The Modebnis Ation Of Somali Vocabulary. With Particular Reference John .

Transcription

- 1 -(d OTHE MODEBNISATION OF SOMALI VOCABULARY. WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCETO THE PERIOD FROM 1972 TO THE PRESENTJOHN CHARLES CARETTHESIS SUBMITTEDFOR THEDEGREE OFDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHYOF THEUNIVERSITY OF LONDON

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ABSTRACTThe aim of this thesis is to examine the lexical modernisation ofthe Somali language, a subject which provides an excellent opportunityto study at first hand the process of accelerated vocabulary expansion.While vocabulary expansion in languages with a long-established writtentradition has evolved gradually, allowing time and preference to deter mine ultimately the acceptance of additions to vocabulary, Somalia hasbeen denied this luxury.Although some vocabulary expansion tookplace on a limited and informal scale with the introduction in 19 3 ofradio broadcasts in the Somali language, it was not until 1972 that anofficial orthography was established - prior to which date no generallyaccepted written form had existed - and a co-ordinated government pro gramme of vocabulary expansion initiated.It is this new Somalivocabulary which forms the basis of the present study.This thesis seeks to show how the universal, principles of vocabularyexpansion relate to the specific manifestation in Somali by consideringa)the limited number of methods available, with examples takenfrom a variety of languagesb)the speed with which such an expansion can be achieved, sinceonly vocabulary needs to be substantially expanded given thatthe logical framework of all languages is essentially identicaland capable of coping with modem thoughtc)the freedom of choice within the limitation of methods, andthe way in which it has been exercised in Somali.To this end, an examination has been made of the specific methods ofvocabulary expansion adopted by the Somali language planners in the

- 3 creation of a modem vocabulary and incorporated within this examinationis a detailed analysis of selected modem Somali vocabulary drawn fromavailable sources, including the Somali press, school text-books andselected extracts from Somali radio broadcasts.

-4-I wish to express ay sincere thanks to Jaalle MaxaraedCabdillaahi Riiraash of the Curriculum Office of theSomali Ministry of Education, latterly engaged uponpost-graduate studies at the University of London, whokindly read through and checked the examples of modemSomali vocabulary contained in this work.

- 5 -"Pour saisir le monde, aujourd’hui, nous usons d*un langagequi fut etabli pour le monde d'hier.Et la vie du passenous seable mieux repondre a notre nature, pour la seuleraison qu'elle repond mieux a notre langage."Antoine de St. Exupery"Terre des Hoiames"

- 6 -CONTENTSp a rtI - a g e n e r a l v i e w o f v o c a b u l a r y e x pa n s i o n1.INTRODUCTION142.METHODS OF VOCABULARY EXPANSION18a)SEMANTIC SHIFT18b)BORROWING23c) DERIVATION25d) COMPOUNDING25e) PHRASE GROUPING26PART II - THE LEXICAL MODERNISATION OF SOMALI1. LANGUAGE REFORM IN SOMALIA282. PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS353. DETAILED ANALYSIS OF SELECTED SOMALIVOCABULARY (BY FIELD OF DISCOURSE)401. AGRICULTURE*452. ARMED FORCES483. BANKING AND FINANCE694. CHEMISTRY805. COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY866 . COMMUNICATIONS1077. EDUCATION1138 . GEOGRAPHY1229. LANGUAGE12810.LAWI3Q11.MATHEMATICS144

* 7 -1 2 . MEDICINE15213.OFFICE EQUIPMENT16514.PHYSICS16915.POLITICS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS17716 .PRINTING AND PUBLISHING21417.SPORT21818 . TOWN AND FACILITIES19.VEHICLES AND VEHICLE PARTS20 . WORK223226233PART Ill - EXAMPLES OF VOCABULARY EXPANSION IN SELECTEDEXTRACTS FROM NEWS BULLETINS BROADCAST BYRADIO HARGEISA. AUGUST-OCTOBER 1954240PART IV - THE ROLE OF THE SOMALI DAILY NEWSPAPER XIDDIGTA OKTOOBAR* IN THE MODERNISATIONOF SOMALI VOCABULARY247PART V - THE ROLE OF THE SCHOOL TEXT-BOOK IN THEMODERNISATION OF SOMALI VOCABULARY258PART VI - CONCLUSIONS265APPENDIX I - Brief Notes on Somali Orthography2711. Consonants2 . Vowels3.Table of Correspondence4.Phonological Altemances5.Tone

