PATTERNS OF VOWEL EPENTHESIS IN ICIBEMBA LOANWORDS FROM THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
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Abstract
This paper discusses vowel epenthesis as a phonological process employed to avoid consonant clusters and codas in iciBemba loanwords from the English language. Bemba language is classified as M42 and is spoken in Northern, Muchinga, Luapula, Copperbelt and part of Central Province of Zambia. The aim of this paper was to identify the nature of vowels that are inserted in iciBemba during borrowing and subsequently develop an explanation of the system behind the various phonetic realizations of these vowels. The study used a qualitative research design. Data were collected through elicitation and document analysis methods. The article was underpinned by feature geometry (FG) as an analytical theoretical footing. The findings of the study reveal that consonant clusters and codas in iciBemba loanwords from the English language motivate vowel epenthesis. The study also shows that the number of epenthetic vowels depends on the number of consonant clusters in the word in the coda position. Therefore, the choice of the epenthetic vowel in iciBemba is determined by the process of assimilation. The article concludes that, in iciBemba, an epenthetic vowel assimilates to the preceding consonant
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