Leonard M. Chacha

Verbal Tone in Kuria: Finite and Infinitival Verbs Leonard M. Chacha

In the recent past, Bantu languages have played asignificant role in the development of the theory anddescription of linguistic tone. Simply put, the Bantufamily has provided a testing ground for the theoriesof tone. This study was motivated by the fact thatalthough Bantu languages have made a tremendouscontribution in the area of tone, it is ironic thatthere is still scarcity of information on some Bantulanguages such as Kuria. Kuria, as one of theunderstudied languages, could provide furtherinsights into the tonal domain. Furthermore, theKuria language shows signs of being in rapidtransition. Presently, most Kuria speakers useKiswahili (a stress language) as the dominant language. This study shows that the Kuria verbal system has apredictable tone system where the position of thehigh tone is determined by the phonological shape andmorphological category of the verb. This isillustrated by tones in the finite and infinitivalverbs, affirmative and negation tenses, and tonepatterns in the reduplication forms. This studyshould be of interest to scholars of Bantu tone andanyone else interested in the Kuria language.