Phonological Processes In Nouns across Maasai Dialects

Abstract

Abstract: Maasai language has 22 dialects whose noun parallel varies phonologically. This short work describes the phonological processes causing the variation across the dialects of this language. Maasai noun synonyms are either allomorphs or allomorph composites whose structural differences arise from the interaction between the constituent phonemes. The objectives of the work were to identify noun parallels in the various dialects and identifying the various rules governing the phonological processes responsible for the resultant noun variation across the dialects. This research was founded on 2 hypotheses; that different Maasai dialects used different signs for the same meanings and that noun parallels across the dialects differed from each other on the basis of phonological processes. Venneman and Hooper’s Natural Generative phonology formed the theoretical framework. Noun data was collected through interviews from Maasai speakers of Kenya and Tanzania. It is hoped that this research will trigger more research in other languages with multiple dialects whose phonology have not yet been studied. Keywords: Variation, process, dialect, allomorphs, divergence