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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: When an object is expressed followed by a verb stem starting with
/n/ /n/ or /m/ /m/, the nasal is doubled. Examples of words with /m/ /m/ and /n/ /n/ include the following: i) Rn/Rt Rn/Rt akammanya ammigire alimmara araammamirira nibannuga bannigire he/she knew me he/she has squeezed me he/she will be sufficient for me he/she will spray me they look at me with disgust they have stra...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Nasal compounds
There is another category of nasals that exists in Runyakitara. These are nasals that include the following:
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Like in the case of
/mm/ /mm/ and /nn/ /nn/, they are also predictable and wherever one meets them, there is no need of writing a double vowel before them. Examples include the following: (c) The Vibrant (r)
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: In Runyoro-Rutooro when
/r/ /r/ is rolled, it is written doubled, for example:
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Note that if a double
/rr/ /rr/ is replaced by a single r in a word, there is generally change in meaning, for example:
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: It should also be noted that if a vowel preceding double
/rr/ /rr/ is pronounced long and the word can attain a different meaning, a double vowel should be written, for example: As a general rule, the long vowel before /rr/ is predictable. So, it will be written as a single vowel, for example: However, there are cases, especially with the word kurra (to weep or to cry) when ...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Amaiso gange garra
Gaarra sente zange 2. Abaana bange barra Baarra abaana sente zaabo 3. Kurra kintu kibi muno Kuura ebintu obireete kunu 4. Bunu obwana burra muno Buurra oyetegereze eki ngambire 5. Abakazi barra obu babiihirwa My eyes cry (ooze) with tears. Bring back my money My children cry Count for the children their money Crying is...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Vowel Length
(a) Double vowels are written when they appear pronounced long across morpheme boundaries, for example: (b) When they are naturally long, for example: Long vowels often can be contrasted with short vowels as in the following minimal pairs: Rn/Rt kusaara noise made by water before boiling kusara to cut kusiika to fry ku...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: It should be noted that the Runyankore-Rukiga's
/ky/ /ky/ is in reality /c/ /c/. In the same way, ky and gy are not followed by /i/ because /y/ and /i/ are palatals. If they are followed by /i/ /i/, this would be a repetition. They shall therefore, be written as /ki/ /ki/ or /gi/ /gi/. (e) A vowel appearing before a nasal compound is usually pronounced long but writ...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Note that the palatal nasal usually written as
/ny/ /ny/ is in reality a single consonant [p] [p]. There is therefore no need to apply the above rule to vowels appearing before /ny/, for example: (f) Diphthongs are written with two different vowels and their length is generally that of a long vowel (doubled generally in writing in the conditions indicated above). T...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The difference with Runyoro-Rutooro is that the vowel preceding
/rr/ /rr/ is short in pronunciation. On the other hand, in spelling the rolled /rr/ is written rura, rira, rara, etc.
