The Significance of Noun Phrase Word Order Variation in Kivunjo

This study is a description of the word order variation in the noun phrases of Kivunjo, a Bantu language classified under group E62b, according to Guthrie (1948). The study describes five aspects of the noun phrase which are: constituents that modify the noun, order of the constituents in the phrase structure and variation in their ordering. Others are semantic significance of the variation and the possible number of modifying elements in the noun phrase structure. The study is based on the assumption that there is variation in the order of the noun phrase elements, and that this variation has semantic implications. The study is guided by the general theory of the word categories as building blocks of syntactic structures such as phrases and sentences. Based on the theory, the study identified different categories that build up noun phrases and their order. The study was carried out in Kilema sub-location, one of the areas where the Language is spoken natively in Kilimanjaro region. It used a descriptive design and the instruments of data collection were focused group discussion, interview and text analysis.Findings from the study revealed that semantic significance of the word order variation in Kivunjo is associated with a number of factors. These include position of the elements in the [mal position in the sequence of noun phrase elements; movement of demonstrative from its normal position (immediately after the head noun) to other positions and order of demonstrative in the positions before and after the head (locative) noun. The last one is repetition of the same demonstrative in the same phrase structure. The study further identified six elements which appeared to be the normal load of noun modifiers in the noun phrase structure