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.
Highlights
The contact between the Protestant Missionaries and Bikoro people has been the opportunity for Lontómbá speaker to borrow words from the English language
Each English loanword entering Lontómbá language must have a vowel grapheme ending by the following sub-rules
The final vowel grapheme a of the adapted English loanword is governed by the sub-rules below: a) an affricate Sound made of a voiced stop bilabial and a liquid or lateral sound; b) an unvoiced stop alveolar [t] preceded by the vowel a, and followed by the sound [ə]; c) an unvoiced stop alveolar [t] preceded by a nasal sound; d) a voiced stop alveolar [d] preceded by [l] and followed by the sound [ə] or [ɜ:]; e) a sound [k] preceded by a vowel that follows the sound [r]; f) a sound [k] followed by the sound [a:]; g) a nasal sound preceded by the combination of the sounds [al]; h) a fricative sound preceded by the vowel sounds [I] or [ə]
Summary
The contact between the Protestant Missionaries (speaking English) and Bikoro people (speaking Lontómbá) has been the opportunity for Lontómbá speaker to borrow words from the English language. This fact is a sociolinguistic phenomenon known as borrowing. The English words borrowed in Lontómbá language have changed their spelling and pronunciation. Up to this moment there does not exist any scientific explanation about the graphophonic change of the English loanwords in Lontómbá. This paper examines the English loanwords in Lontómbá language with respect to their spelling (especially graphs, diagraphs, and trigraphs) and pronunciation so as to find out the graphophonic rules that govern the adaptation of the English loanwords in Lontómbá
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