Lioba Moshi

Word order in multiple object constructions in Kivunjo-Chaga

This paper provides an overview of the interdependence between semantic roles, discourse functions and syntactic and lexical conditions in determining the order in which postverbal objects may appear. It asserts that, whereas the order may be determined by the semantic hierarchy of the object, non-beneficiary arguments have a relatively free word order. Often, the object that carries the most prominent information will appear adjacent to the verb.

Reviews : English in Africa. An Introduction. By Josef Schmied. Longman Linguistics Library, 1991. 264

While the book provides valuable information about the status of English in those areas the author researched, the impression one gets from the descriptions and arguments is that one can adopt a monolithic approach to policies and priorities when dealing with issues concerning Africa such as language learning and usage. It is important, however, to point out that Africa is a continent, not a single country, and policies and priorities are as diverse as the nations that constitute the continent. The book is divided into nine chapters, each of which deals with one of these broad themes. Chapter 1 looks at the historical background including colonial influence, the establishment of educational and trade centers, and how these may have affected the teaching of English in Africa. Schmied touches upon language policies practiced before and after independence, and laws, approved by the colonial powers of the time, that emphasized the teaching and learning of standard English. Such laws have been viewed by natives and historians as an attempt by the British to exert their supremacy in Africa. Chapter 2 explores the sociolinguistic situation of English both as a medium of instruction and as a second language. Schmied discusses variability across countries noting the major distinctions, which include English as a native language (ENL), second language (ESL), foreign language (EFL), or international language (EIL). He correctly observes that there is no African state which can claim English

Time reference markers in KiVunjo-Chaga

The main purpose of this paper is to describe the time reference markers in KiVunjo-Chaga, a language spoken in north-eastern Tanzania. Very little is known about Chaga dialects, and this study aims at initiating a systematic approach which distinguishes the various aspects of the temporal reference system of Chaga dialects. Owing to the contrainst of this paper, the A. has limited his study to the description of only those verbs forms which are inflected for Tense/Aspect and which function as independent main verbs in a sentence. Negative verb forms are also excluded from the present description. The account presented in this paper is a small part of on-going research which will result in a reference grammar of KiVunjo-Chaga and which can be used as a basis for the description of the remaining dialects in the continuum of Chaga languages