International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences

Vol-7, Issue-3; May-Jun, 2022

Journal Home Page Available: https://ijels.com/

Journal DOI: 10.22161/ijels

Phonological Processes of Shambaa

Anuarite Samwel Mndeme, Nestory Nyamwala Ligembe (PhD)

Department of Languages and Linguistics, St. Augustine University of Tanzania, Mwanza

E-mail: anuaritemndeme@yahoo.com & nligembe@yahoo.co.uk

Received: 20 Apr 2022; Received in revised form: 10 May 2022; Accepted: 16 May 2022; Available online: 23 May 2022
©2022 The Author(s). Published by Infogain Publication. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Abstract— This study set out to describe the phonological processes of Shambaa and establish phonological
rules governing the phonological processes of Shambaa. The study was done at Mlalo, Ubiri and Vuga
villages found in Lushoto District Tanga Region-Tanzania. The target population of the study were adult
native speakers of Shambaa. The study used a purposive sampling procedure to select 10 participants from
whom data was collected through interviews, documentary review and observation. The data were presented
and analyzed using phonetics and phonological rules. The findings of the study reveal that phonological
processes which occur in Shambaa are glide formation, vowel lengthening, high vowel deletion, glide
insertion, vowel nasalization, consonants deletion, epenthesis, voicing, homorganic nasal assimilation,
aspiration and substitution. Finally, the study recommends, that other researchers conduct more research
on the Shambaa language and come up with more theories and results.
Keywords— Phonological process, Underlying representation (UR), Surface Realization (UR),
Compensatory vowel lengthening (CVL), Penultimate vowel lengthening (PVL), ____ Proceeds /exceeds.

I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND processes errors which children make when they are
TO THE STUDY learning to speak like adults.
Phonological processes are situations that happen in speech Shambaa is a Bantu language spoken in Lushoto District-
sounds and affect them during articulation. The affected Tanga region Tanzania. The origin of the Shambaa can be
sound reveals changes in the manner of articulation, the traced back to those dates when the Bantu people migrated
place of articulation and, or voicing. The speech sound is from the west and southern part of Congo, then settled into
normally represented in two consecutive parts; that is the heavy rainfall areas where they adopted the banana culture.
underlying representation and the surface realization. The Kimambo (1969) cited by Shekumkai (1990) states that by
underlying representation includes the speech sounds which the end of the first millennium A. D., when Guthrie (1948)
every native speaker accommodates in his/her cognitive classified Bantu languages into geographic zones, Shambaa
store or the written speech sounds, while the surface was given zone G20 number G23.
realization of sounds is the sounds articulated by the There are three main dialectal areas in Shambaa land: the
articulatory organs. Phonological processes occur when the north with Mlalo as the centre, the south based at Korogwe,
surface realization appears to be different from its and the central with Lushoto as the centre. The differences
counterpart which is the underlying representation. This between the three dialects are minor, and most are into-
happens when some sounds are deleted during articulation national although some sound changes are going on which
or where there is a change of the original sound with a might eventually lead to a different restructuring of the
different sound. This again happens only in surface phonologies of the dialects. Furthermore, Kiswahili is
realization while the real sound segment remains as they are having quite a pronounced impact on the language,
in the person’s cognate and or, the underlying especially in the Lushoto and Korogwe dialect due to
representation. Bowen (2011) calls these phonological urbanization but Mlalo dialect remain conservative as it is

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Mndeme et al. Phonological Processes of Shambaa

in a remote area. However, speakers understand each other processes of English. They, for example, present cluster
and can switch from one dialect to another when the need simplification as the deletion of two or more consonant
arises, Besha (1993, p. 3). sounds during the articulation. Their example of this is
Mberia (2002), discovered phonological processes in adults shown in Example (1):
when he conducted research in Kitharaka. That is to say, UR PR/SR
phonological processes can happen to diverse age groups in (1) /giraffe/ [ǰǝrǽf]
human speech sounds and any language.
In Example (1), stress is placed on the final weak cluster.
This can be exemplified by postulating the underlying
II. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM lexical presentation ‘girᴂffe’. Here according to Chomsky
The concept of phonological processes has been generally and Halle (ibid), the rule of stress placement assigns
defined as an individual’s mental operations about primary stress to the penultimate syllable.
phonological information, especially the use of the sound Glide is another phonological process involving semi-vowel
structure of one’s spoken language in learning to decode /y/ or semi consonant /w/, also known as non-syllabic
written language (McBride-Chang 1996). Torgesen, et al. voiced. It occurs when these consonants assume the roles of
(1994), in their longitudinal research, came up with the idea vowel /i/ /u/, respectively.
that phonological awareness of individual differences in the Hamann (2011) analyzed palatal glide in German. The
development of reading skills is very important. This author explains that German has no phonemic labiovelar
convinced the researcher to take a step of writing this glide [w], but phonetically this segment occurs as the
dissertation because ethnic community languages rapidly second part of the falling diphthong [aw]. However, in some
change and hence lose their original underlying loan words, there is a change of the form /u/ to /w/. For
representation and therefore uncertainty to researchers of example, the word like ‘guava’ [gu.ˈa. vǝ] can be realized
proto-language and language change. as [ˈgwa. vǝ] in fast speech. A syllabic high front tense
III. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY vowel [i] in prevocalic position can be re-syllabified as the
The study focused on the Phonological Processes in onset of the following syllable and realized as a glide. The
Shambaa. The study pursued two main objectives as examples are given below:
follows: UR SR
i. To identify the phonological processes of (2) /nation/ [na.ˈʦjo:n]
Shambaa. /union/ [ʊ.ˈnjo:n]
ii. To examine the rules governing phonological
Vowel nasalization is another process whereby a vowel
processes of Shambaa.
acquires the nasal features of the adjacent nasal sound
(Massamba, 2011). Examples from the English language are
IV. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
given in Example (3):
The study focused on the phonological processes of
UR SR
Shambaa, it is hoped that it will be an important source for
reference to future researchers. Moreover, it contributes to (3) (a) /can/ [kæn]
linguistic literature in the understanding of the phonological (b) /man/ [mæn]
processes of the Bantu languages. Furthermore, future In the above examples, the vowels that are adjacent to nasal
researchers can use it as a source of knowledge. It is also consonants become nasalized.
beneficial for the future generation to appreciate their local
Coalescence is a type of assimilation in which two adjacent
languages for their developments. In other words, the study
sound segments affect one another. The effect triggered by
is a useful source of data to support linguistic theories as far
this kind of juxtaposition is twofold. On the one hand, the
as phonological processes in Bantu languages.
two segments are retained, but neither one of them retails all
but only its original features. In other words, each one of the
V. LITERATURE REVIEW two segments either changes some of its features or acquires
extra features. On the other hand, such a juxtaposition
Scholars analyzed and described the phonological processes
results in the disappearance of both segments. Whenever
of human speech sounds and most of them considered these
this happens, an entirely; new segment replaces the two
processes as errors in the actual speech sound production.
segments acting as some sort of compromise. The first kind
Chomsky and Halle (1968), in their book entitled “Sound
of coalescence usually involves consonants only. Schame
Patterns of English,” analyzed many phonological

