Verbal inflectional morphology in Ugandan Swahili: a parametric approach

This study examines the verbal inflectional morphology of the emerging Ugandan Swahili variety and shows how it differs from Standard Swahili. Although Swahili varieties share many features, recent research has noted clear grammatical differences among them. Based on data collected between March and December 2023 from five Swahili-speaking communities in western, midwestern, central, and northern Uganda, the study finds that Ugandan Swahili uses both independent words and verbal morphemes to express grammatical features such as negation, subject and object agreement, and aspect. In contrast, Standard Swahili relies mainly on verbal affixes. These results suggest that Ugandan Swahili leans towards patterns typical of isolating languages, which is atypical for Bantu languages. The findings provide evidence of a distinctive Swahili variety developing in Uganda’s informal settings.