- 8 -APPENDIX II -The Definite Article2811.The masculine suffix2.The feminine suffixAPPENDIX III - A Summary of Somali Noun Glasses285APPENDIX IV289- A Summary of Somali Verbal glasses1.2.3.k.Verbal Roots1.1.Root without extension1.2.Root one extension1.3.Root two extensionsSubstantival Roots2.1.Root one extension2.2.Root two extensions2.3.Root three extensionsAdjectival Roots3.1.Root without extension3.2.Root one extension3.3.Root two extensionsAttributive RootsJf.l.Root one extension .2.Root two extensionsAPPENDIX V - Derivational. Noun-derived andVerb-derived Affixes303APPENDIX VI - "Indicators" and Relative Glauses309APPENDIX VII - The Co-ordinates311APPENDIX VIII - The Genitive* 00 *and *ee'312

- 9. -APPENDIX IX -Prepositional Particles3NOTES316BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES327WORD INDEX3 3

- 10 -LIST OF .Eng.American EnglishAm.Sp.American utiveattr.v.attributive ated.a.f.definite article feminined. a. m.definite article masculineder.aff.derivational affixEng.EnglishFr.Frenchgen.aff.genitival .Maltese

n.aff.noun-derived affixn.f.noun femininen.m.noun masculineo in original meaningPer.Persianpers.pr.personal pronounph .alt.phonological e affixpr.part.prepositional particler.adj.radical adjectiveref.pr.reflexive pronounrel.cls.relative substantival ardSwa.SwahiliTur.Turkishv.adj.verbal adjectivev. aff.verbal affixv. ext.verbal extensionv.r.verbal rootv.ter.verbal termination

- 12 TransliterationThe following systems of transliteration are employed in this work*Arabic/Greek/Persian/Russian- Romanization Guide. United StatesDepartment of State, Office ofResearch in Economics and Science,and United States Department ofthe Interior, Office of Geography,July 196 .N.B. Where Arabic feminine singu lar nouns - from which many Somalinouns ending in -ad are derived occur in this work, their trans literation will indicate the prejunctive stateAmharicSystem developed by Wolf Leslauand contained in his Amharic Text book. Otto Harrassowitz,Wiesbaden, 1967.ChinesePinyin syllabary, as contained inChinese-English Dictionary, BeijingForeign Language College, EnglishFaculty, Beijing, 1978*

- 13 -SymbolsHie following symbols are employed in this works placed after a word means that the word after this symbol is anevolution of that preceding it. placed after a word means that the word before the symbol isderived from that following it.[ ] include transliteration() include abbreviation*hypothetical fora

-IM PARTIA GENERAL VIEW OF VOCABULARY EXPANSION1.INTRODUCTIONThe number of languages spoken throughout the world runs to severalthousands - many with established orthographies, others unwritten whose speakers may range from merely hundreds to hundreds of millions.Yet despite this diversity of languages, it is possible, in certainareas, to discern features which axe clearly common to all of them.Language is, after all, an inherent feature of human communication andis used to describe or explain human experience, which is fundamentallythe same no matter which language is spoken.All languages employ thesame method of transmission, via the speech organs, and the physicalactions involved in producing speech sounds are all very similar innature;butmore important stillare the universal grammaticalrelationships and semantic features which are shared by all languages(l).Naturally, differences occur but where they do they are merely surfaceones.The grammatical aspects shared by all languages are basically:-a noun system (it is almost certain that a noun in onelanguage has an equivalent in another)-a verbal system-the use of modifiers i.e. adjectives and adverbsHowever, the area in which the most obvious differences betweenlanguages exist is that of vocabulary, the natural result of thearbitrariness in producing a codified system of sounds towhole range of meanings.express aIn spite of the restricting factor of thespeech organs, shared by all speakers regardless of language, thecombination of sounds within a language is almost limitless (subject,

