Speech variations in Xhosa demonstratives and Tswana passive verb stems: A generative phonological explanation

Abstract

Xhosa demonstratives and Tswana passive forms are revisited. The presence of the loo/lowo, abaa/abaya etc. in Xhosa demonstratives and the existence of the tsebiwa/tsedzwa, febiwa/fedzwa etc. in Tswana are data that receive attention. These are called speech variations in this article, because they are surface manifestations of the various interactions of segmental phonological rules on underlying representations, which are basically similar in all speakers of the respective languages. The thrust of the argument is based on rule-ordering in line with Kiparsky's notions of feeding/counterfeeding, bleeding/counterbleeding. It is my opinion that, without these notions our grammars in respect of these data are bound to have less explanatory power than they would have when such notions are taken into consideration. In short, I predict a particular phonetic form on the basis of the type of rule order preferred by a speaker. I conclude by asserting that frequency of occurrence of a particular rule order in a particular community of speakers should be taken as one of the strongest forces that leads to the creation of dialectical differences, especially when the young language-acquiring speakers internalize only that particular order.