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Mndeme et al. Phonological Processes of Shambaa

(1978), as cited by Massamba (2011), cites some examples Coalescence in the Swahili language as seen in Example
of this type of coalescence from the Korean language as (9):
shown in Example (4): UR SR GLOSS
ԧ
(4(a) Nak “fall” +hwa “flower Nak wa “fallen”
(b) Kup “bend” +hila “cause” Kuphi “to bend” (9) /wa+ingine/ [wԑ:ŋginԑ] others
In Example (4), the sounds [k], and [p], get aspirated as the /pa+ingine/ [pԑ:ŋginԑ] Somewhere
sound [h] acquires aspiration characteristics.
Another phonological process is aphaeresis, whereby a In the examples above, the low back vowel sound /a/
sound or syllable in the initial position disappears during the combines with the high front vowel sound /i/ and forms a
articulation. Massamba (ibid) gives examples from English new short, mid vowel sound segment /ԑ/which becomes
and German in the examples (5 and 6). lengthened (vowel lengthening) to compensate for the lost
UR SR duration of the two vowels which have disappeared.

(5) I am going I’m going Ismail (2000) observed vowel nasalization in Makua.
Examples extracted from his work is given in Example (10):
I have no money I’ve no money
UR SR GLOSS
German UR SR GLOSS
(10) /mura/ [mũra] bow
(6) Wiegehtes wiegeht’s how are you?
/nupa/ [inũpa] house
In Example (5), the first sound in the word ‘am’ was deleted
to remain with the sound [m], which then joins with [I] to In the examples above, vowels that are adjacent to either the
make ‘I’m’. A comma separates [me] and [m] to show that preceding or the following nasal consonants become
they are two words. It is also found that in the word ‘have’, nasalized.
the two initial sounds [h] and [a] have been deleted to realize In Kiha Nyanzira (2015) reported homorganic nasal
the word ‘I, ve’. In Example (6), the last word /es/, the initial assimilation. Kiha nasal sounds, for instance, :/m/, /Ƞ/ and
sound [e], was deleted, and the sound ‘s’ joins with the /n/ are assimilated to bilabial /b/, velar /g/ and alveolar /d/.
previous word to make the words [ghet’s’]. Example (11) demonstrates the process:
Prothesis is another phonological process involving. the UR SR GLOSS
insertion of sounds during the articulation of words. (11) /n + doza/ [ndoza] ‘will come’
Massamba provided examples in the English language as
indicated in (7):
/n + golola/ [ngolola] ‘straight’
UR SR
/n + boge/ [mboge] ‘wind’
(7) /spasm/ [spazǝm]
The above data show that homorganic nasal assimilation in
/cycle/ [saykǝl] Kiha takes place where nasal consonants precede stops, that
In the examples above, the sound schwa [ǝ] has been is [b], [d], and [g]. The prefix n is the underlying
inserted in the surface realization. stand The reason here is representation that may be revealed in phonological
that it is very hard to pronounce those words without representation by m, Ƞ, and n, depending on the following
inserting the schwa sound in the position. Epenthesis is a stops b, d, and g.
similar process whereby a sound is inserted in the initial Mrosso (2016) reported anaptyxis in Chagga loan words
position of a word. Hyman (1975) gives examples in from Kiswahili. This is a phonological process whereby an
Spanish in Example (8); extra vowel is inserted between two consonants to break
UR SR GLOSS consonant sequences and simplify the articulation.
(8) /spana/ [ԑspana] Spanish Examples are given in (12):

/stufa/ [ԑstufa] stove (12) Kiswahili Chagga Gloss

In the examples above, the vowel /ԑ/ is inserted in the initial /almasi/ [alimasi] ‘diamond’
position of all words with double consonants to conform to /kliniki/ [kiliniki] ‘clinic’
the language rule. Shambaa has been studied by some scholars, the most
Phonological processes in Bantu languages also have been extensive linguistic description being by Roehl in 1911. He
discussed by different scholars. Massamba analyzed described the tone-marked descriptive grammar of Sambaa