- 15 -of course, to certain phonological constraints) and so consequently arethe possibilities of forming new words.The methods employed to prod uce new words may appear haphazard to the casual observer whose languagehas enjoyed a long-established written tradition in which time andpreference have determined ultimately the acceptance of additions tovocabulary.This is not so, however, in the case of languages whosevocabulary is subjected to rapid expansion over a short period.Itis then that the strict and limiting methods are observed.Vocabulary is the only linguistic area which is receptive to this rapidand almost infinite expansion, although this is not to say that changesdo not occur in other areas such as syntax or morphology,butany such changes in these areas - where they occur - are extremelylimited and the processes involved extremely slow.The creation of newwords is common to all languages, and it is paradoxical.that the verylinguistic area which most distinguishes one language from another isalso the one which draws them closer together.Vocabulary expansion is achieved in two basic ways* either throughnative invention and adaptation or through loanwords, and it occursas a result of what may be termed 'historical' change.Culturaloutlook, social institutions, scientific and technological'Innovationand ideas are all subject to change and as a result, all associatedvocabulary changes with them.Normally,the process is gradual, butsometimes a language's receptiveness to rapid vocabulary expansion isdemonstrated in a sudden social or cultural upheaval.Such was the case in Medieval Europe with the early scientific dis coveries.These innovations required a new vocabulary to describethem since existing vocabulary was inadequate, and the need was metby the scientists of the day - the alchemists and astrologers whose terminologies have, to a certain extent, been retained bymodem science.

- 16 -Similarly, the introduction of the printing-press and the spread ofeducation led to an expansion of vocabulary through literature.Hereit was the poet and the dramatist who played important roles in theenrichment and development of vocabulary by revitalising archaicwords fallen into disuse, coining new ones, developing new meaningsand setting the seal of approval on new usages.It is doubtfulwhether, in Europe at least, the poet will ever again hold the sameprominent position as an inventor of words.media is too great for him now.Competition with the massHowever, while the poet appearsremote to the common man in western society today, his influence isstill felt in other parts of the world, and this is especially true inthe case of Somalia, where he has had a significant part to play inthe modernisation of vocabulary, an aspect which will be consideredlater in more detail.While social or cultural innovations prior to the last century hadled to the creation of new terminologies to describe them, they had,nonetheless, been isolated occurrences, having little profoundinfluence upon the masses.However, the period since the IndustrialRevolution has witnessed possibly the greatest 'historical' changeever known, the greatest effect upon man's dally life ever experienced,and an unprecedented surge of vocabulary expansion to cope with the vastinflux of new technology and the new social outlook.The innumerableinventions and discoveries resulting from this technological andscientific revolution have brought thousands of new words into thelanguages of the world, particularly in the fields of mathematics,medicine, natural sciences and technology.Many such words are coinedfrom Greek and Latin morphemes, and for the speaker living within theGraeco-Roman cultural community, these terms enable him to absorb thisnew vocabulary.Of course, it is extremely difficult to apply such a

- 17 -system of word-building in languages where Greek and Latin roots arealien.Thus, if a language is to preserve its own character, itshould be capable of meeting the need for new words from its ownlexical stock.In 1971» a year before the introduction of the official orthography,the Somali Supreme Revolutionary Council instructed its SomaliLanguage Commission to produce a range of school text-books and adultliteracy material.In issuing this instruction, the Somali Governmentwas profitting from the research experience gained over several yearsby the Language Commission.In fact, in the period between Indepen dence in i960 and the coming to power of the Supreme RevolutionaryCouncil in I9 6 9 , successive Somali governments had encouraged theselinguistic studies, and particularly those related to the choice ofan official orthography.At the same time, a co-ordinated researchprogramme into ways of expanding vocabulary had been carried out andcertain members of the Commission had already examined the variousmethods employed in other languages, having been sent to severalcountries including Great Britain, the United States of America,the People's Republic of China, the Soviet Union and the Arab statesfor this precise purpose.The conclusions drawn from these studiesrevealed that, despite the diversity of languages, the problems andsolutions were more or less identical.There is every reason tobelieve, therefore, that even without such research, the Somali pro gramme of vocabulary expansion would have followed exactly the samepath.However, the explicit knowledge gained from these studiesabroad - that even the more scientifically and technologicallyadvanced nations had passed through such a stage of languagedevelopment - served to give courage and confidence to the Somalis,

- 18 -thereby reinforcing the already great pride which they had in theirlanguage.With full governmental backing, the Commission'srecommendations were implemented in conjunction with the neworthography, but due to the constraint of time, it has necessarilymeant an imposed programme.However, before embarking upon a detailed examination of the lexicalmodernisation of the Somali language, it is appropriate here to seehow the specific Somali experience relates to the universal principlesof vocabulary expansion by considering the number of methods available,with examples drawn from a variety of languages, and the freedom ofchoice within these limitations.Nevertheless, it must be stressedthat what follows is in no way meant to be a comprehensive survey, butis merely a general outline of the methods of vocabulary expansion tobe found in all languages.2.METHODS OF VOCABULARY EXPANSIONa)SEMANTIC SHIFTThis may take the form ofi)TransferIf the function of a new concept entering a language in some wayresembles an established concept which is archaic or has fallen intodisuse, then the name possessed by the older concept may be employedto describe the new,e.g.plume (Fr.), feather pen;[fadang] (Per.), tinder-box lighter;dhaqaale (Som.), carefultending of flocks of sheep and goats economics;queen's maid air-hostess. azafata (Sp.),

