Date of Award
1-1-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A. in Modern Languages
First Advisor
Donald Dyer
Second Advisor
Daniel Valle Arevalo
Third Advisor
Tamara Warhol
School
University of Mississippi
Relational Format
dissertation/thesis
Abstract
Linguistic accommodation is the situation of speakers adjusting their speech to that of their interlocutors or to something they perceive as different from their own. Based on Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT), this study investigates linguistic accommodation among Swahili speakers from Kenya, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the United States. Even though previous research has established that accommodation is a function of social, linguistic and contextual factors, no such study has been conducted to determine how diaspora communities fine-tune their speech in multilingual contexts. This study investigates how Swahili speakers adapt phonetic and morphosyntactic features in dialogues across different dialectal relationships. It looks at vowel lengthening /a:/ in interrogatives that end in -je, which is a question-forming suffix in Swahili often used to ask ‘how’ or ‘in what manner.’ Additionally, it compares the use of the locative suffix -ni (which indicates location roughly equivalent to ‘in’ or ‘at’, versus prepositional kwa, (used to denote locational contexts) and speakers’ metalinguistic knowledge and perceptions on Swahili dialectal variation. Through sociolinguistic interviews and surveys, data was collected from 12 native Swahili speakers (four from each country) in the United States.
The results show unidirectional accommodation, with Tanzanian Swahili having the greatest impact on the speakers from Kenya and the DRC. Kenyan and Congolese speakers show moderate to high levels of accommodation toward Tanzanian Swahili, with gender differences in linguistic convergence such that women accommodate more than men. It is important to highlight that this is a qualitative study; therefore, these insights are applicable solely to the sample of speakers involved in the research. Furthermore, this study assesses the role of Swahili in second language teaching in the U.S. and specifically in formal educational settings and programs like Fulbright. It underscores the necessity of an inclusive approach to Swahili instruction that recognizes dialectal diversity while ensuring consistency in teaching materials. Instead of promoting the dominance of a single variety, the study highlights the significance of developing instructional strategies that accommodate the diverse Swahili dialects. Based on the findings, this paper identifies several pedagogical issues that can inform the development of effective strategies for implementing Swahili instruction in U.S. schools. These findings contribute to the sociolinguistic literature on linguistic adaptation, dialect contact, and language change within diaspora communities. Furthermore, they offer valuable insights for language educators, policymakers, and linguists engaged in the preservation of linguistic diversity and the promotion of interoperability within the Swahili-speaking community in the United States.
Recommended Citation
Lutanjuka, Philimon David, "Linguistic Accommodation in Swahili Varieties: A Comparative Analysis of Kenyan, Tanzanian, and Congolese Swahili Communities in the United States" (2025). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3322.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/3322