Descriptions of Kinyarwanda Paradigmatic Relations within the Prototype Theory

Abstract

This article describes paradigmatic relations in Kinyarwanda language. Most of the available literature on paradigmatic relations has not addressed this topic in Bantu languages. That is what motivated the author to do this analysis. The study is qualitative in nature, and it employed a case study design, with Kinyarwanda as the case. Convenience sampling procedures were used to obtain the sample for the study. Three native speakers of Kinyarwanda were selected purposively by virtue of their availability and competence in the Kinyarwanda language. Two of them were trilingual. Unstructured interviews were used to collect data from the respondents. After analyzing the data, eight (8) paradigmatic relations were revealed. These are polysemy, hyperonym, homonyms, synonyms, homographs, metonyms, patronyms, and Meronyms. The paper does not claim to have exhausted all angles of the topic under discussion. Other areas, like syntagmatic relations, need investigation to shape and develop linguistic theories on African languages.