- 19 -ii) MetaphorThis is a method of semantic change through which a word may adopt anew meaning as a result of metaphoric similarities in quality orfunction.For example, in English, we have the foot of a mountainor a coat of paint; in German Fingerhut. thimble (lit. finger hat);in Russian, pyqK.aLruchkaj, pen (lit. little arm or hand); in Somalidallad, parachute, (lit. umbrella); and in Swahili ndege, aircraft(lit. bird).There is also a tendency among languages for one to imitate the met aphorical development of a word from another.the word 'nucleus* An example of this isInfluenced by the English metaphorical use ofnucleus (Lat.), kernel, to signify the nucleus of an atom, bothGerman and Russian borrowed the same metaphor, i.e. Kern and ap.po[yadroj.iii) Associative AnalogyThe close association which exists between certain words, particularlynames and opposites, may lead to a substitution, i.e. opposites canbe employed to express an idea more forcibly - the use of blessedin English when the contrary is intended to express annoyance; andsimilarly with the French sacre. Sense loans and caiques, bothincluded in this category, refer to words sharing a common semanticor phonetic element, or perhaps both, with a native term.Thedifficulty here, however, is in determining whether certain neologismsare native caiques or foreign loan words.For example, is the abstractHungarian word fogalom. concept, derived from a foreign caique or isit genuinely derived from the native fog, to seize/grasp, coinciden tally sharing the same semantic root as concept, i.e. something which

20 -is grasped?languages*In addition, certain concepts axe repeated in manyIn Mainland Standard Chinese (Guoyu) the word 0 % Iflf[tongkong], pupil (bf the eye) contains the element J meaning child;in English, the word pupil can mean schoolchild or pupil of the eye;and in Greek, gop n ckori] means girl or pupil of the eye.the same concept.Likewise, the concept behind the word denoting arough sea is similar in many languages.word element All shareRie Mainland Standard Chinese[yang] ocean is composed of the radical water and thesheep or goat; this is also reflected in the Frenchaoutons. sheep or foamy waves, and the Russian GapamKn Cbarashkil,sheep or foamy waves (c.f. white horses in English and cavalloni inItalian).While not sharing exactly the same metaphors as in theabove examples, Arabic uses the wordit can also mean a white antelope. [rim] to describe sea foamsIn fact, certain basic ideas orconcepts seem to be contained in all languages, but what may be inte grally woven into the fabric of one languages may only be expressedsuperficially in another.iv)MetonymyWords may often possess several aspects, all of which may be evokedsimultaneously, albeit on various levels.The particular aspectevoked naturally depends upon the speaker, but constant emphasis upona particular aspect of a concept or object may ultimately lead to itsadopting the full meaning of the former concept and eventually replac ing it.Such permutations can take the form of s-concomitant circumstances, where a word describing a particularfeature or characteristic may come to indicate the thing itself,e.g. dirigivel(Fort.) airship (something which can be easilydirected); impermeable (Sp.) raincoat (something which has theproperty of being impermeable).

21 -the quality signifying the person or object possessing it, e.g.beauty (Eng.) meaning both the quality and the person possessing it;xoog (Son.) strength and army, which possesses strength,the part signifying the whole, whereby a single characteristic naybe sufficient to identify a referent or conjure up a completeinage, e.g. espada (Sp.) bullfighter and the sword which he uses?*\*\ Cgoma3(Amh.) rubber and tyre, which is nade of rubber?[sa'atJ (At.) hourand watch, which indicates the hour,the name of the object signifying place, e.g. bureau (Fr.) deskandoffice, the place where a desk is located? studio (It.) study, boththe act and the place where it is undertaken.the action signifying the product or the result, e.g.(Gr.) pull[elxis]and charm? sienbra (Sp.) sowing and a sown field,the name of the material for the object nade fron its e.g. gomtl(Alb.)eraser, nade from rubber?flannels(Eng.) trousers, madefron flannel? tabaco (Sp.) cigarette, made from tobacco,the name of the receptacle for the contents, e.g. galerie (Fr.)gallery (of theatre)? auditorio(Port.) audience and auditorium/the symbol for the thing synbolised, e.g. fegato (it.) courage,its literal meaning being liver? kelyokidneys?(Son.) courage, literallyyiirek (Tur.) courage, literally heart,the name of the instrument for the product, e.g. hierro (Sp.)iron brandand the thing used to brand?iron (Eng.) forpressing clothes (c.f. fer (Fr.), ferro (it.) ,fier (Bon.)and seterika (Ind.)).the action for the agent, e.g. Besuch(Ger.) visitand visitor?ayuda (Sp.) help and helper.the action signifying the time of action e.g. fall (Amer. Eng.)

