An Interrogation of the Phonological Similarities between Somor and Aror Sub-Dialects of the Tugen Dialect in Kenya

Abstract

The paper sets out to find the extent of the phonological similarities of Somor and Aror sub-dialects of the Tugen dialect. Phonological and semantic structures are many and varied and cannot be studied within such a limited time. Thus the study focused on tone and length in Tugen sub-dialects. The selected structures were epenthesis, vowel deletion, fusion, demonstratives, negation, possessives and definiteness. In semantics, the study focused on meaning in general. Stratified and random sampling procedures were used to get samples of Somor and Aror speakers from the population of those who practice in the selected domains in Torongo and Kapuskei locations of Baringo County. The data for the study was a Swadesh list of one hundred and fifty words and fifty sentences. These were drawn from the fields of education, domestic life, religion, health and administration. Data was collected by use of language performance test, which were recorded, on an audiotape. These words were written in gloss and transcribed using the IPA symbols. This was in preparation for the phonological and semantic analysis, which was done by using Natural Generative Phonology and Descriptive Linguistics. This study adds knowledge in the area of theoretical linguistics of Nilotic languages and Kenyan languages in general.