This paper examines the morphological properties of place names in Runyambo, a Bantu language spoken in the north western part of Tanzania in Karagwe and Kyerwa districts of Kagera region. The structure of place names is as important as their meaning as far as the language is concerned. The paper is qualitative with descriptions of place names. Data was collected through unstructured interviews and focus group discussions. This paper employs the toponymic typology developed by Jan Tent and David Blair. It was found that Runyambo place names have varied morphology with some place names found in the locative noun classes 16 and 17. Most place names differ from nouns in not possessing augment, possessing a unique agreement which do not reflect the prefix on the names to the other categories occurring with it. Place names in Runyambo are also formed through reduplication, compounding with some of them being sentential. The prepositions nya (cl.9), rwa (cl.11), ca (cl.7) ‘of’ seem to form most of the nouns in addition to cl. 17 o-mu- and class 16 a-ha-. Place names in Runyambo are also found by attaching the noun class prefix. Some of the names are sentential. It is concluded that place names in Runyambo differ from nouns hence they form a unique category.
| Published in | International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 12, Issue 1) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ijll.20241201.13 |
| Page(s) | 16-26 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Place Names, Agreement, Morphology, Syntax, Noun Class
| [1] | Anindo, C. A morphosemantic study of toponyms: Lulogooli place names. M. A. Dissertation. University of Nairobi, 2016. |
| [2] | Bermudez-Otero, R. The architecture of grammar and the division of labour in exponence. In The morphology and phonology of exponence, Jochen T. Ed. Oxford University Press: Oxford: 2012, pp 8–83. |
| [3] | Helmbrecht, J., Handschuh C. Die Regeln zur Formation von Personennamen-eine typologische Studie. Handout. Mainz, 2016. |
| [4] | Kabaso, F M. A morphological and semantic analysis of nicknames in Ng’umbo. M. A. Dissertation. The University of Zambia, 2016. |
| [5] | Katoke, I. The Karagwe Kingdom: A history of the Abanyambo of North West Tanzania since 1400-1915. Nairobi: East African Publishing House, 1975. |
| [6] | Katushemererwe, F., Hanneforth, T. Fsm2 and the morphological analysis of Bantu nouns – First Experiences from Runyakitara. International Journal of Computing and ICT research, Special Issue, 2010, 4(1), 58-69. |
| [7] | Klugah, M. A. Recounting history through linguistics: A toponymic analysis of Asogli migration narratives. African Journal of History and Culture. 2013, 5(8), 151-159. |
| [8] | Köhnlein, B. The morphological structure of complex place names: The case of Dutch. The Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics. 2015, 18, 183–212. |
| [9] | Komaraa, U., Sobarnab, C., Gunardic, G., Syad, A. A Linguistic Study of Toponymy and Environmental Identity in Sundanese Ethnic. International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change. 2019, 8(3), 398-412. |
| [10] | Marjie-Okyere, S. A Linguistic Survey of Types of Names among the Babukusu of Kenya. Global Journal of Human Social Science, 2015, 15 (3), 34-42. |
| [11] | Maho, J. F. A classification of the Bantu languages: An update of Guthrie’s referential system. The Bantu Languages, Nurse, D., Philpson, G. Eds., Routledge: London, New York; 2003, pp. 639-651. |
| [12] | Mojapelo, M. L. Morphology and semantics of proper names in Northern Sotho. South African Journal of African Languages. 2009, 29(2): 185–194. |
| [13] | Rugemalira, J. M. Runyambo verb extension and constraints on predicate structure. Ph, D. Thesis, Berkeley, CA: University of California, 1993. |
| [14] | Schlücker, B., Ackermann, T. The morphosyntax of proper names: An overview. Folia Linguistica. 2017, 51(2), 309-339. |
| [15] | Schoenbrun, D. L. The historical reconstruction og Great Lakes Bantu Clutural Vocabulary: Etymologies and Distributions. 1997, Rüdiger Köppe Verlag: Köln. |
| [16] | Tahat, A. Morphological patterns of personal naming practice: A case of non-concatenative Arabic language. International Journal of Academic Research in business and social sciences. 2020, 20(6), 572-585. |
| [17] | Tent, J., Blair, D.. Motivations in naming: the development of a toponymic typology for Australian place names. Names. 2011, 59, 67-89. |