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The Relative
The object relative is to be written separately from the word it precedes, for example: Rn/Rt Rn/Rt abaana abu turukuliisa ekisoro eki turukubaaga emiti ei twatemere amata aga twanywa ente ezi muguzire Ry/Rk Ry/Rk abashaija abu turikureeba enyamaishwa ei twisire ebitabu ebi ashomire ebitakuri ebi twarya akaana aku mure...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Prepositions and Conjunctions
Prepositions and conjunctions are usually to be separated from the words they precede (except in cases that will be indicated later), for example: Rn/Rt Rn/Rt ente eri mu rugo omu nju yaawe omu nda yakyo tuli mwa Kaikara bagenzire ha rusozi ha nju eruguru Mmutumire owa Petero omwisiki nka Maria Kiiza na Nsungwa oburo r...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The Possessives
Like the prepositions and conjunctions, possessives preceding or following other words are written separately, for example: Rn/Rt Rn/Rt ali omu ka ye he is in his home ibara lya Kahogo obwana bw'embeba amata g'ente abantu ba ira orumuli rw'orubingo Ry/Rk Ry/Rk eihuri ry'enkoko omushaija w'embabazi omu maju ge abantu b'...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Writing of
/ki/,/ky/,/c/,/gi/,/gy/,/g/,/1/ /ki/,/ky/,/c/,/gi/,/gy/,/g/,/1/ and /r/ /r/ There are marked differences in the pronunciation and writing of the above in Runyoro-Rutooro viz-a-vis Runyankore-Rukiga; examples: On the other hand, the following words have c‾ c ​ in both Runyankore-Rukiga and Runyoro-Rutooro: In the same m...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: While others have
/k/ /k/ in written form, others have /c/ /c/ is spoken as shown above. It is suggested that the present orthography of Runyankore-Rukiga in this respect be maintained for the sake of harmonizing the orthography with that of Runyoro-Rutooro. However, for the future, the following suggestion could be made for Runyankore-...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: L and
r r
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The problem of
/l/ /l/ and /r/ /r/ is especially important for Rukiga and to a lesser extent for Runyoro. In the Runyankore-Rukiga orthography, there is officially no /l/ simply because, generally speaking, Runyankore has no literal /l/. On the other hand, Rukiga uses /l/ /l/ in the same conditions as Runyoro and Rutooro (see chapter...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: It is therefore suggested that the Bakiga follow the Runyoro-Rutooro orthography in this respect by writing
l l where it is pronounced and r r where it is pronounced. In the case of Runyoro, the problem is with the rolled /r/ (rr). Compare: Because Runyoro has several possible pronunciations, it is proposed that the spelling with double /r/(rr) /r/(rr) be maintained. However, since they write as they pronounce, in case one o...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Reduplications
Reduplicated forms are written as one word. This is because they represent single lexical items. In that case therefore, they are written without a hyphen or space in between them. For example:
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Compounds
Compounds are words that repeat themselves but or come from two words that are not related but mean something different from either of the words that have been combined. Such words shall be written as a single word because they represent single lexical items, for example ( Ry/Rk Ry/Rk ):
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Interjections
These are words that show surprise or fear. They are written the way they are spoken. Examples include the following: Ai! Mawe! Is that possible! Oh my God!
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Borrowed Words
Borrowed words, which have been naturalised, shall be written as they are commonly pronounced by the native speakers, as indicated below:
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Names of Persons and Places
Names of persons shall be left to be written in a similar way from the time such names were recorded because adjusting their spelling has legal implications. It should be noted that adjustment in the spelling of a name requires swearing an affidavit to legalise such a name, because legally, that would be another person...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Titles
Titles preceed the first name in situations where more than one name is used. However, when the sir name is used alone, the title is used on that name alone; for example, Dr Gilbert Gumoshabe or Prof. Ndoleriire. Titles have a full stop if the word is abbreviated e.g. Prof. while there is no fullstop if the title is ab...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Miscellaneous Issues
(a) /nio/ and /nia/ Because of the fact that in Runyakitara orthography as a whole, /ny/ represents the palatal nasal which is often represented by the symbol by phoneticians, a distinction had to be made between words with the sound [ n ] and those with the compound sound [ny] or [nj]. The following solution was propo...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Punctuation
Punctuation, as defined by Babcock (2002, p. 1843) is "the act, practice, or system of inserting various standardised marks or signs in written or printed matter in order to clarify the meaning and separate structural units of a sentence". In other words, it is the usage of spacing, conventional signs, and typographica...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Summary of Runyakitara Orthography
Below are the general rules for spelling in Runyakitara: All words in Runyakitara shall be written the way they are pronounced and heard. Runyakitara has only five short vowels, namely: /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/ and /u/. Runyakitara also has five long vowels which are represented by writing the vowel twice. These are: /aa/, /...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Some Runyakitara consonants are formed by combining them with
m m or n n at the beginning to form a single sound. These are called nasal compounds, and they include the following: /mb/ /mp/ /nc/ /nd/ /nf/ /ng/ /ngy/ /nj/ /nk/ /nky/ /ns/ /nsh/ /nt/ /nts/ /nv/ /nz/ The rule shall be that in words where they exist, they shall not be preceded by a double vowel. Examples include the f...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Another category of consonants that are combined to form a single sound are those that combine with
w w in a word. These are called w Examples: w (compounds and they include the following:).