22 -autumn (the period when leaves fall);crpa/maa nopa [stradnayaporaj (Rus.), harvest (lit. time of suffering);and siesta(Sp.), sleep after lunch, from the Latin sexta, the sixth hour.-the action signifying the place of action, e.g. retraite (Fr.)retreatand shelter, the place to which one retreats;descanso(Sp.) rest or interval, which has come to mean landing (of stairs)where one rests, and ftaqq(Malt.) justice and court, the placewhere justice is administered.-the action signifying the instrument or means of action, e.g.diligence (Fr.) meaning haste and stagecoach;disciplina (Fort.)meaning both discipline and the cat-o'-nine tails, a form of main taining discipline.-the material signifying the object from which it is made e.g.Ckibritl (Ar.) match and sulphur, the substance from whichthe match is nade; ] [berl (Amh.) Ethiopian currency and silver,the metal from which the original coins were made.-the inventor's name or brand name of a product for the productitself, e.g. mackintosh (Eng.), raincoat;flask;v)termos (it.) thermosrimel (Sp.) mascara.Associative Phonetic TranspositionThis occurs idlere there is a similarity in pronunciation between words- particularly archaic or foreign - which gives rise to confusioneither through ignorance or negligences e.g. school (of fish), thenearest English pronunciation of the Dutch scull, meaning crowd;banos (Amer.Sp.) banns of marriage through popular etymology fromthe Latin form banni used in the Church (c.f. st. Sp. amonestaciones).vi) ExtensionThis applies to words possessing a specific meaning which have devel oped a moregeneral sense.Vocabulary restricted possibly to certain

- 23 -social or cultural groups may become extended in meaning and occurin other circles, gradually becoming accepted by the community as awhole, e.g. [m&brat](Amh.)lamp, extended to mean electricity;armoire (Fr.) cupboard, originally a place where arms were kept; andBQK3a-n[vokzal](Rus.) station, derived from Vauxhall Station inLondon.vii) RestrictionsJust as extensions are words with formerly specific meanings butwhich have developed a more general sense, so restrictions are wordswith a formerly general meaning which have adopted a specialised sensee.g. AetptxT&Coc [piratia]or undertaking;(Gr.) piracy, originally meaning an adventurehakad. (Som.) comma, the normal word for 'pause1; andestacion (Sp.) season, whose general meaning is station.Over aperiod of time, words may undergo both extension and restriction,processes which occur unconsciously on the part of speakers, and whichoften accompany a change in outlook.b)BORROWINGLoanwords are lexical borrowings from other languages which areadapted to fit the phonetic structure of the native language andhence they do not appear to be other than perfectly good "native”words to the speaker uttering them, e.g.from Italian macchina; csiltdrtdk[mdkina](Amh.) car,(Hun.) Thursday, from Southern Slavcetvirtuk; isbeerbaadh (Som.) from English sparepart; livufrom English leave.(Swa.)

- 24- -Foreign borrowings, on the other hand, are those which have undergonelittle or no phonetic change, and are still structurally differentfrom the language which has borrowed them, e.g. le weekend (Fr.)jinterpiu (Ind.), in te rviewel standard (Sp.) and kiplefti (Swa.)traffic roundabout, all borrowed from English.The use of loanwords is dependent upon three main factors: the subjectof discourse, whether it is technical or non-technicalj the socialcontext, which can impose its own patterns on the discourse; and theeducation and outlook of the speaker, the older generation being morelikely to employ well-established loanwords in contrast to the youngergeneration, always eager to be different and preferring to use theunassimilated loan.The adoption of loanwords appears to come in cultural waves, whetherit be the introduction of new philosophical concepts difficult to trans late or the influx of commercial goods together with service manualsor instructions relating to their use which may contain terms havingno equivalents in the native language.Besides the loanwords themselves, it is interesting to consider thetime-scale of their entry into a language and the spheres in which theyoccur, for the introduction of a word is often linked to a moment in time.Loanwords are usually to be found in specialised areas of discourse,not in everyday speech, and when and where they occur is determined byeconomic, cultural and technological factors.Certain languages haveassumed dominance in particular cultural and scientific fields.Manyterms relating to mathematics, astronomy and chemistry are derived fromArabic, e.g. algebra, azimuth. alcohol. alkaloid.music areTerms relating tooften borrowed, in an unassimilated form, from Italians

