Lesson 8 : Derived syllables of Lulogooli

 

Discussion

There are some consonant sounds that come when grammar rules are broken. 

These consonants would pass as the syllables of Ileseni 7. They have no grammar significance. They are only derived to serve phonetic challenges. They include syllables “mb, l’l, ng, nd and nz”. 

Our subject word, “Ululogooli” can be shorted to <ul’logooli> in speech. Syllables “lu+lo” are condensed to form long sound <l:>, written [l’l], and gain the last vowel, “o” for double syllable “l’lo”. 

The reasons for breaking grammar are several. One main reason is to sound social or stylish. In English you cannot start a formal letter with “How’s yo!”. But during social messaging with a friend that is Ok!

In Lulogooli, sometimes the brevity of words is a sign of good language command. Word “maama” for “mother” is shortened “m’ma”. Another word, “nsuulila” (refuse for me) is shortened as “s’ul’a”). 

The place of ‘grammar deviation’ in Ululogooli can be in quoted direct speech in writing or literature production as poetry. A writing approach, for it to be successful, it should be void from “style”.

A common statement in Lulogooli is, “Nimboo mboo na nemboo semboo, mboo ndi?” However sweet to the ear, the statement is wrongly written perhaps because it is wrongly or derivatively spoken. 

Not to say that this lesson is fault-finding a native speaker. But we have no written or speech evidence to ‘first’ speaker but modern leads to help us realign. 

Structure approach to lulogooli provides us with what possibly could have been a ‘pure’ language. And whose application would unlock what would otherwise come across as mumbling mowing – “mboo”.

In translation, the common statement goes: “If I have said I have said, and if I have said, have I not said what have I said? This statement only needs to know that “say” is “voola” in Lulogooli to be reconsidered. 

The structural writing begets: “Ninvooli nvooli na ninvooli sinvooli, nvooli ndi?”. And yes it can be articulated differently from the first. 

It shows that perhaps throughout the generations’ oral language inheriting underwent several passive changes. The first orthographies overlooked these changes and later has caused difficulties. 

One main difficulty faced till date is lack of a complete language dictionary. Which can best be achieved by structure. For a word in Lulogooli is mainly a sentence, consideration should be made that no letters in a word are used to replace others. 

More reading on derived consonants

“To derive letters” in this lesson is to use other letters in word writing instead of the ones that are said to form the word. This is dangerous and perhaps a best way out is to issue sounds to the letters other than by speech today, write so. 

The speech word “Ni.mb.oo”, structured as “Ni.nv.oo.li” to mean “If I have said”, gets palatalized with plosive “mb” instead of “nv”. Here the speaker would rather avoid the buzz of n+v sound. 

Secondly, the root word does not even get completed, “Nimboo…/Ninvoo…” . The verb “voola” whose root is “vool.a” cannot be passed as complete without full writing or formal speaking, “Ninvooli.”

So is the difficulty some writers and even readers experience in trying to understand word meaning. Another example word, “ngula” means “buy me” from verb “gul.a” and pronoun “I/me”. Yet in speech it’d also pass as “scratch me”. 

To scratch is “kula”.  How then does “k” become “g” in “ngula” for “scratch me”? This in linguistics is a secondary articulation feature of rounding of the lips during articulation. 

If secondary, we wouldn’t need it in structural writing. Only to explain phonetic deviations from challenging letter combinations in reading. For every language has those special issues. 

Another clear observation of Lulogooli is that it is mainly spoken in first person perspective – I/me. This direct speech style of reporting to a physical person would be accompanied by expressions as tonal variations. 

Pronoun “N” for “I/me” is the most used pronoun in Lulogooli. When it is followed by fricatives as “v” and “f”, the speaker gets challenged because letter “N” itself comes out as a silent. 

Words as “nsavi, nmooli” to mean “I borrowed, I crawled” would tend to drop the pronoun “n” in speech and read <ssavi, mmooli>. 

This struggle of a speaker to be “quickly heard” is most characteristic feature of Lulogooli. The alliterative <r> in words as malala, kubililila, helekelelila fall for lv1+lv2=l:v2 phonemena as in table Ileseni 8f. 

In social context it would appear Ululogooli is spoken in capital letters. Still, moderate in speech, words can be best articulated as grammatically appearing.

Exercise

1. In your notebook, write double consonants “mb, ch, nz, ng, ll”. 
2. Copy the words from tables in Ileseni 8a-8f and read aloud.