Michael Karani

The Arusa Verb System Michael Karani

Arusa dialect is among the three Maasai dialects spoken in Tanzania. Other dialects are Kisongo and Parakuyu. There evolved linguistic differences between these dialects to the extent that one may be interested to know how they vary. For that reason, the knowledge gap developed, hence justifying the need to investigate how Arusa verbs differ from Maasai popular verbs. Before embarking on a comparative study to find out the differences, it is important to know the morphology of a vital aspect like verb system of these dialects. To start with, the author devoted his time and effort to find out the contemporary verb morphology of the Arusa dialect. The author identified two types of main verbs, namely Class I and Class II verb categories. In addition, the author analysed other more auxiliary verbs that were not identified by other authors who studied Maasai and Arusa. In further analysis carried out, the author demonstrated the verb template for each class of verbs herein as well as the roots of Arusa verbs. It is found that the Arusa dialect varies morphosyntactically from other dialects, for example, in verb stems, morphemes, tone placement, and verb extensions.