Rna 2115: Phonetics and Phonology The medium of instruction shall be English and Runyakitara Course description

This is a theoretical course with a strong practical component. Great importance is placed on providing students with a theoretical basis that allows them to understand, internalize and describe the phonological system of Runyakitara as it manifests itself in speech. An understanding of how one’s phonological background enables them to learn a second language is considered.

- Describe what Phonetics and Phonology are about.

- Differentiate between Phonetics and Phonology.

- Explain the basic concepts in articulatory Phonetics.

- Describe the way the phoneme functions in Runyakitara.

- Describe the sounds of Runyakitara.

- Explain how tone works in Runyakitara
Course outline

The organs of speech, the international phonetic alphabet, the Runyakitara sounds, identifying a phoneme, phonemes and variants, phonemic overlapping, neutralization and archiphoneme, vowel harmony, assimilation, the tone in Runyakitara, Phonetic description.

1. 
   lectures
   
2. 
   class discussions
   
3. 
   written exercises
   
4. 
   group discussions
   

• 
  Coursework / assignments 30%
  
• 
  Written examination 70%
  

By the end of the course students will be able to:

1. 
   Describe how Runyakitara speech sounds are produced
   
2. 
   Analyse Runyakitara speech sounds
   
3. 
   Teach Runyakitara speech sounds to a language learner
   
4. 
   Relate Runyakitara sounds to sounds of other languages.
   
5. 
   Explain the function of tone and how it works in Runyakitara.
   

1. 
   Chomsky, A. and Halle, M. (19CH 68). The Sound Patterns of English. Harper &Row Inc.: New York.
   
2. 
   Cystal, D. (198CH 6). Prosodic Systems and Intonation in English. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge
   
3. 
   Goldsmith A. G. (1990). Autosegmental and Metrical Phonology. Blackwell: Oxford UK and Cambridge USA.
   
4. 
   Goldsmith, A. D. (ed) (1995). The Handbook of Phonological Theory. Blackwell: Massachusettes.
   
5. 
   Hyman, L. M. (1975). Phonology: Theory and Analysis. Holt, Rinehart and Winston: New York.
   
6. 
   Katamba F. (1989). Introduction to Phonology. Longman: London.
   
7. 
   O. Ndoleriire, & C. Oriikiriza (eds). (1996). Runyakitara Studies. VOL.1. Language (manuscript).
   
8. 
   Taylor, Charles. (1985). Nkore-Kiga (Croon Helm Descriptive Grammars). London: Croon-Helm.