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: There is also another category of simple sounds that are combined with
y y at the end to form a single sound. These are called y Examples: y (compounds, and they include the following: /by/ /dy/ /gy/ /hy//ky/ /ly//my//ny//py/ /ry/ /sy//tsy/ /ty//zy/ The rule shall be that all words with that sound within them shall not have a double vowel in front of them. They include the following examp...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: References
Babcock, P. (Ed.). (2002). Webster's third new international dictionary of the English Language. Springfield, Merriam-Webster Inc. Publishers. Betungura, A. (1960). Runyankore-Rukiga orthography as adopted from the Report of the Runyankore-Rukiga Orthographic Conference of 1954, Mbarara. Caumartin, A. (1938). Grammar e...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Chapter 9
INTRODUCTION TO A DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF RUNYAKITARA TEXTS: A GENRE APPROACH
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Introduction
In this chapter, we analyse and describe different kinds of written texts, mainly stories in Runyakitara. This description entails examining how these stories are constructed, interpreted and used and the defining characteristics that written Runyakitara texts exhibit. In addition, the chapter explores the lexico-gramm...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Methods used in Discourse Analysis
Discourse analysis makes use of various analytical approaches using different types of materials to achieve a wide range of goals (Bhatia et al., 2008). Discourse analysis cuts across different fields of study which use different discourse analytical methods to analyse written and spoken texts. Some of these include co...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Genre Analysis
Genre analysis is an approach used to examine linguistic behaviour as it is manifested in academic or professional settings (Bhatia, 2004). The choice for genre analysis relates to the inadequacy of the previous discourse approaches to address pedagogical needs, explain textual analysis, and categorise texts based on t...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Identification of Genres
Genres possess easily recognised characteristics that when we come across them, we know what kind of genre a given text is. These properties lead us to identify what kind of message to expect in the text. In a simple example of the lost and found texts in a newspaper, we expect to find the identification of the person ...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Analysing Genres
In analysing unfamiliar genres, Bhatia (1993,2004) (1993,2004) recommends that one should first consider his/her experience and knowledge about the field in which the genre-text belongs. If you do not possess this knowledge, then you examine the existing literature on that genre in order to learn more about it. Secondl...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Narrative Genres
Stories are significant in our lives; they "are central genres in all cultures.... They are told in all social groupings to interpret life's chaos and rhythms, to evaluate each other's behaviour, and to educate and entertain our children" (Rose & Martin, 2008, p. 49). Martin and Rose further argue that the stories' pow...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Runyakitara Story Genres
Martin and Rose (2008) have shown how the different types of stories are realised in both oral and written mediums. Stories have existed in the pre-modern and contemporary cultural contexts throughout the world. In this regard therefore, Runyakitara stories known as emigani, ebigano, or enganikyo have been recounted in...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Orientation
Ente egyenda ezingura na Warucuncu.
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Complication
Nyomwabazyo hataaha eifa Kamirakwo. Ente ku eba egiire Rujumbura kushaka, Warucuncu eita encwa-mutwe yaayo. Ente ku eija ehoora enzigu, eita ekibwana kyakyo.
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Resolution
Eirukanga, esingirwa owa Wakame omu nyanga. Ekicuncu ku kiija, Wakame akibingira omu irembo.
