Muundo Na Uamilifu Wa Kielezi Katika Kishazi Cha Kiswahili

ABSTRACT

This research endevoured to analyse the structure and functions of the adverb in the Kiswahili clause. An adverb is a word used to modify a verb, an adjective or another adverb. It is an important part of speech because it conveys information about how things happen as well as when, where and to what extent. The adverb is also taught in both primary and secondary schools in Kenya as one of the categories of Kiswahili words. However, studies on analysis of the Kiswahili adverb have proved to be challenging for four main reasons. Firstly, the Kiswahili adverb is traditionally termed descriptive. It is not clear what the defining features of this category are, since borders with neighbouring categories such as nouns, adjectives and prepositions are vague. Secondly, there seems to be many different structures functioning as adverbs in Kiswahili including morphemes, particles and phrases. These structures need to be explained vividly. Thirdly, the categorization of the adverb in Kiswahili also seems unclear as there are adverbs that cannot be categorized according to the already existing four sub-categories. Lastly, Kiswahili grammar has little to say about the syntax of adverbs for instance, the tendency of the Kiswahili adverb for multiple occurrence in the same clause and the range of possible positions in a Kiswahili clause structure. This research therefore aimed at analyzing the classification of the Kiswahili adverb, investigating the morphological form and syntactical structure of the Kiswahili adverb, and identifying the semantic roles of the adverb in the Kiswahili clausal structure. Independent clauses were used as the main data. Data was collected through the use of questionnaires and also through listening and recording Kiswahili language conversation. The clauses were analyzed within the Minimalist theoretical framework. The morphological study reveals that Kiswahili distinguishes between pure and derived adverbs. Pure adverbs have a simple structure while derived adverbs have a compound structure and are formed through three processes: affixation, reduplication and compounding. This research therefore concludes that, Kiswahili adverbs can be classified according to their morphological structure. Syntactic study reveals that Kiswahili adverbs are mobile, they can occur initially at middle or at the end of a clause. The main syntactic position of an adverb is at the end of a clause but it can occur at the initial position by fronting through focalization and topicalization processes. Kiswahili adverb also has various semantic roles including place, time, process, frequency and degree. This study concludes that the semantic roles influence the morphological and syntactical structure of a Kiswahili adverb.