The Luyia languages, a genetically related cluster of 20+ Bantu languages and dialects in western Kenya and eastern Uganda, are a fertile but largely untapped testing ground for linguistic theory. As in most Bantu languages, these languages have a rich system of tense-aspect-mood distinctions that are signaled in large part by tonal melodies assigned to the verb stem, which interact with a variety of lexical, phonological, morphological, and syntactic factors to produce complex surface tonal patterns. Under the direction of Dr. Andries Coetzee and Dr. David Odden, Mr. Michael Marlo will collect, analyze, and compare data on the verbal tonology of three Luyia languages, Idakho, Nyala (West), and Wanga, and will consider the theoretical consequences of these data, especially as they shed light on the phonology-morphology-syntax interfaces and the interaction between prosodic domains and morphological and syntactic structure. In addition, the data will be analyzed and compared within the Optimality Theoretic framework to evaluate the prediction that the differences in the relative ranking of a few constraints can account for the observed differences in surface tone patterns of the three Luyia languages. Preliminary investigations of these languages have begun with native speakers of each language currently living in the United States and will continue through April 2006. In May - September 2006, fieldwork will be conducted in Kenya to verify previously collected data and further investigate the tonal properties of each language.
Verbal tonology in the Luyia languages is virtually undescribed, and there are no previous descriptions of the tonology of the three target languages in this study. This project will therefore contribute new empirical data that will not only advance our understanding of theoretical concerns like componential interaction in grammar but also provide the Abaluyia communities with foundational descriptive linguistic materials of their languages which are currently lacking. The documentation and description of understudied Luyia languages is important as an effort to support diversity and the study of underrepresented groups at a time when their linguistic vitality is threatened by the increased influence of the two official languages of Kenya: Kiswahili and English.
This award was co-funded by NSF Office of International Science and Engineering.