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in German. During his time in Usambara, he described and population of Shambaa speakers. The researcher selected
analyzed the language and translated the New Testament these informants having in mind that the native speakers of
into Sambaa. According to Odden, Roehl’s grammar made the language are proficient to the language including the
Shambaa one of the first Bantu languages to have published appropriate articulation of the words so as to get correct
information on tones (Odden, 1982). Roehl’s book also pronunciation of the language. The researcher used the same
included some traditional stories which are tone-marked and participants to verify the data collected through
translated. Odden wrote about Shambaa tonal phenomena in documentation.
1978. Besha (1993) wrote the grammar and vocabulary of The data were analyzed, transcribed and presented
Shambaa. Riedel (2009) dealt with the syntax of object systematically employing a qualitative approach and the
marking in Sambaa. Researchers studied Shambaa, but no descriptive technique as Malande (2011) advises that once
one has written about Shambaa’s phonological processes. the linguist has collected enough data, she does a step-by-
In all the research presented, no scholar focused on the step analysis which covers the Phonological, Morphological
phonological processes of the Shambaa language. That is, and Syntax of the language if all these levels had not been
Steere (1867) dealt with Shambaa alphabets, vocabularies analyzed before. The Shambaa words were analyzed and
and numbers. Roehl (1911) wrote about tone-marked described by using phonetic rules and the rule order to
descriptive grammar. Odden (1978) wrote about Shambaa discover which word would accept a certain rule, which rule
tonal phenomena. Besha (1993) wrote out the grammar comes first and which one could follow in its distributional
vocabulary of Shambaa. Riedel (2009) dealt with the syntax relations among words of the language in question.
of object marking in Sambaa. Saguti (2015) analyzed the
verbal extension in Kishambaa. The gap thus prompted the
VII. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
current study to examine and realize knowledge on
Shambaa phonological processes hence this study has 7.1 Phonological Processes of Shambaa
bridged the gap. The study focused on the Phonological Processes in
Shambaa. The study intended to answer two major
questions: the first one was, “What are the phonological
VI. METHODOLOGY
processes of Shambaa?” This was the main objective used
The study used interviews, documentary reviews and by the researchers in collecting data from Shambaa native
observation in collecting data. The researcher chose the speakers. Due to the nature of the study, the researchers
approach due to its ability to better under phenomena. The couldn’t request or interview the Shambaa native speakers
researchers applied descriptive design whereby she and obtain directly the phonological processes from them.
observed and described the behaviour of speech sounds of This is because the term or idea is more linguistically than
the language in question. The design also entailed analyzing mere language, the interview tool was used to collect raw
phonological processes, description of rules and materials (Shambaa sayings, songs, stories) and some words
interpreting data. were obtained from Shambaa documentary reviews, then
The study was done in Lushoto District in Tanga Region- taken to respondents to be pronounced and the researchers
Tanzania, where the native speakers of Shambaa are found. observed their pronunciation and recorded the process of
The target population of the study were adult native transcription to have their surface realization. For the
speakers of Shambaa. A non-probability sampling collected data from Shambaa sayings and songs, the
procedure was used to select 10 respondents who researchers selected only some words which suited the
participated in the study. The researcher intended to use 9 study, analyzed and transcribed them to get phonological
respondents, 3 participants from each village but then processes found in the language and determined the rules
snowball sampling added one more in Ubiri village that govern the processes. The analysis revealed the
following the advice from respondents. The snowball following phonological processes in the language: glide
sampling was used to get the knowledgeable respondents formation, vowel nasalization, vowel lengthening, vowel
for the study. deletion, epenthesis, glide insertion, vowel coalescence,
According to the nature of the study only 10 native speakers voicing vs. devoicing/ apocope, homorganic nasal
of Shambaa were used following the ideas Limponitugul assimilation, consonants aspiration, consonants deletion
(2009) who argues that it is not possible for the researcher and substitution.
to survey the whole population due to time and financial Glide Formation
constraints especially when the population is very large, Glide formation (GF) is a phonological process which has
hence only few representatives. Therefore, the selected the effect of changing high vowel sound segments /u/ into
sample were used as the representatives of the entire

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Mndeme et al. Phonological Processes of Shambaa

glide /w/ and /i/ into glide /y/ during the articulation of A back glide /w/ is a half vowel and also a half consonant.
certain words with these sounds. This process does not Linguistically this is known as semi-vowel or semi-
affect identical vowel sequences since one of the identical consonant or a glide. In identification processes, a glide has
vowels gets deleted and the remaining vowel lengthens in neither consonantal features nor vocalic features that is the
such sequence. The Glide formations of Shambaa are reason for it to be called a glide. In glide formation, the high
explained below. Consider the formation of glide sound /w/. back vowel /u/ is articulated into glide sound segment [w]
The Formation of /w/ Sound when it precedes a non-identical vowel. Examples and
elaborations are given in (13).

(13) UR PR GLOSS

(a) /muae/ [mwa:e] dirt smock

(b) /muati/ [mwa:ti] rain season
(c ) /muavi/ [mwa:vi] wood spoon
(d) /muitango/ [mwi:tango] the call
(e ) /muomo/ [mwo:mo mouth
(f) /fuo/ [fuwo] foam
(g) /muanga/ [mwa:nga] smell of burnt food
(h) /uanga/ [uwanga] up
(i) /u+a+dik+a/ [wa:dika] You cooks
(j) /mu+a+ja/ [mwa:ja] Are you eating?

The process is not restricted to nouns only as it can also take Formation of /y/ Sound
place in infinitive verbs with stem-initial vowel sequences In Shambaa a front glide [y] is formed when a high front
as in /a, e, i, and o/ as seen from the examples in (13). The vowel /i/ is followed by a non-identical vowel. This takes
data above, can be explained that, a high back vowel /u/ place across the morpheme and/or word boundaries of
becomes a palatal sound or a glide sound /w/ in the nouns as seen in the examples below:
environment where it was immediately preceded by another
vowel sounds such as /a, e, i, or o/.
(14) UR PR/SR GLOSS
(a) /mi + oyo/ [myoyo] heart
(b) /mi + aka/ [myaka] year
(c) /mi + ao/ [miyao] Wood reserve
(d) /mi + undi/ [miyundi] feet
(e ) /mi + embe/ [miyembe] Mango trees
(f) /mi + enge/ [mye:nge] Uhuru torches
(g) /mi+omo/ [myo:mo] laws
(h) /mi+avi/ [mya:vi] Wood spoons
(i) /mi+ongo/ [myo:ngo] tens

From the examples in (14), the high front vowel /i/ has However, not everywhere when the sound /y/ is found is
acquired glide feature [y], in the environment where it was said to be a glide as some vocabularies can have all
immediately preceded other vowel sounds (a, e, o, i). conditions but yet are not glide. The data in (15) elaborate
this:

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Vol-7, Issue-3; May-Jun, 2022

Journal Home Page Available: https://ijels.com/

Journal DOI: 10.22161/ijels

(15) UR PR/SR GLOSS

/myayu/ [myayu] Yawns
/pyenkua/ [pyenkua] remove chaff from grain
/myagha/ [myagha] Spricle
h
/mpya/ [mp ya] New
/hya/ [hya] Be burnt
/vyala/ [vya:] Give birth
/fyosa/ [fyosa] Sack
/nyungu/ [nyungu] Pot
/nyama/ [nyama] Meat
/nyoa/ [nyoa] Peel
/fyoghosha/ [fyoghosha] Crush with hands

Therefore, the speaker especially the linguist who is not vowel sound acquires some nasal features due to its being
familiar with Shambaa should be careful in this so as not to adjacent to a nasal sound. In Shambaa this situation occurs
mislead. when a vowel sound is adjacent to bilabial nasal sound /m/
Vowel Nasalization and or an alveolar nasal sound /n/. Examples in (16) show
how bilabial nasal sounds and alveolar nasal sounds affect
Another phonological process discovered was vowel
vowels sounds, adjacent to them.
nasalization. Vowel Nasalization is a process whereby a

(16) UR PR/SR GLOSS

(a) /mḛsho/ [mḛsho] Eyes
(b ) /mishi/ [mῖshi] Days
(c ) /moshi/ [mõshi] Smock
(d) /nange/ [nãnge] Calabash
(e ) /nongo/ [nõngo] Dirty
(f) /mazi/ [mãzi] Water
(g) /mee/ [mḛe] Milk
(h) /mangaa/ [mangã:] A kind of fish