| [18] | Vitas, D., Krstev C., Maurel, D. A note on the semantic and morphological properties of proper names in the Prolex Project. Lingvisticæ Investigationes. 2007, 30(1), 115-133. |
APA Style
Mpobela, L. (2024). Morphological Properties of Place Names in Runyambo. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 12(1), 16-26. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20241201.13
ACS Style
Mpobela, L. Morphological Properties of Place Names in Runyambo. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2024, 12(1), 16-26. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20241201.13
AMA Style
Mpobela L. Morphological Properties of Place Names in Runyambo. Int J Lang Linguist. 2024;12(1):16-26. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20241201.13
Share This Article
Twitter
Linked In
Facebook
Copy
Download@article{10.11648/j.ijll.20241201.13,
author = {Lea Mpobela},
title = {Morphological Properties of Place Names in Runyambo},
journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
volume = {12},
number = {1},
pages = {16-26},
doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20241201.13},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20241201.13},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20241201.13},
abstract = {This paper examines the morphological properties of place names in Runyambo, a Bantu language spoken in the north western part of Tanzania in Karagwe and Kyerwa districts of Kagera region. The structure of place names is as important as their meaning as far as the language is concerned. The paper is qualitative with descriptions of place names. Data was collected through unstructured interviews and focus group discussions. This paper employs the toponymic typology developed by Jan Tent and David Blair. It was found that Runyambo place names have varied morphology with some place names found in the locative noun classes 16 and 17. Most place names differ from nouns in not possessing augment, possessing a unique agreement which do not reflect the prefix on the names to the other categories occurring with it. Place names in Runyambo are also formed through reduplication, compounding with some of them being sentential. The prepositions nya (cl.9), rwa (cl.11), ca (cl.7) ‘of’ seem to form most of the nouns in addition to cl. 17 o-mu- and class 16 a-ha-. Place names in Runyambo are also found by attaching the noun class prefix. Some of the names are sentential. It is concluded that place names in Runyambo differ from nouns hence they form a unique category.
},
year = {2024}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Morphological Properties of Place Names in Runyambo AU - Lea Mpobela Y1 - 2024/01/18 PY - 2024 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20241201.13 DO - 10.11648/j.ijll.20241201.13 T2 - International Journal of Language and Linguistics JF - International Journal of Language and Linguistics JO - International Journal of Language and Linguistics SP - 16 EP - 26 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2330-0221 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20241201.13 AB - This paper examines the morphological properties of place names in Runyambo, a Bantu language spoken in the north western part of Tanzania in Karagwe and Kyerwa districts of Kagera region. The structure of place names is as important as their meaning as far as the language is concerned. The paper is qualitative with descriptions of place names. Data was collected through unstructured interviews and focus group discussions. This paper employs the toponymic typology developed by Jan Tent and David Blair. It was found that Runyambo place names have varied morphology with some place names found in the locative noun classes 16 and 17. Most place names differ from nouns in not possessing augment, possessing a unique agreement which do not reflect the prefix on the names to the other categories occurring with it. Place names in Runyambo are also formed through reduplication, compounding with some of them being sentential. The prepositions nya (cl.9), rwa (cl.11), ca (cl.7) ‘of’ seem to form most of the nouns in addition to cl. 17 o-mu- and class 16 a-ha-. Place names in Runyambo are also found by attaching the noun class prefix. Some of the names are sentential. It is concluded that place names in Runyambo differ from nouns hence they form a unique category. VL - 12 IS - 1 ER -
Department of Languages and Linguistics, School of Education, Saint Augustine University of Tanzania, Mwanza, Tanzania
Information