The phonologization of English words in Kalanga

Abstract

The Kalanga language is spoken in Botswana and Zimbabwe. In Botswana, it has no literary role, but the majority of its speakers have learnt English at school. This has over time led to borrowing and adoption of English words in the language. Borrowing is linked to the status of L2 which is regarded as technologically, culturally and politically prestigious. Certain classes of speakers of L1 may mark themselves socially by phonologizing in a particular manner. When English words are acquired, they are assigned the phonological features of Kalanga. The phonologization processes outlined in this paper relate to the nativization of foreign sounds that characterize lexical borrowings from one language into another. When these lexical items or terms are phonologized, they take the phonological and morphological characteristics of the borrowing language. Grammatical changes may eventually occur if these processes are widespread or are associated with important syntactic accompaniments with borrowings. For instance, once nativized, such lexical items also acquire features such as tone which are not part of the source language. The contrastive discussion of phonologization is a relevant topic in the acquisition of English and provides insights on how the pronunciation of English by Kalanga L2 learners of English may be ameliorated.