From the examples in (16) above, we note that the vowels vowels have been discovered as victims of this process. The
that preceded the nasal consonant sounds were nasalized, high vowel sounds /u/ and /i/ get deleted when they occur
the vowels immediately followed after nasal consonant immediately following a consonant. The process is
sounds were nasalized and the vowels that come between accompanied by the syllabification of the preceding nasal
nasal consonant sounds were all nasalized. consonant. In Shambaa the study has discovered the
High Vowel Deletion following:

Vowel Deletion is a process whereby a high vowel gets Deletion of /u/ Sound
deleted in a certain environment. In Shambaa, two high

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In Shambaa language, a high back vowel sound /u/ deletes nasal sound /mu/ to the singular noun class. The examples
when attached as a prefix syllable preceded by a bilabial below explain more:

(17) UR SR GLOSS
(a) /mu+ghoshi/ [Mghosh] Man
(b) /mu+bavi/ [M’bavi] Thief
(c) /mu+vyele/ [nvye:] woman
(d) /mu+ ndele/ [mnde:] a girl
(e) /mu + bwanga/ [m’bwanga] a boy

From the above examples, the study has discovered that u Deletion of the high Vowel Sound /i/
is deleted when it is preceded by bilabial nasal sound m as When it is attached as a prefix syllable, the Shambaa
in (17) (a)-(e) above. In (17) example c, it can be said that language deletes a high front vowel proceeded by an
after the deletion of the high vowel sound /u/, the bilabial alveolar nasal sound /n/ to noun class. The data in (18)
nasal sound /m/ is assimilated to labial dental fricative elaborate this:
sound /v/ and changes itself as it has acquired alveolar nasal
sound [n] in surface representation.

(18) UR PR/SR GLOSS

(a) /ni + bogha/ [m’mbogha] Its vegetable
(b) / ni + kweli/ [n’kwei] It’s true
(c ) /ni + tate / [n’tate] Its father
(d) /ni + mame/ [m’mame] Its mother
(e ) /ni + baba [m’baba] It is grandfather

Epenthesis Vowel insertion (VI) is a process which inserts a vowel in a

Epenthesis is the process whereby a segment is inserted in a consonant cluster. In Shambaa loan words, vowels are
position other than the initial. It may be in between or in the inserted in order to block the consonant sequence not
final position. In Shambaa the discovered epentheses are acceptable in Shambaa linguistic rules.
Vowels and Glide insertion. (19) Vowel Insertion (Data from the English language)
Vowel Insertion

(19) English Shambaa Gloss

(a) /Blanket/ [bwa:ngeti] Blanket
(b) /Israel/ [Isilayeli] Israel
(c ) /Mary/ [Maliya] Mary
(d) /Christ/ [Kilisito] Christ

From the examples in (19) above, it was discovered that a vowel is inserted between two consonants or at the final
vowel is inserted between consonant clusters in order to position where consonant sounds put the boundary. This
block the sequence of consonants which violates the happens in order to block the system of CC which is not
sequential of Shambaa, and in the final position because acceptable in Shambaa. Data from Kiswahili (20).
Shambaa does not allow closed syllables. That is to say, a

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Vol-7, Issue-3; May-Jun, 2022

Journal Home Page Available: https://ijels.com/

Journal DOI: 10.22161/ijels

(20) Swahili Shambaa Gloss

(a) Israeli [Isilayeli] Israel
(b) Maria [Maliya] Mary
(c ) Yeremia [Yeremiya] Jeremiah
(d) Gabrieli [Gabuliyeli] Gabriel
(e ) Zakaria [Zakaliya] Zachariah

From the examples above it is noted that in each name ,there block the occurrence of two vowels sequence. There are two
is more than one process taking place. In (20) (a), the vowel types of glide insertion in this language, namely:
insertion has taken place in the second syllable to cancel the (21) (a) /w/ Insertion
CC system which is not allowed in Shambaa and created CV (b) /y/ Insertion
system which is acceptable in this language. In the same /w/ Insertion
noun, the sound /r/ is deleted, and its gap is compensated A back glide /w/ is inserted between the beginning and
with a lateral /l/ sound to make the noun acceptable in ending points of diphthongs oe, au, ao, uo, and ua. The data
Shambaa. in (22) confirm this:
Glide Insertion /w/ Insertion
Glide Insertion is a process which inserts a glide in a certain
environment. In Shambaa a glide is inserted in order to
(22) UR PR/SR GLOSS
(a) /uanga/ [uwa:nga] Up
(b) /uongo/ [uwo:ngo] Lies
(c ) /maua/ [mauwa] Flowers
(d) /miua/ [miuwa] Kinds of trees

The data in (22) above show that glide sound /w/ has been Another case of glide insertion in Shambaa occurs when a
inserted to break the diphthongs to separate vowels as in (a) front glide /y/ is inserted where the non-identical vowel
and (b) above. It has also been discovered that, without comes to meet with a high front vowel /i/ such as; /ia, ai, ae,
breaking the diphthongs, the gliding sound /w/ has been and io. This is done especially in the loan words from
inserted in order to make the possibility of articulating the Kiswahili. The data in (23) were examined to get the gist of
word easier as explained in (c) and (d) above. the argument:
/y/ Insertion

(23) Swahili Shambaa Gloss

(a) Maria [Maliya] Mary
(b) Miriamu Miliyamu Miriam
(c ) Raimondi Layimondi Raymond
(d) Liliani Liliyani] Lilian
(e) /maembe/ [mayembe] Mangoes

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(f) Eliakimu [Eliyakimu] Eliachim

(g) Eleazari [Eleyazali] Eliazar

From the above data, a front glide /y/ has been inserted followed by a segment /i/ they merge and form a new
between ai, ea, ia, and io, in words which are borrowed from segment by changing some of their features and acquiring
standard Kiswahili. new features which result in a sound segment /e/. This
Vowel Coalescence segment is then lengthened to compensate for the lost
segments into [e]. Let us consider the following examples
Coalescence is the phonological process that affects sounds
in (24):
through assimilating two adjacent sound segments. There is
only one type of vowel coalescence discovered in Shambaa, Vowel Coalescence of /a+i/
that is /a+i/. When a vowel segment /a/ is immediately

(24) UR PR/SR GLOSS

(a) /ma +(z) isho/ [meesho] [mesho] Eyes
(b) /ma + ino/ [meeno] [meno] Teeth
(c) /ma + iza/ [meeza] [meza] Table

