Aspectos de morfologia e fonologia do citshwa

Abstract

The current study describes and analyzes the morphology and phonology of Citshwa, focusing on the Cidzivi dialect spoken in the District of Homoíne. The description and analysis of morphology and phonology comprises the morphological component and the elements of phonology, based on the theoretical model of descriptive linguistics known as Phonology and Lexical Morphology proposed by Kiparsky (1982; 1985) and Mohanan (1982). This theoretical model discusses the morphological structure, as well as the phonological rules that apply at these two grammatical levels. A problem of major interest for this research is to get beter understanding on how the grammar of Citshwa works by providing a full detailed and extensive description of the Citshwa grammar. To achieve the proposed goals, we use a number of methodologies currently applied in linguistic research, namely, documentary research, interviews and, introspection. The analysis of the noun morphology in Citshwa shows that the name comprises two parts. One consisting of prefix of nominal class ranging from 1 to 17 class prefixes, another consisting of the root noun. The classes from 1 to 14 are grouped into singular vs. plural pairs, except the classes 15, 16 and 17 that do not form plural. The language exhibits different patterns of noun agreement, involving the root of the noun and the respective noun prefixes, as well as the agreement involving the noun and its modifiers. The verbal morphology shows that the verb structure comprises three parts. There is an area reserved for prefixes, followed by a simple or derived verbal root followed by thematic vowel. It is noted that the canonical syllable structure is often CV, which may vary depending on the size of the verbal stem. As for derivational morphology, Citshwa presents eight verbal extensions, which serves to derive newly verbal forms. Inflectional morphology is another issues discussed in this study, which reveals that Citshwa presents three basic verbal tenses, namely, past tense, present tense and future. The dissertation examines tense category and shows that Citshwa exhibits two basic aspectual categories, namely, the perfective and the imperfective, which, are, expressed morphological and semantically indicating the internal details on the quantity and quality of the verb action. In relation to phonology, the study concludes that Citshwa presents 28 phones being 5 vocalic phonemes and 23 consonants. These sounds are subject to modifications through semivocalization; fusion and elision that affect vowels on the one hand, the pre-nasalization; the labialization; aspiration and fricatization, processes that affecting consonants