- 25 -adagio, arpeggio, crescendo, intermezzo, opera* Likewise, Englishhas provided sporting terminology, such as sport, boxing, football,ring, etc.W.H. Whitely considers that there are two types of loanword which heterms "established** and "probationary"."Established forms", heexplains, "axe those that have been in general use for a number ofyears. Probationary loans are those that, for one reason oranother, are not yet in general use.These include colloquial andslang words and phrases, as well as a large number of words for whichnon-acceptance is most closely associated with their unfamiliarity”(2).Hethenfurther sub-divides loanwords into "conformist" and"innovatory", "conformist" being applied to words assimilated intothe existing patterns of the language, while "innovatory", as theterm suggests, is applied to innovations, such as shifts in stresspatterns.c) DERIVATIONNew words may be formed by the addition of prefixes and suffixes(bound morphemes) to existing roots (free morphemes) in accordancewith the phonetic rules of the language (3)» e.g. hangiu (Rom.)innkeeper han. inn suffix -giu indicating occupation; midnimo(Som.) unity mid, one suffix-nimo indicating essence or inherentquality behind the basic element of the word; meslektagcolleague meslek, profession suffix-tag(Tor.),indicating fellow.d) COMPOUNDINGThis method involves the union of two or more existing roots (freemorphemes) to form new lexical combinations with new meanings,e.g. frogman (Eng.); helyesir s (Hun.) orthography (lit. correct writ ing); dayaxgacmeed (Som.) satellite (lit. artificial moon).

- 26 -e)PHRASE GROUPINGThe introduction of a new concept or object into a language, particu larly when adopted from another language, may not always beadequately achieved by recourse to any of the four methods discussedabove.Certain concepts or objects for which no native equivalentsexist and whose precise meanings cannot be successfully expressed orcontained through the coining of simply one new word may sometimes berendered by a phrase group.This involves a circumlocution orparaphrasis to arrive at the exact meaning, e.g. ilmu d.jiwa (Ind.),psychology (lit. science of the soul);anthropology (lit. man knowledge);[mardom shenasi] (Per.),cilmiga dhalashada (Som.), obstet rics (lit. science of birth).Phrase grouping may also lead to the creation of caiques.In suchcases, it is not the foreign loanword (sometimes a phrase group itself)which is taken bodily into the language, but rather a translationemploying native equivalents for the various elements of the word,e.g.wishful thinking Wunschdenken (Ger.);neo-colonialism;gumeysi cusub (Som.) abanico electrico (Am. Sp.) electric fan (c.f.ventilador (st. Sp.))To move from one culture to another involves a change of consciousness.In the economically developed countries of the world, the difficultiesare diminished to a certain extent by a growing convergence of thinking.Differences are more sharply defined, however, in less developed orisolated communities.Having considered the wider aspects of vocabulary expansion, four pointsemerge 1i)that the modernisation of a language centres upon its vocabulary

- 27 -ii)iii)iv)that such modernisation is a widely-observed phenomonenthat methods of vocabulary expansion are universalthat, withinthe limitations imposed upon the methods ofvocabulary expansion, languages are able to manifest theirpreferences for one or more methods in particular fields ofdiscourse.Whether it be the language of an industrialised nation or that of adeveloping country, it has at its disposal five basic methods ofvocabulary expansion which, as we have seen, are:i)Semantic rase GroupingMethods i, iii, iv and v are by far the most important, since theyenrich the language through native invention and adaptation.Methodii, the least important semantically, can be looked upon as the lastresort.The use of loanwords for reasons of linguistic necessity, asin science or technology where concepts may be impossible to translateadequately and where an international vocabulary is essential forcommunication, is understandable.However, it is i

lar nouns - from which many Somali nouns ending in -ad are derived - occur in this work, their trans literation will indicate the pre- junctive state System developed by Wolf Leslau and contained in his Amharic Text book. Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 1967. Piny in syllabary, as contained in Chinese-English Dictionary, Beijing