From the above data, it has been discovered that, when Voicing versus Apocope
vowel sounds /a/ and /i/ come together, they form Apocope is a loss of a sound segment at the end of a word
coalescence. After they form this coalescence, they both during articulation (devoicing). Many Bantu languages
change into another different vowel sound /ee/ which is then devoice the last high back vowel /u/ especially in words
lengthened to compensate for the two vowels. However, the borrowed from the standard Kiswahili originating from the
lengthened vowels are not acceptable in Shambaa in those Arabic words. In an interesting way, Shambaa though being
kinds of vocabularies, for this case, another process called among Bantu languages, it lacks this habit of silencing the
vowel deletion takes place whereby one vowel was deleted final high vowel sound /u/, instead, the sound is articulated
to form an acceptable form as seen in the examples above. louder. The data from standard Kiswahili to Shambaa in
(25) below explain more about this situation:

(25) Swahili Shambaa Gloss

(a) /mwalimu/ [mwaimu] /[ŋgw’aimu] Teacher
(b) /kalamu/ [ka:mu] Pen
(c) /salimu/ [saimu] Salim

Homorganic Nasal Assimilation of an adjacent consonant. In Shambaa, this can be confirmed

Homorganic Nasal Assimilation is a phonological process using the following data:
whereby a nasal consonant sound assimilates to the position

(26) UR SR GLOSS
(a) /N + buzi/ [mbuzi] Goat
(b) /N + goma/ [ŋgoma] Drum
(c ) /N + dama/ [ndama] Calf
(d) /N + goto/ [ŋgoto] Sheep
(e ) /N + dema/ [nde:ma] vegetable

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From the above data, a nasal prefix /N/ is articulated at the Shambaa when a bilabial nasal sound or an alveolar nasal
same point as the consonant that immediately follows it. sound immediately precedes a voiceless plosive consonant
Consonants Aspiration sound such as /p/, /t/, and /k/, they produce aspiratory
sounds [h]. This is well explained in data (27) below:
Aspiration is the strong burst of breath that accompanies
either the release or the closure of some obstruent. In (27) Shambaa Consonant Aspiration
(27) UR PR/SR GLOSS
h
(a) /mpeho/ [mp eho] Cold
h
(b) /mpome/ [mp ome Blood
(c) /humpa [humpha] Disease
h
(d) /nkambaku/ [nk ambaku] A bull
h
(e /nkuhe/ [nk uhe] mouse
(f) /nkazu/ [nkhazu Died
h
(g) /ntuhu/ [nt uhu] another
h
(h) /ntana/ [nt ana] Nice
(i) /ntembo/ [nthembo] elephant
(j) /sinku/ [sinkhu] Cow-dang
h
(k) /ntondwe/ [nt ondwe] Altars

From the above data, it has been discovered that in Shambaa over and replace the gap of the deleted one though not every
when the nasal sound is articulated in the same point with time. We shall observe this in /r/ and /l/ deletion.
voiceless consonant sound /p, t, or k /, they both form /r/ Deletion
aspiration.
From the consonant inventory of Shambaa, the language has
Consonant Deletion no sound /r/ at all. Whenever it happens to borrow some
Consonant deletion (CD) is a phonological process whereby words from languages with trill sound such as Kiswahili or
a consonant gets deleted in certain environments. In English, the sound /r/ deletes and its gap can be replaced by
Shambaa some consonants delete when violating the the lateral sound /l/ or without any replacement. The data in
Shambaa linguistic rules of consonant vowel system. In (28) and (29) below from standard Kiswahili explain this
borrowed words especially, it has been discovered that some clearly.
consonants delete. When these consonants delete, other (28) /r/ Deletion in Shambaa
different consonants suitable in holding the meaning take
(28) UR PR/SR GLOSS
(a) /barabara/ [baabaa] Road
(b) /birika/ [biika] Cattle
(c ) /kibiriti/ [kibiiti] Match box

From the above examples, we have observed that sound /r/ is deleted, as a result the deleted sound is not compensated by any
other sound.
However, there are some words which the /r/ sound delete and sound /l/ replaces the deleted part. Consider the data in (29)
below;
(29) Swahili Shambaa Gloss
(a) /rangi /langi/ Color
(b) /Yairo/ [Yailo] Jairus
(c ) /Yerusalemu/ [Yelusalemu] Jerusalem

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Journal Home Page Available: https://ijels.com/

Journal DOI: 10.22161/ijels

This process of /r/ deletion in borrowed words does not In Shambaa the sound /l/ is deleted, especially in the dialect
consider any condition. In that case, it can be explained that of Lushoto central, while in Mlalo dialect, the sound /l/ is
the process is unconditioned hence it needs no rule for maintained. However, it is used by all dialects in
representation as it has no specific condition to cause it to compensation of the deleted /r/ sound from the borrowed
occur. words of languages with sound /r/ such as Kiswahili
/l/ Sound Deletion examples in (30) below explain more:

(30) Swahili Shambaa Gloss

(a) /kalamu/ [kaamu] Pen(s)
(b) /suruali/ [swa:e] Trousers
(c ) /glasi/ [giyasi] Glass
(d) blangeti [buangeti/bwa:ngeti] Blanket

The examples above show that, sound /l/ deletes from the central Lushoto deletes sound /l/ in normal Shambaa words
borrowed words when becomes among Shambaa while the Mlalo and the part of Mtae maintain the sound.
vocabulary. It is deleted in order to conform to Shambaa The vivid examples are given in (31) data below from
rules. However, it should be understood that not only from Shambaa of Mlalo and that of Lushoto central:
the borrowed words but also the Shambaa dialect of the
(31) Mlalo Speakers Lushoto Speakers Gloss
(a) Mulungu Muungu God
(b) Mbeleko Mbeeko Baby sling
However, there are some words which both of the two dialects conform and maintain sound /l/ in them, otherwise when you
delete the sound segment /l/ we form an ill-formed vocabulary. Examples of these are given in (32)
(32) UR PR/SR GLOSS
(a) /makulija/ [makulija] Uncountable/ a lot
(b) /Kubulwa/ [kubulwa] To lose interest/ to be tired
(c ) /Kuleha/ [Kuleha] To be long
(d) /ulazi/ [ulazi] Baldness
(e ) /ulimi/ [ulimi] Tongue
(f) /ulaka/ [ulaka] Lower jaw
(g) /holwe [holwe] Sugar cane juice
(e ) /kukolwa [kukolwa] To be drunker
(f) /kulasha/ [kulasha] To shoot with a bow
(g) Kuloa [kuloa] To fish with a line
(h) Halala [halala] Grasshopper

