Last Updated: 2020-01-10
SLIGHTLY COMPROMISED: possible conflation among syllabic nasals and non-syllabic counterparts
Background
Language Family: Niger-Congo / Atlantic-Congo / Volta-Congo / Benue-Congo / Bantoid / Southern Bantoid / Bantu / Northeast Bantu / Northeast Coast Bantu / Sabaki / Swahili
- Also referred to as Kiswahili, it is spoken throughout Africa.
Phonology
Consonants
- There is some controversy around the phonemic status of aspirated stops. Polomé (1967) states that there are inconsistencies among dialects, where some maintain the distinction and others do not (pp. 39-41). He also states that the contrast is neutralizing, especially among educated speakers, largely dictated by stress patterns and word placement. I have chosen not to include them in the phonemic inventory below.
- Polomé (1967) states that the phonemes /θ/, /ð/, and /ɣ/ appear only in loanwords; however, they have become part of the phonemic system, especially in that of educated speakers (p. 42); more uneducated speakers or speakers that are less influenced by Arabic substitute native phonemes. I have chosen to include these phonemes below.
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Place of Articulation
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Manner of Articulation
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Labial
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Dental
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Alveolar
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Postalveolar
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Palatal
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Velar
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Glottal
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Stops
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p b ᵐb
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t d ⁿd
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k ɡ ᵑɡ
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Affricates
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tʃ dʒ ⁿdʒ
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Fricatives
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f v ᶬv
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θ ð
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s z ⁿz
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ʃ
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x ɣ
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h
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Nasals
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m
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n
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ɲ
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ŋ
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Trills
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r
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Approximants
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l
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j
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w
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Note: For phonemes that share a cell, those on the left are voiceless and those on the right are voiced. Where three phonemes share a cell, they are ordered voiceless, voiced, and prenasalized.
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Vowels
- Consecutive like-vowels occur in Swahili; however, they are independent of one another and do not constitute single (long) phonemes (Maw 1999, 44).
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Front
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Back
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High
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i
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u
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Mid
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ɛ
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ɔ
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Low
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ɑ
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Alphabet
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Grapheme
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Phoneme
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a
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/ɑ/
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b
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/b/
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d
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/d/
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e
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/ɛ/
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f
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/f/
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g
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/ɡ/
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h
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/h/
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i
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/i/
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j
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/dʒ/
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k
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/k/
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l
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/l/
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m
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/m/
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n
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/n/
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o
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/ɔ/
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p
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/p/
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r
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/r/
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s
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/s/
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t
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/t/
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u
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/u/
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v
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/v/
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w
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/w/
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y
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/j/
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z
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/z/
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Digraph
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mb
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/ᵐb/
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nd
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/ⁿd/
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nj
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/ⁿdʒ/
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ny
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/ɲ/
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mv
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/ᶬv/
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nz
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/ⁿz/
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ng
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/ᵑɡ/
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ng’
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/ŋ/
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ch
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/tʃ/
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dh
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/ð/
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gh
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/ɣ/
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kh
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/x/
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sh
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/ʃ/
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th
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/θ/
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Syllable Structure
- Syllables in Swahili have the following structures (Mohamed 2001, 11–12):
- V
- CV
- CCV
- CCCV
- C (which consists of a nasal)
- Although Mohamed (2001) also indicates that a syllable can consist of just a nasal (p. 11), Polomé (1967) states that such occurrences are merely variants of the non-syllabic nasals, predictable by stress patterns (p. 43). However, there are occurrences where syllabic /m/ and non-syllabic /m/ contrast, making the distinction between (ex. /mb/ and /m b/) unpredictable (Polomé 1967, 43). It is unclear whether this extends beyond just /m/, but nevertheless, the language is still compromised based on this one example.
Lenition Processes
- /n/ becomes the glide [j] preceding a noun or adjective with a vowel stem (Mohamed 2001, 24).
- /r/ is often realized as a flap (Polomé 1967, 44).
- /l/ deletes preceding /u/ (Meinhof, Werner, and Warmelo 1932, 118).
- /v/ becomes the glide [w] preceding /i/ (ibid.).
Misc. Rules
- The voiced stops vary freely with their implosive variants (Polomé 1967, 41).
- /v/ and /z/ vary freely in some unpredictable environments (Polomé 1967, 46).
- The contrast between voiced and voiceless consonants is sometimes (unpredictably) neutralized (ibid.).
References
Meinhof, Carl, Alice Werner, and N. J Warmelo. 1932. Introduction to the Phonology of the Bantu Languages. Berlin, D. Reimer/E. Vohsen.
Mohamed, Mohamed Abdulla. 2001. Modern Swahili Grammar. Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers.
Polomé, Edgar C. 1967. Swahili Language Handbook. Edited by Frank A. Rice. Center for Applied Linguistics.