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Evaluation
Nikyo oreebera Wakame akunda kuza omu nte kwonka. (Source: van Spaandonk (1997), Ninshoma, p. 46). In this story, the narrator begins by presenting the characters of the story, i.e., Ente and Warucuncu. Since this is a fable, the exact place where the characters lived is not revealed, it is assumed to be the in the wil...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The staging structure is mainly marked by temporal adjuncts
4,ku 4 ,ku, obu, aho, kaingaha, (E)kiro kimu indicating a transition from one stage to another; for example, Ente ku eba egiire... Ente ku eija .... Ekicuncu ku kiija...obu yali atakabiriire..., Kaingaha! Zireesire Wankoko... Kaingaha omusaija kahurra akatego nikagamba..., Kiro kimu akamukwata yamusiiga enziro... We al...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Orientation
Omushaija akagyenda n'omutabani, baaza kuhiga. Baaritaahamu eihamba, baitamu esirabo, baagyekorera nibagitwara omu bwerere kugibaagiramu.
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Complication
Ku baabaire nibagihuumuza bati, zaareeta bwahara bw'entare.
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Evaluation
Yaija ngaaha neeribata neehendekyeza, omujwengye neeguhungura, amaisho nigagitukura oti barasiiremu eshagama, akanwa nikagingana oruteba ruteeka amaizi g'obushera, enyindo ziri emigyeto nk'emambo zibamba emiguta. Weeza ku baagireebire emitima yaabahwa omu nda, omushaija yaatandika kugambisibwa agumize "Ninkushara! Nink...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Complication
Entare ku etandika neebahika, egira eti "Iwe mushaija we, gambira mutabani waawe amire egi sirabo, naiwe omumire, haza ngurukye nkumire, bihwe". Omushaija n'omutabani bateeraho bagaaragaarirwa. Ngu "Ka twesize, eki eraabe neekora ekikore. Kandi nitukijwara omutanga kutanga ki, twabaire enyama yaarwo?"
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Evaluation
Ku biba bikiri aho omuri ya kafe ya kaitwe, hareetana engundu y'ekikyere. Kiija nikigurukyera, omubiri n'obu gwakakiiragwire, amaisho gakigurukire, amatama nikihaga nikihaguurura nk'orikucumika enyungu ebuzire etaabe.
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Complication
Ku kitandika nikihika aho, kiti: Beitu ka mpuriire muri omu rwari, mufiire ki?" Ekicuncu kiti "Ngambiire ogu mushaija ku aragiira omutabani kumira egi nyamaishwa, nawe akamira omutabani, naanye omushaija nkamumira, haza ebigambo bikahwa."
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Resolution
Ndi ekikyere kiti "ka nikwo shi, k'omugambiire eky'oburyo!" Kiti "Iwe mutsigazi 'we, rahutsya omire egi sirabo, sho akumire, entare emumire, naanye ngurukye ngimire, haza turekye kusiibya amasha omu kibuga." Entare ku ehinduka yaareeba ekikyere oku kirikushusha, n'oku kirikureetsa, n'ebi kirikugamba nikihamiza kimwe ku...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Coda
Ekikyere kitambira kityo abahiigi; beekorera esirabo n'obwira, bagyenda nibagihwerahwerana, baza kugibaagira omuka. (Source: Mubangizi, B. K. (1989). Nkutebeze 4. Mbarara: Omuhanda gw'Okumanya). In this story, the orientation stage begins with identification of the main participants, omushaija n'omutabani; the main act...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: A Contemporary Runyakitara New Story Genre - Amakuru
Modernity has ushered in a different kind of stories which are detached from the traditional stories that convey the old sociocultural practices of gathering, hunting, pastoralism, farming, and artisanry such as basket weaving, blacksmithing, tribal wars, witchcraft, etc. Although some of the modern stories are largely...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Headline
Aba Museveni barwaine n'aba Col. Kizza Besigye Henry Kwikiriza - Rukungiri [Byline]
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Lead
Abashagiki ba Col. Kizza Besigye na Lt. Gen. Yoweri Museveni bashenguraine omu tauni Rukungiri Orwakataano 2/3/2001. Bamwe abaserukare abarikukuuma Purezidenti (PPU) bahutaire, baatwarwa omu irwariro Nyakibale. Satellite 1: Elaboration, details of the violence Orutaro rutandikire obu abaserukare ba PPU n'aba LDU bairuk...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Aba
1 1
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Museveni
2 2 barwaine 3n′aba4 3 n ′ aba 4 Col. Kizza Besigye 5 5
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Abashagiki
4 4 ba Col. Kizza Besigye 5 5 na Lt. Gen. Yoweri Museveni 2 2 bashenguraine 3 3 omu tauni Rukungiri Orwakataano 2/3/2001. Bamwe abaserukare abarikukuuma 2 2
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Purezidenti
2 2 (PPU) bahutaire, baatwarwa omu irwariro Nyakibale. The Headline and Lead provide the core information that summarises the entire news report. We find that the news writer largely concentrates on the information in this phase. The opening nucleus therefore serves as a summary of the news report. It indicates what - ...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Text 6
Examples: Headlines (Ry/Rk).