From the data above, it can be observed that, both dialects should not be taken for granted that in every word where
are articulated in the same way without any deletion of /l/ there is a sound /l/, it should be deleted.
sound. That means the rules are exclusive. Therefore, it Substitution

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Substitution is a phonological process in which, one sound As discussed already about Shambaa lacking sound /r/,
class replaces another class of sounds. In Shambaa, when it happens that it has borrowed words from a language
substitution happens to Shambaa sounds and in borrowed with sound /r/, the sound can either be deleted or replaced
Kiswahili words. by sound /l/. Examples are given from loan words of the
Substitution of Sound /r/ to /l/ standard Kiswahili below:

Swahili Shambaa Gloss

(33) /Arusha/ [Alusha] Arusha
/roma/ [loma] Rome
/raisi/ [laisi] president
The examples above show that trill sound /r/has been changed with lateral sound /l/ to make the word pronounceable in
Shambaa.
Substitution of Sound /k/ to /g/
Swahili Shambaa Gloss
(34) /msikiti/ [msigiti] mosque
Looking at the example above you will discover that the voiceless velar sound /k/ has been replaced with the voiced velar
sound [g].
Substitution of Sound /v/ to /z/
Swahili Shambaa Gloss
(35) /ubavu/ [ubazu] rib
/mbavu/ [mbazu] ribs
/kovu/ [nkozu] scars
The examples above show that, the voiced labio-dental fricative sound /v/ has been changed with voiced dental fricative /z/.
Substitution of Sound /p/ to /h/
Swahili Shambaa Gloss
(36) /kutapika/ [kutahika] to vomite
/kupamba/ [kuhamba] to decorate
From the data in (36) above, it can be explained that, the bilabial voiceless plosive sound /p/ has been replaced with the glottal
sound [h]
Substitution of Sound /d/ to /g/
Swahili Shambaa Gloss
(37) /sindano/ [singano] needle
Considering the example above, it has been discovered that, the voiced alveolar consonant sound /d/ is replaced with the voiced
velar consonant sound [g] to make a word correlate with Shambaa vocabulary.
Substitution of Sound /f/ to /v/
Swahili Shambaa Gloss
(38) /mafuta/ [mavuta] oil
From the above data (38), words from Kiswahili borrowed to Shambaa, we find that the voiceless labiodental fricative
consonant sound /f/ from Kiswahili word, has been changed to the voiced labiodental fricative consonant sound [v] and makes
the word a Shambaa word.
7.2 Phonological Rules Governing Phonological Processes of Shambaa
After discussing about different phonological processes affecting Shambaa human speech sounds in articulation of words, as
it has been suggested by Chomsky and Halle (1968) that, it is important to represent clearly the rules governing the formation
of phonological processes, it is now the time to represent the rules for the phonological processes explained above.

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Formal and Informal Rules for the Formation of Glide Sounds /w/ and /y/.
As explained already in glide formation that glide sound /w/ in Shambaa is formed when the high back vowel sound /u/ precedes
any other non-identical vowel in Shambaa vowel system, and examples given were such as: /muomo/, /muaja/, /muitango/ and
many more which then in surface form change to be [mwo:mo], [mwa:ja], and [mwi:tango], refer examples in (13, 14, and 15)
above. This situation has been represented informally in the following rule.
(39) e
/u/ [w] _____# o
i
a
That is to say, the sound segment /u/, changes to glide [w] in the environment where it immediately comes before a non-
identical vowel. The vowel sound /u# stands as independent syllable followed by any other vowels. Thus the /u/ to [w] rule is
formally stated in (40):

(40) +low
+back
+syll
+ back + high +sonor
+tens + back +nonor
+round +round _____ +/-back
+voc +sonor +syll
-cons +cont +sonor
+high +voice +syll
-back
+high

That is to say, a high back vowel sound /u/ becomes a back glide [w] in word or morpheme boundary before non-identical
vowels. We exemplify [w] glide formation to derive the surface realization of the word /mu+itang+o/, step by step to see the
arrangement of these rules as shown in (41).
(41)/w/ Formation Derivations
/mu + itang + o/ the call
/Mu+ itang + o/ UR
Mwitango GF
mwi:tango CVL
[mwi:tango] PR/SR

In these derivations, glide formation (GF) and compensatory vowel lengthening (CVL) are crucial orders in the way that the
former rule feeds the latter. If the order was inversed, incorrect results such as *[mwi: ta: ngo] or *[mwita: ngo] would be
formed. It is very important to note also that, the ordering of glide formation and compensatory vowel lengthening before
penultimate vowel lengthening, is important because segmental rules have to apply before auto-segmental rules.
It should be noted here that, glide formation and compensatory vowel lengthening rules, are in feeding relationships whereby
the former feeds the later. Together with this proof, it should be remembered that not every high back vowel /u/ change into
[w] when preceding the non-identical vowel, but some though fulfilling the requirements they still never change into glide but
remain unchanged. With the example of noun /muamu/ [muamu] in which Besha (1993) is of the view that this noun
remains unchanged otherwise it forms incorrect vocabulary.

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Another kind of glide formation explained is the formation of glide sound /y/. It is said that in Shambaa, the glide /y/ sound is
formed when a high front vowel sound, is followed immediately by a non-identical vowel coming immediately after it.
Examples given were /mioyo/ [myoyo], /miaka/, to [myaka], /miomo/, [myomo] and many others restricted to plural nouns.
This was then be presented informally using the following rule:
ɑ
(42) i y ____ + e
o
u
From the above rule we find that, a high front vowel /i/ is articulated as glide [y] in the environment where it immediately
precedes other Shambaa vowels in plural nouns. Thus, [y] formation can be formally stated by the following rule.
+back
(43) -round
+voice +low
+high -cons +back
+tens +sonor _____#
+low
+syll +high +tense
-cons +back +low
+cont +back
+tense

That is to say, a high front vowel /i/, becomes a front glide [w], in morpheme boundary before a non- identical vowel. The rule
above can be used to drive /mioyo/

(44): Derivations in GF /w/

/mioyo/ Hearts
/mi + oyo/ UR
Myoyo GF
Myo: yo CVL &PVL
[myo:yo] PR

In this derivation, glide formation (GF) and compensatory vowel lengthening (CVL) are in feeding relationships. That means
the former feeds the later. CVL, takes place in order to compensate for the lost duration of the underlying syllable. On the
other hand, GF and PVL rules apply independently. Then, PVL is rendered superfluous since the vowel in the penultimate
position is already lengthened by the CVL rule.
Rule for Vowel Nasalization
In this process the vowel sound is nasalized when it is adjacent to a nasal sound. The consonant sound can either comes before
or after the vowel sound. The examples discovered were such as: /mesho/ ‘eyes’ /nange/ ‘calabash’ /mazi/ ‘water’. In these, it
is said that, the vowel that is adjacent to a nasal sound acquires nasal feature sound, (see examples in 16 above). The processes
can be formally expressed as follows:

