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Foreign Sounds in Swahili

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 December 2009

Extract

This monograph was originally intended as a continuation of “Swahili Phonetics”, which appeared in African Studies, vol. 1, nos. 2 and 3, 1942, but war-time typographical difficulties rendered publication impossible then. I am very grateful to the editor of the S.O.A.S. Bulletin for publishing it now. Although it may be read as a separate monograph, some knowledge of Swahili phonetics is necessarily taken for granted, and I have numbered the paragraphs as from the end of “Swahili Phonetics”, so as to allow for cross-reference to that article.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies 1946

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References

page 844 note 1 Mohammad Hilal Barwani, M Ramadhani, Hamisi Bin Juma, Saleh Buesh (from records only).

page 844 note 2 Words of Oriental Origin in Swahili, 1940.

page 844 note 3 It would appear that the dialects of Oman (Muskat) and Mehri (Hadramaut) have contributed most loan words (Krumm, p. 25). The often heard view that Swahili is nothing but an Arabic patois is due to lack of knowledge of what characterizes a Bantu language, and has already been sufficiently dealt with by previous writers to render unnecessary adiscussion of the subject here.

page 855 note 1 By “élite” may be understood in a general way those Swahilis who are of Arab extraction, practise the Moslem faith, possess more than the rudiments of Arab civilization, and whose families (in the case of Zanzibaris) have generally lived on the island a long time. Knowledge of the Arabic language itself, however, beyond the necessities of religion, does not seem to be a vital criterion.

page 855 note 2 In the section borrowings from English, Portuguese, and Arabic have been selected, and their phonetic notation has been brought into the with that of Swahili. The symbols for the Arabic “emphatic” sounds, however, are as in Gairdnerās The Phonetics of Arabic, while those for the Portuguese vowels have been taken from the booklet illustrating the linguaphone course in that language (based on the phonetic system of A. R. G. Viana).

page 856 note 1 p. 63: “The examples show that in words of Arabian and Persian origin the Swahili often heard an i as final sound. They did not know that this i had to express a grammatical relation. The i as final sound was naturally adopted because it was in accordance with their own language, and Persian words with a final i scarcely needed any alternation to become Swahili words.” This suggestion, however, does not explain the –i in borrowings from English.

page 856 note 2 On the analogy perhaps of many Arabio verbal nouns in –a(t).

page 857 note 1 Perhaps < tambu:lu with “submerge” I. See §§ 98–104.

page 857 note 2 Also written sapato, supato.

page 858 note 1 Note that in most other words borrowed from Arabic, is obviously pronounced d3 (not g) in the original.

page 858 note 2 Also kiriб:ti with metathesis.

page 859 note 1 Also ahasante, ahasanta, with interpolated a. Elite form usually: anasant.

page 859 note 2 Notice here assimilation of 1 to n.

Notice here assimilation of n to m.

page 860 note 1 And other compounds embodying the Arabic definite article, like almaisi (diamond), alfaji:ri (dawn).

page 860 note 2 And other verbs beginning with sta–.

page 861 note 1 Orthographically ratili.

page 861 note 2 It is not always possible to find emamples of every phoneme in the words borrowed from some languages.

page 862 note 3 g in Egyptian Arabi and some other dialets. See § 142 n.

page 863 note 1 Also z with certain speakers. See § 80. This is a more common phenomenon than the substitution of s or t for θ.

page 863 note 2 Also z with certain speakers. Aley maintains. however, that is the common sound even in non. “élite” pronunciation, and that θ and z equivalents are found mostly in the Swahili of foreigners (European, Indian, and African).

page 863 note 3 Up-country rendering.

page 864 note 1 Buesh even further velarizes the x in sabalxe:ri (greetings). This post-velar articulation, further back than in Egyptian or Sudanese Arabic, has been noticed in Aleyās pronunciation too, where it may affect preceding vowels. See tari:əx above, § 227.

page 864 note 2 Note also a Dictionary form ruksa.

page 865 note 1 According to Aley, normal (i.e. voiced) h is usual in this word, even among the élite. Also in mhalб0:ri (part of dress). See also бha:ri, § 232.

page 865 note 2 Sometimes there is a lengthening of a vowel, as with those who say tisa:a instead of ti:sa (nine) Ar. . In such a case there may also be a slight roughening of the voice, but even in Aley's pronunciation it does not reach the intensity of Arabic itself.

page 867 note 1 See The Phonetics of Arabic, p. 42, for Egyptian Arabic. Some idea of Sudan Arabic vowels (which are very similar) may be found in A. Worsley's Sudanese Grammar.

page 869 note 1 Usually in the neigh bourhood of consonants correspoding to x and h in Arabic. but note:—

page 869 note 2 Usually in unstressed syllables. But note:—

page 869 note 3 But not in connection with r. with q (), however, a is often heard as in Classical Arbic. It is possible that the Arabic of religion plays a large part influencing “élite” pronunciation. Note further that a is also heard with —a non-Classical feature.

page 871 note 1 Compare the Standard Dictionary forms: taibu, sheik, shehe, zeituni, deni, Sayidi, Saidi, Seyyid, laini, bilauri, sauti, lozi, saumu, somu, fauka, foko, jozi, maulana, mola.

page 871 note 2 Note, however, the Arabic 3rd pers. pl. forms: (5th form) and sahan (1st form).