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Conclusion
In this chapter, we have analysed Runyakitara texts focusing on story genres, namely the traditional Runyakitara tale and a news recount. Using genre analysis, we have observed that the Runyakitara story genre bears resemblance to the story genre obtaining in the European and American societies. The Runyakitara story e...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: References
Ayers, G. (2008). The evolutionary nature of genre: An investigation of the short texts accompanying research articles in the scientific journal Nature. English for Specific Purposes, 27(1), 22-41. Bazerman, C. (2004). Speech acts, genres, and activity systems: How texts organise activity and people. In C. Bazerman & P...
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Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Footnotes
4 4 See Temporal Adverbials or Time Indicators in Chapter 3. ↩
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RUNYAKITARA LANGUAGE STUDIES
A Guide for Advanced Learners and Teachers of Runyakitara Makerere University Press P.O. Box 7062 Kampala, Uganda Email: sales@press.mak.ac.ug managing.editor@press.mak.ac.ug (C) Oswald K. Ndoleriire, 2020 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted i...
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents ..... v Acronyms and Abbreviations ..... ix Preface ..... xi Acknowledgements ..... xvi About the Contributing Authors ..... xvii Chapter 1 THE PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY OF RUNYAKITARA Oswald Ndolerire & Gilbert Gumoshabe ..... 1 Introduction ..... 1 Theoretical Framework ..... 1 Scope of the Study .......
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Preface
This book introduces a language that we call Runyakitara. You may wonder what Runyakitara stands for. If you are a Ugandan, you may think that some linguists sat down and came up with a new language that they then named Runyakitara. We are going to show you that this is not the case. Runyakitara, as a matter of fact, i...
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Runyakitara in the global context
It is generally accepted that the four varieties of Runyakitara under study belong to the Bantu family of languages, which are part of the Benue-Congo sub-group. The latter itself belongs to the Niger-Congo which is under the Congo-Kordofan (also called Niger-Kordofan) language family. One notes that the Bantu language...
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Runyakitara in the national context
The Ugandan Constitution does not mention the word Runyakitara. It mentions 56 languages according to the tribes that the constitution recognises. Thus, Runyoro is recognised as a language in the same way Rukiga, Rutagwenda, Runyaruguru and others are. The practice in previous periods, particularly from the 1950s, was ...
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Language and Dialect
Generally speaking, a language is made up of dialects; that is, different ways in which a language is used by speakers. The most widely-spoken dialects are the regional dialects; that is, people in a given area speaking a language somewhat differently from those of another area. There are also social dialects whereby p...
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Historical Perspectives and Geographical Distribution
It is widely accepted in Western Uganda, that a people's language or orulimi/orurimi corresponds to what her ethnic group speaks. The Banyoro speak Runyoro, the Batooro speak Rutooro, the Bagangaizi speak Rugangaizi, the Banyankore speak Runyankore, the Bakiga speak Rukiga, and so on. However, when the European mission...