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(45) -nas +nas

+nas
-cons +nas
+syll +cons +cons
+nas +nas

That is to say, a non-nasal vowel acquires nasal sound features, when preceded by the nasal consonant sound, or followed by
a nasal consonant sound, or comes between a nasal consonant sound.
Rules for High Vowel Deletion
In (17) above, it is explained that high vowels /u/ and /i/ become deleted when immediately followed by consonant sounds. It
is further explained that the high back vowel sound /u/, deletes when attached as the prefix syllable preceded by the bilabial
nasal consonant sound /mu/, to the singular noun class and the high front vowel deletes when attached as the prefix syllable
preceded by an alveolar nasal sound /n/ to a noun class. Examples given there, were nouns such as /mughoshi/ changing to
[mghoshi], /mughoshi/ changing to [mghoshi] for bilabial and /ni mbogha/ which changes to [m’mbogha]. This kind of
phonological process can be represented informally as shown here:
(46) (a) u ø m-+ C
(b) i ø n- + C
That is to say, in (46) (a) the high back vowel sound /u/ deletes [ø] when it is between the bilabial nasal sound and a non-nasal
consonant. In (46) (b), the high front vowel /i/ deletes [ø] when it is between an alveolar nasal sound and a non-nasal consonant
sound. Thus, the representation for HVD can formally be represented as follows:
(47) /u/ Deletion
-cons +cons
+ syll +ant +cons
+ back [ø] -syll ___ -nas
+ high +nas -syll

That is to say, a high back vowel deletes when it appears between an anterior nasal and a non- syllabic consonant across a
formative boundary.
(48). /i/ Deletion
+Voc +nas +cons
+ high [ø] - syll ___ -nas
+back - cor - syll

That is to say, a high front vowel deletes when it appears between an alveolar nasal and a non-syllabic consonant across a
formative boundary.
Not that, high vowel deletion is followed by the syllabification of the preceding nasal consonant. That means that, after the
deletion of [i] and [u], the remaining nasal segment conspires to preserve the same syllable structure. Therefore, the rule to
account for such process will be nasal consonant syllabification. This rule can be stated informally in the following way:
(49). (a) m ṃ / __+C
(b) n ṇ / __+C
That means, in (49) (a), the bilabial nasal consonant sound /m/ becomes a syllable when it is immediately followed by a non-
nasal consonant sound. And in (49) (b), the alveolar nasal consonant sound become syllable, when immediately followed by a
non- nasal consonant sound. By formal rules, these can be represented in the following way:

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(50) /m/ syllabification

+nas +cons
+ant +syll ___ -nas
-cor - syll

That is to say, bilabial nasal consonant syllabifies when followed by a non- syllabic consonant across the formative boundary.
(51) /n/ syllabification
+nas + cons
+ant +syll _____ -syll
+cor -nas

That is to say, the bilabial nasal consonant syllabifies when followed by a no-syllabic consonant across a formative boundary.
Furthermore, since the bilabial nasal [m] and the alveolar nasal [n] share the feature [+anterior], and since the high front vowel
[i] and the high back vowel [u] share the feature [+high], this should then be collapsed as in (52) and (53) below:
+syll +nas +cons
(52) +high [Ɵ] -cons ___ -syll
- Cons - syll -nas

That is to say, a high vowel deletes when it appears between an anterior nasal consonant and a non-syllabic consonant across
a formative bound. And the formal nasal syllabification below:
(53) + nas +cons
+sonor + syll -nas
+ ant - syll +co
That is to say, an anterior nasal consonant syllabifies when followed by a non- syllabic consonant across a formative boundary.
However, in some cases this prediction may, superficially at least, not seem to hold truth, as it can be seen in the following
data:
(54) Words which do not delete high vowel sound /u/
UR PR/SR GLOSS
(a) /muku/ [muku] Extreme fatigue
(b) /muhuye/ [muhuye] Steam/breath
(c) /misa/ [misa] Sneeze
In (55) there are two successive occurrences of /mu/. The /u/ of the first /mu/ does not delete but in the /u / of the second /mu/
deletes and the nasal sound syllabifies. In (56), there are syllables; /mu/ and /ni/. The /u/ of the /mu/ that comes first, does not
delete but the /i/ of the /ni/ that follows after /mu/ deletes and /n/ syllabifies. Note what would happen if both high vowels
were to delete:
(55) Incorrect High Vowel Deletion
/mu+mu+vik+ie/ Pray for her/him
/mu+mu+vik+ie/ UR
M m vikie HVD
M m viki:ye GF
*[m m viki:ye] PR/SR
Clearly these yield incorrect results. Therefore, [muṃvikiye] has the following derivation:

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(56) Correct High Vowel Deletion

/mu+mu+vik+ie/ Pray for her/him

/mu+mu+vik+ie/ UR

M um vikie HVD

Mu m viki:ye GF We can make the following generalization: A high Vowel that

follows a [ant] nasal, will delete if followed by a [-nas] consonant.
[mu n’ viki:ye] PR/SR Therefore, we need to formulate the rule for HVD in the following
way:
(57) +back +nas +con
+high [Ɵ] +ant ___ - syll
-nas

That is to say, a high vowel deletes when preceded by an anterior nasal consonant and followed by a non-nasal consonant
across a formative boundary.
Furthermore, the nasal consonant syllabification rules can be reformulated in the following:
+nas + cons
(58) -syll [+syll] __ -syll

That is to say, the non-syllabic nasal sound syllabifies when immediately follows the non-syllable consonant sound.
Rules for Coalescence
Coalescence phonological process was analyzed and discovered that, two non-identical vowel sounds is Shambaa assimilate
and then, change to form another different sound. The examples given were ‘maino’, ‘maisho’ ‘maiza’ in which, they
assimilated and formed new words such as ‘meno’, ‘mesho’ and ‘meza’ respectively. This process can informally be
represented as in (59) below;
(59) /a/ + /(z)/ + /i/ [ee] [e]
That is to say, when a vowel /a/ combine with a vowel /i/ they produce ill-formed vocabulary *[ma (z) isho/ma (z) ino and
/maize/]. In order to form an acceptable vocabulary, they change their original form and forms a new feature segments double
[ee] so as to compensate the lost two vowels /a, i/, and because the double /ee/ are not acceptable in Shambaa to those words,
the deletion process take over and remove one vowel to form correct and acceptable words such as: [mesho], [meno], and
[meza]. This can then formally be represented as shown in (60):

