Open Access

This research investigated variation in the pronunciations of three RP vowels phonemes /e/, /ɜ:/ and /ə/, among Ewe speakers of English in Ghana. It focused on variation at both individual and societal levels, investigating how social relations within these structures influenced the use of the three vowels among the speakers. In this study, social structures were seen as a system where individual members depended on one another and were linked through multiple ties. The distribution of the vowels was in respect with the social variables: age, gender and education, including dialect and social network. The study used a corpus of word-list recorded in a face-to-face interview from 96 participants selected through stratification and networking across two dialect regions: Aŋlɔ and Eveme. Using both aural and acoustic analyses, coupled with ANOVA and t-test, the study has shown that the three RP vowels exist in Ghana Eve English as independent phonemes. Each of them however has allophonic variants; /e/ has variants [e̠], [ɪ] and [ɜ:]; /ɜ:/ has [eː] and [ɜ:], while /ə/ has [ə], [ɪ], [o] and [ʌ] as its variants. The choice of the variants of /ɜ:/ and /e/ have been found to depend on speaker age, gender, and social network. But the geographical location of the speaker will largely determine how these vowels are spoken. Phonological contexts as well as speaker idiosyncrasy are also likely to condition the choice of some of these variants, however, their effects seem less important as determinant of the differences observed than those of the social factors. It is evident that age, gender and class differentiations that have been widely reported cannot be universal, they can vary from one society to another. Also though social structures as well as social relations in a speech community can play significant roles in the individual’s linguistic repertoire, the attitude of the speaker and the phonological contexts of a segment can have a huge impact on the use of that variable.

This study aims primarily at exploring the images of Swahili women as depicted in taarab songs in Zanzibar and factors that shape these images at different epochs or points in time. The corpus used in this study was collected in Zanzibar from Sep- tember to November 1999. A secondary concern of the present study is to highlight the history of taarab songs in Zanzibar and to identify the relationship between this art of songs and the Egyptian song. The study has adopted a holistic approach with more concentration on sung lyrics. The analysis is des- criptive and utilizes perspectives of literary theories of orature as well as insights from gender, cultural, structural and functional theories. The present study argues that Swahili taarab songs belong to the realm of oral literature, though in this case not in the sense of “classical oral literature”which excludes the notion of literacy. In taarab, the songs combine together features of both oral and written literature. They reflect comprehensively the Swahili culture and are thus con- sidered by the Swahili themselves as an indigenous genre of music despite its Arabian and other foreign roots. The study highlights the cultural milieu of taarab songs in Zanzibar and explores metaphors, symbols referring to women, and the sources of imagery used in these songs. Taarab songs have stylistically developed through their history. The study identifies two categories of classical taarab songs each of which has its own distinctive characteristics. The first category concerns those songs sung for the first time before 1945, and the second one those sung afterwards. Taarab lyrics have distinctive features, which they have acquired over time through efforts of the Swahili creative artists. They adhere strictly to the conditions and conventions of Swahili traditio nal poetic structure. The lyrics have enriched the Swahili language with a lot of expressions, which came in use firstly through taarab lyrics. The various facets of the taarab com- plex, including prominent features of taarab performance- and the salient linguistic aspects of taarab lyrics, have also been discussed.