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General theoretical approach
This book is intended for a wide readership, ranging from students in secondary schools and teacher training colleges to language teachers at all levels of education. It should also be useful for language students and lecturers in institutions of higher learning as well as researchers in languages and related areas. Du...
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Acknowledgements
This book is a result of painstaking research, which started in 1995/1996 with a research grant from the Research and Publications Committee of Makerere University, to whom we express our sincere appreciation. We wish to extend our sincere thanks to all those who have, in one way or another, helped towards the realizat...
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About the Contributing Authors
Shirley Cathy Byakutaaga, holds a Bachelor of Arts with Education (Makerere University) and a Masters in Linguistics (University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada). She served as a Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Languages, Makerere University, where she was among those who initiated and popularized the teachin...
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Introduction
This chapter, which is an updated version of Ndoleriire's (1992) article, endeavours to present aspects of the phonetics and phonology of Runyakitara. Some people have already made an attempt but very often in a very superficial manner. The studies that exist are presenting sounds either in Runyoro-Rutooro or Runyankor...
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Theoretical Framework
In the inventory of sounds, the approach will be purely descriptive, the aim being to try to account for as many sounds as can be identified in the four dialects of Runyakitara (Runyoro-Rutooro/Runyankore-Rukiga, sometimes divided into Runyoro-Rutooro and Runyankore-Rukiga). This collection of sounds is what we have re...
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Scope of the Study
Here, we are going to analyse some aspects of the Runyakitara phonetics and phonology especially from the segmental point of view. This means that our study will not be comprehensive since Runyakitara is made up of numerous dialects and sub-dialects, not to talk of 'idiolects' or individual varieties. A comprehensive s...
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Tone in Runyakitara
From the research conducted, tone, which Fromkin and his colleagues (2003) describe as the vocal sound with reference to its pitch, quality, and strength, is clearly attested in Runyankore-Rukiga. It is used in providing meaning of words whose spelling is the same but vary in pronunciation. That variation is only expla...
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Non-Verbs
The above examples can be summarised as follows: (a) Verbs that are infinitive usually have only two tone classes: one characterised by low tone only, the other characterised by the presence of a high tone. (b) Nouns are also in two classes: one with low tone only, and the other by the presence of high tone appearing i...
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Methodological Approach
We shall attempt to account for the major similarities and differences at phonetic and phonological levels among the major dialects of Runyakitara. In order to do this, one has of necessity to adopt a comparative approach. The different dialects will therefore be examined both individually and collectively in order to ...
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The Sounds of Runyakitara
In order to identify the distinctive sounds of a language, it is important to make an inventory of as many sounds as may exist in a language. From this pool of sounds, one can determine those that are more pertinent than others. As indicated earlier, we shall limit ourselves to the most common sounds produced by the sp...
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Chart 4: Rk
From the four charts above, Runyankore has the highest number of consonantal sounds (26) followed by Rutooro (25), Runyoro (24) and Rukiga has the lowest number (23). We shall see, however, later, that the slightly higher number of sounds in Runyankore than in the other dialects is essentially due to the fact that in A...
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Examples with
f f It is clear from these examples that, in Runyoro-Rutooro and Rukiga, f f and l l appear in complementary distribution; that is, the sounds appearing before and after l l are different from those appearing before and after f f. This can be illustrated as follows: In all the other environments, which are the majority...
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Remarks
The word okulira/okurira, "to cry"," can be written exceptionally with a short or long vowel; i.e., okurra or okuurra or okura. The older generation in Rutooro tends to use okuurra rather than okurra, thus respecting the rule of vowel lengthening before rr . The younger generation tends to shorten the rr rr both in oku...
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Rn
It is clear that the words in columns 1 and 3 in Runyoro are homonymous. (b) The other reason why the Rutooro omurro was preferred to the Runyoro omuliro or omuuro is that the first version omuliro seems to have some Luganda influence, a language not included in the Runyakitara group. Before leaving the study of the so...