+low +high +mid

(60) +back + +front +front
-round - round -long

That is to say, when a low back and unrounded vowel is connected with a high front unrounded vowel, they change to be a
mid-front un-lengthened vowel. These can be exemplified to derive the phonetic realization as shown in the word /mazisho/
below:

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(61) Vowel Coalescence rule ordering

/mazisho/ Eyes
/ma +(z) isho/ UR
Meesho VL
Mesho VC &D
[mesho] PR/SR
In these derivations we find that consonant deletion, coalescence, vowel lengthening and vowel deletion, are crucially ordered
in the way that, the former feeds the later.
The Rule of Voicing
In the borrowed words especially from standard Kiswahili, loaned from Arabic, with final high back vowel sound /u/ such as
‘kalamu’, ‘Salimu’, and many others mentioned, which many Bantu speakers devoice this final vowel. In Shambaa it becomes
different in the sense that, instead of devoicing the final sound, the Shambaa voices it. This can informally be represented as
shown below:
(62) /m/ + /ụ/ [u] ___ #
That is to say, the silent sound /ụ/ changes to be louder [u] in the environment where it follows immediately after the nasal
sound /m/ in the borrowed word from the standard Kiswahili language. This can then formally be represented by the following
rule:
(63) -cont +cont +cons
-ons +syll +nas
___
+syll -cons -syll

That is to say, the silent non-continuant vowel sound /ụ/ changes to a voiced continuant vowel sound [u] in the environment
where it immediately comes after the nasal sound [m] in the borrowed Swahili words. However, we have to bear in mind that
although Shambaa articulates this high vowel sound [u] which in many languages it is a silent one, they then delete consonant
sound /l/ in these kinds of words before they come to maintain sound [u].
Homorganic Nasal Assimilation Rule
In (26) it was found that in this phonological process the nasal consonant sound assimilates or picks some features from the
adjacent consonant. The process informally can be presented as follows:

m b
(64)/N/ n ____ d
Ŋ g

That is to say, the voiced nasal consonant sound /N/becomes a bilabial nasal-voiced consonant sound [m] as it immediately
preceded the bilabial voiced plosive sound /b/. It also becomes a voiced alveolar nasal sound [n], as it immediately preceded
the alveolar nasal plosive sound /d/. The nasal sound /N/ also changed to a velar sound [ŋ], as it preceded the velar voiced
plosive sound /g/. The informal HNA can be formalized in the following manner:

(65) +voice +voice

+cons [ɑ place] +cons
+nas
That is to say, the voiced nasal consonant is articulated at the same point of articulation with the following voiced consonant
stop. This can be illustrated by showing how the word ‘ndema’ (66), could be derived from its underlying structure:

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(66) Rule ordering in Homorganic Nasal Assimilation

/ Ndema/ Vegetable
/N + dema/ UR
Ndeema HNA
nde:ma PVL
[nde:ma] PR/SR
In the above derivation rules, homorganic nasal assimilation (HNA) and penultimate vowel lengthening (PVL), are not
crucially ordered. Any of them could apply before first and correct results would be obtained.
Consonant Aspiration Rule
From (27) above, it was discussed that when Shambaa nasal sound precedes the voiceless sounds such as (p, t, k), they form
aspiratory feature sounds [h]. This process can informally be represented using the rule as in (67) below:
p
t
h ___
(67) N/
k

The above informal rule can be explained that a nasal sound produces an aspiratory sound when it is immediately followed by
the voiceless consonant sound /p, or t, or k/ which are articulated in the same point of articulation in the Shambaa language.
Formally the process is represented in the following way:

(68) +nas +cons +cons

+cons +ant +ant
+son + -cont [ɑ placeh] -cont
+voiced -voc _ strident

That is to say, when a consonant nasal sound is articulated at the same place of articulation with the following voiceless stop,
it produces an aspiration sound [h] which was not there in the underlying representation of the speech sound.
Consonant Deletion Rules
Also, the study described the deletion of sounds /r/ and sound /l/ in the Shambaa language. We were told that the sound /r/
becomes deleted in borrowed words because this sound is not there in the Shambaa consonant inventory. For this reason, the
Shambaa articulatory organs are unable to pronounce it, as a result, it is deleted or sometimes replace with the sound /l/. The
examples were given in (28) above whereby the borrowed words from Swahili language such as (/Barabara/, /birika/, and
/kibiriti/) are articulated in Shambaa as: ([ba:ba:], [bi: ka] and [kibi:ti]). From these examples, we find that the trill sound /r/ is
deleted.
The deletion of lateral sound /l/, is also found in (29) (a) whereby the example of the word like /kalamu/ was changed to [ka:
mu], removing /l/ sound. This can informally be represented as follows:
(69) /r/ [ø] / V___V
/l/ [ø] V ___V
This means that consonant sounds/r/ or /l/ delete simply when it comes between two vowel sounds. This can formally be
represented as in (70) below:

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Mndeme et al. Phonological Processes of Shambaa

/r/ deletion rule

(70) +cons
+voc +voc +sonor
+cor ______
+sonor [ø]
+voice -cons -cons
-syll
That is to say, the vocalic coronal sonorant voiced consonant sound is deleted, in the environment when articulated between
vowels and leaves the two vowels joined together.
/l/ deletion rule +voc
(71) +cons
-syll +voc
+cor [ø] _______
+lat -cons -cons
+voice

That is to say, the vocalic coronal sonorant voiced anterior lateral continuant consonant sound, deletes in the environment when
articulated between vowels and leaves the two vowels joining to form vowel lengthening.

VIII. CONCLUSIONS AND The discovering of phonological processes in adult speech

RECOMMENDATIONS is a sign that phonological processes are not the case of
8.1 Conclusion human speech organs disorder or the inability to articulate
speech sounds correctly. For this case, further study should
The study was done to find out the effect of phonological
be conducted in this area to come out with reasons for this
processes on Shambaa speech sounds. By using Shambaa
situation.
phonemes, the analysis uncovered that some Shambaa
speech sounds are affected by assimilatory and non- Further research should focus on discovering phonological
assimilatory phonological processes that cause changes in processes in adults’ phonetics and proposition of a new
the place of articulation, manner and or voicing in their suitable term rather than naming similarly to those made by
phonetic surface realization. The study identified children.
phonological processes such as glide formation, vowel
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