Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Bibliography
Ballantine S (2000). English and Spanish in Gibraltar: development and characteristics of two languages in a
bilingual community. Gibraltar Heritage Journal 7,
115124.
Cal Varela M (2001). Algunos aspectos sociolingusticos del
ingles gibraltareno: analisis cuantitativo de tres variables
en el nivel fonico. Santiago de Compostela: Universidad
de Santiago de Compostela Servicio de Publicaciones
e Intercambio.
Fernandez Martn C (2003). Valoracion de las actitudes
lingusticas en Gibraltar. Madrid: Umi-ProQuest Information on Learning.
Garca Martn J M (1997). El espanol en Gibraltar. Panorama general. Demofilo. Revista de cultura tradicional
de Andaluca 22, 141154.
Kellermann A (2001). A new new English: language, politics and identity in Gibraltar. Heidelberg: Herstellung.
Levey D (2004). English pronunciation and production tendencies in Gibraltar. Ph.D. diss., University of
Cadiz.
Moyer M (1998). Bilingual conversation strategies in
Gibraltar. In Auer P (ed.) Codeswitching in conversation, language and identity. London: Routledge.
215234.
Gikuyu
C Githiora, University of London, London, UK
2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Gecaga (1953) and Mugane (1997). A KikuyuEnglish dictionary by Benson (1964) is still in print.
Introduction
Phonology
Gikuyu 81
n m ny ng
w y r (voiced alveolar flap)
tk
th c h b g
As in most Bantu languages, prenasalized consonants, nd, mb, ny, ng, ng, nj, occur very frequently
in Gku yu . Sometimes they occur as derived segments: for example, when an N-morpheme (prefix)
comes into contact with an obstruent, it must produce
Noun Classes
Gku yu is no exception to the chief characteristic
feature of Bantu languages, namely the grouping of
nouns into noun classes (see Table 1). These are based
primarily on concordial properties, but there are discernible semantic relationships among members of
each noun group.
The Concord System and Morphosyntax
The classification of nouns into these groups has important bearing on the languages grammar. Adjectives must agree with the number (singular or plural)
and class of the head noun, somewhat like the behavior of the gender system in Romance languages. The
noun also must be mapped onto the verb phrase by use
of a marker or prefix whose form is determined by
the nouns class. In the illustrating examples in Table 2,
the head noun is underlined, and its concordial
prefixes highlighted in bold.
When coordinate phrases involve head nouns that
belong to different classes, it becomes necessary to
resolve the clash of subject concords. Two strategies
are possible in such cases. One strategy opts for use of
the human subject plural marker for final agreement
or concord on the verb phrase, irrespective of the
order of the coordinating clauses, e.g., mwarimu
(a-/ma-) na huria (-/i-) magcemania the teacher
and the rhino met; huria na mwarimu magcemania
njra the rhino and the teacher met. The second
strategy takes advantage of the plural subject prefix
of inanimate, nonhuman nouns of the k-/i-/ci-noun
group, e.g., muti (u -/-) na karamu (ga-/tu -) cikiunika
stick and pen broke.
Examples
mu-/amu-/mi-/mak-/i-/ci-/ruka-/tuu-/uku-/
ha-/; ku-/
82 Gikuyu
Table 2 Examples of concord in G kuyu
Singular
Plural
u u yu
mund
mu kuh n
arathoma ibuku
u gaaka
kamund
gakuh
karathooma
ibuku
riitho rake rnene
rrona wega
muno
ibuku rakwa
rkuru riror ire
kuu
mu biira
the.ball
O
There are three aspect markers, which are -ag(stative/imperative/subjunctive), -t- (perfect), and -ir(completive). Twenty-seven combinations are possible
in theory, but only about 20 are clearly attested in the
language because some combinations are constrained
by semantic considerations.
Nominal Derivation
Two broad types of noun can be distinguished in
Gku yu . The first type consisting of a basic noun
and its prefix only. This type of noun is not further
divisible, e.g., irigu banana, mu cinga gun, krma
mountain. Like the others, these nouns can derive
postpositional phrases using the locative suffix, -in,
See also: Academies: Dictionaries and Standards; Affixation; Applied Linguistics in Africa; Assimilation; Dissimilation; Inflection and Derivation; Kenya: Language
Situation; Language Education: Grammar; Morpheme;
Mother Tongue Education: Standard Language; Nominalization; Productivity; Template Morphology; Tense,
Mood, Aspect: Overview; Tone in Connected Discourse;
Verbs; Word Formation.
Bibliography
Armstrong L (1967). Phonetic and tonal structure of
Gku yu . London: Dawsons of Pall Mall.
Barlow A H (1960). Studies in Kikuyu grammar and idiom.
Edinburgh: Blackwood & Sons.
Benson T G (1964). Kikuyu-English dictionary. London:
Oxford University Press.
Gecaga B M (1953). A short Kikuyu grammar. Nairobi:
Macmillan.
Mugane J M (1997). A paradigmatic grammar of Gku yu .
Stanford, CA: CSLI.