The English loanwords entered into Lontómbá language have undergone some adaptation in both spelling and pronunciation. This adaptation needs to be explained in a scientific way. This article analyses 100 English loanwords that have been adapted in Lontómbá language at the graphophonic level so as to find out the rules that govern their adaptation in Lontómbá. To reach this purpose, the based-corpus approach is applied in the analysis of data with a focus on spelling of the original English loanwords and the way they are written and pronounced in Lontómbá language. To put it very clear, the analysis is mainly based on the graphs i.e. how letters are combined to produce one sound in English, and how the same letters are adapted in Lontómbá through the process of epenthesis. In this vein, one can understand that this article attempts to answer the question “are there any rules that govern the change in the spelling of graphs of English loanwords in Lontómbá language?” The analysis of data led to the following results: (1) no English word that enters Lontómbá language keeps its original form. That is to say, English words are adapted in Lontómbá by changing the spelling and pronunciation. (2) Each English loanword entering Lontómbá language must have a vowel grapheme ending by the following sub-rules. (3) Digraphs and trigraphs of English words are eliminated by the process of epenthesis. (4) An English loanword adapted in Lontómbá should not contain the graphemes r and c (5) An English loanword adapted in Lontómbá should not contain digraph vowels and digraph consonants. (6) English vowel graphemes are also adapted in Lontómbá language according to the way they are pronounced in English. (7) The consonant grapheme in English words c, g, and d that enter Lontómbá language are adapted by changing c into k or s, g into k, and d into t.
Published in | Communication and Linguistics Studies (Volume 7, Issue 1) |
DOI | 10.11648/j.cls.20210701.13 |
Page(s) | 13-20 |
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), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Epenthesis, Graph, Loanwords, Graphophonic Rules, Lontómbá, and Borrowing
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APA Style
Jean Paul Mola Mbeba. (2021). Graphophonic Rules Governing English Loanwords in Lontómbá Language. Communication and Linguistics Studies, 7(1), 13-20. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cls.20210701.13
ACS Style
Jean Paul Mola Mbeba. Graphophonic Rules Governing English Loanwords in Lontómbá Language. Commun. Linguist. Stud. 2021, 7(1), 13-20. doi: 10.11648/j.cls.20210701.13
AMA Style
Jean Paul Mola Mbeba. Graphophonic Rules Governing English Loanwords in Lontómbá Language. Commun Linguist Stud. 2021;7(1):13-20. doi: 10.11648/j.cls.20210701.13
@article{10.11648/j.cls.20210701.13, author = {Jean Paul Mola Mbeba}, title = {Graphophonic Rules Governing English Loanwords in Lontómbá Language}, journal = {Communication and Linguistics Studies}, volume = {7}, number = {1}, pages = {13-20}, doi = {10.11648/j.cls.20210701.13}, url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cls.20210701.13}, eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.cls.20210701.13}, abstract = {The English loanwords entered into Lontómbá language have undergone some adaptation in both spelling and pronunciation. This adaptation needs to be explained in a scientific way. This article analyses 100 English loanwords that have been adapted in Lontómbá language at the graphophonic level so as to find out the rules that govern their adaptation in Lontómbá. To reach this purpose, the based-corpus approach is applied in the analysis of data with a focus on spelling of the original English loanwords and the way they are written and pronounced in Lontómbá language. To put it very clear, the analysis is mainly based on the graphs i.e. how letters are combined to produce one sound in English, and how the same letters are adapted in Lontómbá through the process of epenthesis. In this vein, one can understand that this article attempts to answer the question “are there any rules that govern the change in the spelling of graphs of English loanwords in Lontómbá language?” The analysis of data led to the following results: (1) no English word that enters Lontómbá language keeps its original form. That is to say, English words are adapted in Lontómbá by changing the spelling and pronunciation. (2) Each English loanword entering Lontómbá language must have a vowel grapheme ending by the following sub-rules. (3) Digraphs and trigraphs of English words are eliminated by the process of epenthesis. (4) An English loanword adapted in Lontómbá should not contain the graphemes r and c (5) An English loanword adapted in Lontómbá should not contain digraph vowels and digraph consonants. (6) English vowel graphemes are also adapted in Lontómbá language according to the way they are pronounced in English. (7) The consonant grapheme in English words c, g, and d that enter Lontómbá language are adapted by changing c into k or s, g into k, and d into t.}, year = {2021} }
TY - JOUR T1 - Graphophonic Rules Governing English Loanwords in Lontómbá Language AU - Jean Paul Mola Mbeba Y1 - 2021/03/12 PY - 2021 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cls.20210701.13 DO - 10.11648/j.cls.20210701.13 T2 - Communication and Linguistics Studies JF - Communication and Linguistics Studies JO - Communication and Linguistics Studies SP - 13 EP - 20 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2380-2529 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cls.20210701.13 AB - The English loanwords entered into Lontómbá language have undergone some adaptation in both spelling and pronunciation. This adaptation needs to be explained in a scientific way. This article analyses 100 English loanwords that have been adapted in Lontómbá language at the graphophonic level so as to find out the rules that govern their adaptation in Lontómbá. To reach this purpose, the based-corpus approach is applied in the analysis of data with a focus on spelling of the original English loanwords and the way they are written and pronounced in Lontómbá language. To put it very clear, the analysis is mainly based on the graphs i.e. how letters are combined to produce one sound in English, and how the same letters are adapted in Lontómbá through the process of epenthesis. In this vein, one can understand that this article attempts to answer the question “are there any rules that govern the change in the spelling of graphs of English loanwords in Lontómbá language?” The analysis of data led to the following results: (1) no English word that enters Lontómbá language keeps its original form. That is to say, English words are adapted in Lontómbá by changing the spelling and pronunciation. (2) Each English loanword entering Lontómbá language must have a vowel grapheme ending by the following sub-rules. (3) Digraphs and trigraphs of English words are eliminated by the process of epenthesis. (4) An English loanword adapted in Lontómbá should not contain the graphemes r and c (5) An English loanword adapted in Lontómbá should not contain digraph vowels and digraph consonants. (6) English vowel graphemes are also adapted in Lontómbá language according to the way they are pronounced in English. (7) The consonant grapheme in English words c, g, and d that enter Lontómbá language are adapted by changing c into k or s, g into k, and d into t. VL - 7 IS - 1 ER -