| dc.description.abstract | The thesis is a description of the morphopnology
of .the seven Kenyan Swahili dialects within the
theoretical framework of Natural Generative Grammar
as expounded by Joan Hooper and Theo Vennemann in
their various publications.
The thesis is di ided into eight chapters, a
conclusion, and an appendix of map and the phonetic
tables of the segments of the individual dialects.
Chapter one is an introduction to the dialects ln
which some issues, though tangential to the
description proper, .are brought out and argued ln
order to put the dialects in their correct historical
and sociolinguistic perspective; the theoretical
model adopted is described together with the
hypotheses, objectives, scope and limitation and
research methodology. Literature relevant to the
study is reviewed and our own views about the strong
and weak points of the previo~s studies expressed.
Chapters two to eight are the actual descriptions
of the morphophonology of the dialects in the
following ascending order: Kivumba, Chi-Chifunai,Kimvita, Jon
Kiamu, Kitikuu and Kisiyu. Only those aspects of
the structure that are directly relevant to our
description of the morphophonology are included ln
the dialect description. The last paragraph of each
dialect description brings out their salient
characteristics. The concluding~ section summarizes
what are deemed to be the main issues raised by
the whole work, which encompasses all the dialects.
The maps locate th | en |
