عنوان

The Nature and Direction of Meaning of -Kali in Kiswahili

Number

LA127264

.Language of Text, Soundtrack etc

انگلیسی

Title Proper

The Nature and Direction of Meaning of -Kali in Kiswahili

General Material Designation

[Article]

First Statement of Responsibility

Devet Goodness

Place of Publication, Distribution, etc.

Leiden

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

Brill

Text of Note

This paper examines the collocations of an adjective stem -kali to create several meanings, showing how -kali can be used to express a wide range of distinct concepts in different occasions of its utterance. It is noted that the few existing studies of Kiswahili adjectives (Ashton 1947, Myachina 1981, Kahigi 2008) which have focused mainly on semantics in determining their meanings, are therefore incomplete because they have overlooked many further meanings of these adjectives in use. Here it is argued that meanings of Kiswahili adjectives can best be exhausted if one takes pragmatics into consideration. This study demonstrates that -kali generates an infinite number of meanings; some of these connotations extend in the direction of negative pole of undesirable attributes and others towards a positive pole. The paper further demonstrates that although the meaning of the adjective stem -kali connoting 'harsh' or 'rude' can be adjusted pragmatically in context, the different meanings created when this qualifier co-occurs with different nouns derive interestingly from the same stem meaning: 'harsh' or' rude'. This paper examines the collocations of an adjective stem -kali to create several meanings, showing how -kali can be used to express a wide range of distinct concepts in different occasions of its utterance. It is noted that the few existing studies of Kiswahili adjectives (Ashton 1947, Myachina 1981, Kahigi 2008) which have focused mainly on semantics in determining their meanings, are therefore incomplete because they have overlooked many further meanings of these adjectives in use. Here it is argued that meanings of Kiswahili adjectives can best be exhausted if one takes pragmatics into consideration. This study demonstrates that -kali generates an infinite number of meanings; some of these connotations extend in the direction of negative pole of undesirable attributes and others towards a positive pole. The paper further demonstrates that although the meaning of the adjective stem -kali connoting 'harsh' or 'rude' can be adjusted pragmatically in context, the different meanings created when this qualifier co-occurs with different nouns derive interestingly from the same stem meaning: 'harsh' or' rude'.

Date of Publication

2018

Physical description

103-123

Title

Utafiti

Volume Number

13/1

International Standard Serial Number

2683-6408

Subject Term

cognitive semantics

Subject Term

Kiswahili adjectives

Subject Term

linguistic pragmatics

Subject Term

semiotics

Devet Goodness

Call Number

10.1163/26836408-01301008

Electronic name

p

[Article]

275578

a

Y