Alagwa and Gorwaa Loanwords in Rangi

Language contact is a common phenomenon, and there is little evidence that any language has developed in complete isolation from others (Myers-Scotton, 2006). One of the most immediate outcomes of such contact is lexical borrowing (Matras, 2009; Dimmendaal, 2011). In the Tanzanian context, a number of studies have examined lexical borrowing among languages of the Tanzanian Rift Valley (Kiessling, 2001; Mous &; Qorro, 2009; Lusekelo, 2019, among others). This contact induced borrowing aligns with Kiessling et al. (2008), who argue that the Rift Valley area of central and northern Tanzania provides a unique setting for studying the effects of language contact because it is the only place in Africa where languages from all four language families−Bantu (Sukuma, Nyaturu, Rangi, Mbugwe), Cushitic (Iraqw, Gorwaa, Alagwa, Burunge), Nilotic (Datooga dialects), and Khoisan (Sandawe, Hadza)−have long co-existed and engaged in interactions of varying intensity over time. Despite this growing body of research, little attention has been given to the dispersal of Alagwa and Gorwaa loanwords into Rangi. This talk therefore focuses on identifying Alagwa and Gorwaa loanwords in Rangi. The identified loanwords are then categorised into their semantic fields using the framework developed by Haspelmath & Tadmor (2009) to determine the domains in which borrowing is concentrated. The talk further explores the morphological and semantic changes that these borrowed lexical items have undergone when integrated into Rangi. The findings provide insight into patterns of lexical borrowing resulting from long-standing Cushitic–Bantu contact in the Tanzanian Rift Valley.

Note: This talk has not gone through a process of peer review, and findings should therefore be treated as preliminary and subject to change. Acknowledgement and citation: Abdallah, Amina, Kuria Mdoe, and Amani Lusekelo. 2026. Alagwa and Gorwaa Loanwords in Rangi Talk given at The Rift Valley Network Webinar Series. 13/05/2026.