Social Science, G: Linguistics and Education, Volume 21 Issue 4

the speech sound, [Kh] (aspirated, velar speech sound). The following speech sound, although only one, ‘o’, sounds like ‘ou’ when articulated in the word ‘Coke’. Thus, the adapter will represent the sound as [ou] in Tshiven ḓ a, according to the sound he or she hears when articulating the speech sounds in the loanword. The subsequent sound, ‘k’ is similar in sound to the first, ‘C’, and is thus also represented as [kh] in Tshiven ḓ a. The last speech sound, ‘e’ in ‘Coke’ sounds like ‘u’ when articulated. Hence, the Muven ḓ a adapter represents it orthographically as [u]. On this basis of phonetic representation (and adaptation), the resultant word then becomes, Khoukhu . Succinctly put, the adapter listened to the sounds and represented them in harmony with the Tshiven ḓ a orthography as thus: (1) [C] > [Kh] [o] > [ou] [k] > [kh] [e] > [u] Notable in the above example is that the orthography of the loanword is different from the resultant adaption. Thus, in adapting the loanword, the adapter’s focus is on matching the sounds of the loanword with the sounds of his or her native language system; focus is not on the ‘spelling’, but solely on the sounds of the word. In Tshiven ḓ a, the adaptation of the loanword begins with the adaptation of sound. b) Phonological Adaptation From phonetic adaptation, the adapter must then proceed to the phase that may be termed ‘phonological adaptation’. Here, particular focus is on whether the resultant word, Khoukhu , conforms to the syllable pattern(s) of Tshiven ḓ a or not. Due to spatial limitations, other phonological aspects such as tone and phonemes will not be discussed, only the Tshiven ḓ a syllable structure and/or pattern will be considered. In this instance, the adapter must confirm that the syllables of the word, Khoukhu , align with the Tshiven ḓ a language’s typical syllable structure, as indicated below: By syllable structure processes, it is meant the manner in which syllable structures are preserved in a particular language (Madigoe, 2003). In essence, syllable structure processes affect the relative distribution of consonants and vowels within a word. Notable in the syllable structure above, the Tshiven ḓ a syllable generally has an onset (O) (Consonant) and Rhyme (R) (Vowel). The rhyme encapsulates the nucleus (N). In the above structure, ‘ σ ’ represents the ‘syllable node’, ‘O’ represents ‘Onset’, ‘R’ represents ‘Rhyme’ while ‘N’ represents ‘Nucleus’. The syllable thus principally constitutes two elements, namely; the Onset which comes at the beginning and the Rhyme which follows it (Katamba, 1989). “Technically”, avers Baixone (2015:5), “the basic elements of the syllable are the onset (one or more consonants) and the rhyme,” where the latter constitutes the rhyme (which comprises the nucleus) and the coda. The basic elements of the syllable that Baixone (2015) refers to are still the onset and the rhyme (sometimes written as ‘rime’). Katamba (1989) views the rhyme as the only essential element of the syllable in English and also in other languages. Katamba further states that “the rhyme is always obligatorily present in all syllables and in all languages. The ‘centre’ of the syllable is known as the “peak or nucleus” (Skandera and Burleigh, 2005:67), or the vocalic element (Ayyub, 1968). Thus, in terms of the Tshiven ḓ a syllable structure, the word, Khoukhu would be considered successfully adapted phonologically if or when its syllables conform to the CV (Consonant-Vowel) pattern or OR (Onset-Rhyme) pattern. c) Morphological Adaptation From phonological adaptation, the adapter must proceed to the morphological adaptation of the loanword, where considerable focus must be on, among other things: (a) determining the word category into which the loanword ( Khoukhu ) falls in Tshiven ḓ a; (b) if it is a noun, determining which noun class the loanword falls into; (c) determining the number of morphemes in the loanword; (d) affixation, i.e., determining whether the loanword permits prefixation and/or suffixation, for © 2021 Global Journals Volume XXI Issue IV Version I 42 ( G ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2021 Loanword Nativisation in Tshiven ḓ a: A Descriptive Analysis σ σ O R O R N N Kh o u kh u example. In fulfilling these four aspects, the adapter may