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

successfully adapted, morphologically. In the case of Khoukhu , the adapter will have to confirm that the word is a noun, that its noun class in Tshiven ḓ a is +9 (N(i)-) in singular form and +10 (Dzi-) in plural form, that the word essentially has two morphemes, namely; the noun class prefix (N(i)-/Dzi-) and the noun stem (- Khoukhu ); and that, the locative suffix, -ni , for example, can be attached to the noun, resulting in Khoukhuni (‘at the Coke’). In this instance, the adapter may then affirm that Khoukhu is morphologically adapted into the Tshiven ḓ a lexicon. d) Semantic Adaptation From morphological adaptation, the adapter may also consider the meaning of the loanword, bearing in mind that the meaning of the loanword may either broaden, narrow, completely change or not change at all. At the first level of meaning, Khoukhu in Tshiven ḓ a may certainly mean the actual fizzy drink produced by the Coca Cola Company. However, Khoukhu may also acquire connotative meanings such as ‘bribe money’ or ‘a gift’. In some instances, Khoukhu may be replaced by the word often treated as its synonym in Tshiven ḓ a, Kho ḽ o ḓ irinki (Cold drink), where the word Kho ḽ o ḓ irinki still means either a cold beverage (Coke), a bribe or a gift. Thus, the adapter will have to be well-versed in the varied semantic applications of the loanword, and use it appropriately. Upon undergoing each of the four phases, phonetic adaptation, phonological adaptation, morphological adaptation and semantic adaptation, the word Khoukhu would then be considered part of the Tshiven ḓ a language’s lexical inventory. e) Morpho-Phonological Processes Accompanying Loanword Nativisation in Tshiven ḓ a Although the above description of how the loanword ‘Coke’ is adapted into Tshiven ḓ a may be taken as a prototype of how loanwords are generally adapted into Tshiven ḓ a, it must be noted, however, that the example does not delve deeper into any morpho- phonological rules and processes that the adapter must consider, or at least use to account for the distinctions between ‘Coke’ (English) and Khoukhu (Tshiven ḓ a), for example. It is for this reason that it is deemed necessary to highlight some morpho-phonological processes and/or changes that occur during the loanword adaptation in Tshiven ḓ a. Firstly, it must be stated that Tshiven ḓ a predominantly loans nouns and verbs from English and Afrikaans, and notable in its borrowing process is that, when nouns are loaned from English and Afrikaans, they lack a prefix and noun class, but when adapted into Tshiven ḓ a, they are assigned a prefix and noun class. Implicit in this is that Tshiven ḓ a is a prefixational or prefixal language. For instance, (2) Prophet (English) > Muporofita (Tshiven ḓ a) Mu- (+1) Machine (English) > Mutshini (Tshiven ḓ a) Mu- (+3) When borrowing nouns from English and Afrikaans, either a singular or plural prefix is attached to the noun when it is adapted into Tshiven ḓ a. The aspect of affixation which often manifests either the singularisation or pluralisation of nouns, must not be ignored when describing loanword adaptation in Tshiven ḓ a. Whereas the English language, for example, entails the epenthesis of the consonant/s/ at the end of the base noun to denote plurality, i.e./school(s)/, Tshiven ḓ a, as a prefixal language, deems this grammatically aberrant. Instead, the Tshiven ḓ a employs a plural prefix. This may be evinced in the following morphological environment: (3) ‘Schools’ /Skuls/> [Zwi-<8/p> - + -kolo > [Zwikolo] Whilst on the prefixation of loaned nouns, it is also imperative to hint at the nativisation of an object word of noun class 9, which is done by inserting an invisible noun affix [N(i)-] in Tshiven ḓ a (cf. Zivenge, 2009). In Tshiven ḓ a, the affix [N(i)-] denotes animals and objects such as the ‘computer’. The [N(i)- ] affix signifies singular objects other than those in Class 3 (Mi- ) in Tshiven ḓ a. In a loanword (noun) such as ‘computer’ ( Khomphiyutha/Khomphyutha ), the prefix is invisible because it cannot be a rticulated together with the stem of the base- word. It is only realised grammatically, but does not form part of the word’s phonics. Notable in the word /k ǝ mpju:t ǝ /> [komphyutha] is that only the stem is audible, although the class prefix [N(i)-] is gramma tically present. The class affix [N(i)] also determines the concordial agreement for the base- word [khomphyutha], e.g., (Ni) khomphyutha (ni) a ḓ ura/Khomphyutha i a ḓ ura , ‘The computer is expensive’. In terms of pluralisation of the word Khomphyutha , the Vhaven ḓ a insert the plural prefix [Dzi-] (class +10) to the noun stem instead of attaching the English suffix /s/ at the end of the stem because this is unacceptable in Tshiven ḓ a. Thus, the pluralisation of ‘computer’ in Tshiven ḓ a requires the insertion of t he Class 10 affix, which is both monosyllabic and invisible. It is not articulated together with the noun stem [khomphyutha] but it is grammatically realised. In this sense, the Muven ḓ a adapter is assumed to possesses this intuitive knowledge when adapting the word into the Tshiven ḓ a language. There are also notable structural changes in the sound patterns of the loanwords when they are adapted into Tshiven ḓ a. In such instances, sound changes in loanwords result in the loss of the original speech sounds of the loanword. Sound changes may be caused by the absence of a matching speech sound in Tshiven ḓ a, e.g.: (3) Brood (Afrikaans) > Vhurotho b > Vh Skool (Afrikaans) > Tshikolo s > Tsh Volume XXI Issue IV Version I 43 ( G ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - © 2021 Global Journals Year 2021 Loanword Nativisation in Tshiven ḓ a: A Descriptive Analysis confidently affirm that the loanword has been