Effects of morphology in the nativization of loanwords: The borrowing of /s/ in Xitsonga

Seunghun J Lee ,Madala Crous Hlungwani

doi:10.5842/60-0-797

Abstract

This paper argues that the nativization of loanwords can result from pressure from morphology based on patterns of English loanword adaptations in Xitsonga, a southern Bantu language. The /s/ in /sC/ clusters of English is always realized in Xitsonga borrowings as [s] in non-initial positions, but the /s/ is realized with variations when it appears in the initial position: faithfully with an alveolar fricative [s], or with a palatal fricative [ʃ]. A loanword adaptation experiment confirms that this position-sensitive variation is part of the grammatical knowledge of Xitsonga speakers. The adaptation of initial /sC/ clusters to [ʃiC] in the nativization process is argued to result from pressures to incorporate loanwords into the existing noun class system: a case where morphology triggers phonological changes. What is also important is the non-occurrence of palatalization in non-initial positions. Since non-initial consonants are not subject to the same morphological pressure, the nativatization process of /sC/ to [ʃiC] is blocked.

Highlights

Patterns in the nativisation of loanwords depend heavily on the phonological grammar of the recipient language
Whether the motivation behind nativisation is production or perception, what is constant is that speakers of a recipient language produce a phonologically altered form of a donor language on the surface, when there is a difference in the phonological component of the grammar between the recipient language and the donor language
The absence of a sound of a donor language in the recipient language often results in changes in the original sound in the nativisation process

Summary

Introduction

Patterns in the nativisation of loanwords depend heavily on the phonological grammar of the recipient language (cf. Kang 2011, 2013). There are two major processes that have been proposed to account for the ways in which words are borrowed into other languages. The absence of a sound of a donor language in the recipient language often results in changes in the original sound in the nativisation process. In Korean, which does not have the labiodental fricative [v] in the sound inventory, ‘van’ is adapted as ‘[b]an’. Another example is when the phonotactics of a recipient language do not allow a sequence of sounds from a donor language. In Japanese, where consonant clusters are not allowed, the English word ‘desk’ is adapted as [desɯkɯ] in which the [sk] cluster is separated by the epenthetic vowel [ɯ]

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