A Study of Morphological Reduplication in Kiembu

Abstract

This study is essentially a study of reduplication in Kiembu. As explained in chapter 1, the study sought to establish the linguistic units affected by reduplication, how reduplication interacts with morphological and phonological processes, the semantic value of reduplication and whether reduplication in Kiembu is considered morphological doubling or phonological copying. The study is carried out within the framework of Morphological Doubling Theory. The theory is used to represent Kiembu reduplication. This theory looks at reduplication as morphological doubling. Since the study included both morphological and phonological analysis, it was necessary in chapter 2 to carry out a phonemic inventory of Kiembu consonant and vowel systems as well as provide a comprehensive description of Kiembu word classification that includes nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns and prepositions. The findings of the study are then stated in chapter 3 and 4. The study found out that there are different types of reduplication in Kiembu which have various semantic contributions. This means that reduplication affects the semantic value of words in Kiembu. Derivation is established to be a major morphological process responsible for creation of reduplicatives in Kiembu. Vowel harmony, vowel substitution and vowel lengthening are the phonological processes that interact with reduplication in Kiembu. It is also established that reduplication affects the tone of words in Kiembu. A summary of the same findings are given in chapter 5 and it is in this chapter that it is concluded that reduplication in Kiembu is a case of morphological doubling and that reduplication targets the root and stem of a word. Total reduplication was found to be the most common mode of reduplication. More importantly, it is concluded in this chapter that Morphological Doubling Theory is applicable in the analysis and representation of reduplication in Kiembu