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

Notable in the above examples is that the prefixes of the loanwords changed completely and where vowels were juxtaposed, one vowel disappeared while the other remained. This is so because there are loanwords from Afrikaans and English whose sound patterns are unacceptable in Tshiven ḓ a, to begin with. For instance, the word, brood (bread) assumes the following syllable pattern: CCVVC (C= Consonant; V=Vowel), whereas in Tshiven ḓ a, where the typical syllable structure is CV, the syllable pattern is: CVCVCV ( Vhurotho ). Another observation here is that clustered consonants in a loanword are separated by a vowel when the loanword is adapted into Tshiven ḓ a. This is so because Tshiven ḓ a does not permit a cluster of consonants in its sound patterns. Furthermore, apart from juxtaposed vowels in loanwords having one vowel disappear, for example, other phonological processes such as vocalisation may be noted when a loanword is adapted into Tshiven ḓ a, as revealed in the example below: (4) Boek (Afrikaans) > Bugu (Tshiven ḓ a) In Tshiven ḓ a, the loanword boek (book) becomes bugu . Note that the vowels /oe/ in boek were replaced by /u/ in Tshiven ḓ a. This is ascribed to the native adapter’s orthographic representation of how the vowels sound in the loanword (phonetic adaptation). Also note that the voiceless speech sound /k/ becomes /g/ in Tshiven ḓ a when the loanword is adapted. This vocalisation process may be explained thus in Tshiven ḓ a: (5) In the example above, the juxtaposed vowels /oe/ in boek are voiced in Tshiven ḓ a (Milubi, 2004). As already indicated, when the vowels/oe/ are articulated in the word boek , they sound like the vowel/u/. Furthermore, the two voiced vowels/oe/ precede the voiceless speech sound /k/. When articulated, the voiced vowels /oe/ spread their +voiced features to the voiceless speech sound /k/, which upon receiving the +voiced features becomes a voiced speech sound /g/. Arguably based on its phenotype, the resultant word is expected to be pronounced Bug (as in Boog ), if one were to isolate and articulate each sound as per articulatory phonetics’ prescribed by the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). However, since the Tshiven ḓ a syllable has no coda, that is, it has no words that terminate with a consonant; all Tshiven ḓ a syllables are open, the adapter is compelled to add the vowel /u/ after the vocalised speech sound /g/, resulting in the word, bugu . Thus, it is possible that non-vocalised speech sounds in a loanword be transformed into vocalised ones in Tshiven ḓ a. Noteworthy in such instances is that the place of articulation of the speech sound rarely changes in Tshiven ḓ a, i.e., /k/ is a velar speech sound and /g/ is a velar speech sound. In the nativisation of loanwords in Tshiven ḓ a, one finds a Merely Adopted word such as khomphyutha (computer). It is a merely adopted word in the sense that, it does not undergo a complete alteration when it is adapted into Tshiven ḓ a. Of course, it does not keep the source language’s form orthographically, but because it retains its pronunciation as it is in the source language, the word is merely adopted into Tshiven ḓ a. Where words are Partially Adopted in Tshiven ḓ a, that is, words that exhibit phonological changes but no morphological alterations, it must be noted that the syllable structure of Tshiven ḓ a would have, in some way or the other, be disregarded in order for such a word to be incorporated into Tshiven ḓ a. An example is the word, mu phre sidende , (as opposed to mu phure sidende ) (president). One may note the violation of the Tshiven ḓ a syllable structure, i.e. the CV syllable pattern, in ‘phre’ which is phonologically aberrant in Tshiven ḓ a. This example is encapsulated here in an effort to highlight the orthographic inconsistencies that tend to characterise the principles undergirding the spelling of loanwords in Tshiven ḓ a (see Tshikota and Musehane, 2020). It is as a result of these orthographic inconsistencies, among other factors, that Partially Adopted loanwords inevitably pervade the Tshiven ḓ a lexicon. Be that as it may, Tshiven ḓ a predominantly manifests Fully Adopted loanwords, where loanwords undergo phonological and morphological changes to conform to the Tshiven ḓ a patterns. The phases undergone by the word ‘Coke’ and the necessity of affixation (prefixation) in borrowed nouns, as shown above, are indicative of Tshiven ḓ a’s success at yielding a majority of Fully Adopted loanwords. V. C onclusion This study discussed how loanwords are adapted into the Tshiven ḓ a linguistic environment. It further highlighted the various phases that a loanword generally undergoes prior to its incorporation into the lexical inventory of Tshiven ḓ a. The phases that the loanword undergoes when it is adapted into Tshiven ḓ a are essentially phonetic, phonological, morphological and semantic adaptations. In discussing these phases, the goal was to illustrate that loanwords are phonetically, phonologically, morphologically and semantically altered to comply with the Tshiven ḓ a phonotactic and other linguistic constraints. Some morpho-phonological processes that are observable in loanword nativisation such as vocalisation, vowel epenthesis and deletion were briefly alluded to. Syllabification and affixation were also targeted, albeit briefly, in an effort to show that they © 2021 Global Journals Volume XXI Issue IV Version I 44 ( G ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2021 Loanword Nativisation in Tshiven ḓ a: A Descriptive Analysis [+voiced] B oe k [-voiced] [ g ] [+voiced]