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J and 3
These two sounds are very frequent in Runyankore-Rukiga but of very limited use in Runyoro-Rutooro. It should be noted first that the sound transcribed as f f is usually written a sh in Runyankore-Rukiga orthography while 3 is written as j j. To begin with, the distribution of f f is very limited in Runyoro-Rutooro alt...
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J
J, the following examples are for Runyoro-Rutooro. The original pronunciation seems to have been h h, the form used in spellings. This can be confirmed by the verb kuhya (to burn) in the following usages: In the two examples above, h h can be replaced by f f or s s by some speakers. However, if we take the form: tu-hi-...
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The Vowels
Runyakitara vowels are, as a whole, less complex than the consonants, at least from the articulatory point of view. There are, all in all, five vowels that have a distinctive feature of length, such that every short vowel can be lengthened with a change in the meaning of a word. The following chart illustrates the Runy...
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ai
​ is often pronounced as ei‾
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ei
​ : In Rutooro, the diphthong ei ei seems to be restricted to the presence of the reflexible −e −e - in the verb: The diphthong oi oi is frequent, particularly in Runyoro-Rutooro:
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The Phonemes of Runyakitara
Phonetics is the study of the nature of sounds in a language while phonology concentrates on those sounds in a language that are of special significance and that enable one to differentiate one word from another or an utterance from another. We shall now look at the phonemes of Runyakitara, or those sounds that one can...
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The Bilabials
The bilabials to be analysed are p,b,β,m p,b,β,m and w.b w.b and β β are usually said to be variants of the same phoneme, as follows:
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i) Conditional Variants
b b and β β are in complementary distribution, with b b occurring after a nasal and β β elsewhere, as shown in the following examples: In the above cases, b b and β β are conditional variants of the same phoneme, or allophones.
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ii) Free Variants
b b and β β are free variants in the following areas: In loan words, one usually finds b b. One may also hear: In Runyoro-Rutooro particularly, there is also free variation between β β and b b when they appear at the beginning of a sentence, for example: It is however argued that β/b β/b can be considered as distinct p...
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The Labiodentals
In spite of the limited frequency and distribution of v v as seen earlier, /f/ /f/ and /v/ /v/ are phonemes of the language. Minimal pairs include: (eki)feera idiot, halfwit (aka)veera plastic bag eviini (Rn/Rt) (Rn/Rt) wine ediini religion
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Dentals and Alveolars
This group has the largest number of sounds which include t,d,ts,n,l,f,rr,Y,s,z,∫ t,d,ts,n,l,f,rr,Y,s,z,∫ and 3 . To begin with, the dental t t and the alveolar t t are free variants of the same phoneme. It has already been said that the dental t t is the most common among the Runyakitara speakers while the alveolar t ...
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Palatals and Velars
The palatals and velars are c,j,ny,y,k,g,ky c,j,ny,y,k,g,k y and gy g y and we include here the glottal h./c/ h./c/ and /j/ /j/ are distinct phonemes in both Runyoro-Rutooro and Runyankore-Rukiga, but as we have already seen, they can also be conditional variants of k k and g g when the latter appear before i i and y y...
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The Vowels
The procedure for identifying the vowel phonemes is the same as for consonants. We have already indicated further up that length is a distinctive feature in Runyakitara vowels and have provided minimal pairs. A few examples below will suffice to show that the five basic vowels of Runyakitara are also phonemes. We shoul...
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Summary of Consonantal and Vocalic Phonemes
By taking into account the phonemic description made of the Runyakitara sounds, one can propose the following phonological systems for the two major dialects and for Runyakitara as a whole. Chart 6: Rn/Rt Chart 7: Ry/Rk Chart 8: Runyakitara The charts above reflect the various phonemes identified in each dialect. The d...
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/J/
/J/ and /3/ /3/, which Runyoro-Rutooro does not have. The whole system is therefore made up of the total phonemes attested in the two sub-systems. As regards vowels, it is clear that Runyakitara has five long and five short vowels.
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