151 Website:www.jriiejournal.com ISSN 2520-7504 (Online) Vol.8, Iss.1, 2024 (pp. 151 – 158) Phonological Adaptation of Dholuo Verbs and Nouns Borrowed into Ekegusii Dorothy Kwamboka Magara, George Anyona & George Aberi Department of Languages, Linguistics Kisii University, Kenya Email: dorothymagara@gmail.com Abstract: This study evaluates how Dholuo lexical items (nouns and verbs) that got their way into EkeGusii language are integrated and nativised to fit within EkeGusii phonological inventory. Languages tend to borrow words from other languages when they get into contact with each other. EkeGusii, for instance, has borrowed many words from Dholuo as a result of assimilation and their regular interaction. The study targeted two types of populations: the population of participants and that of the borrowed words. Purposive sampling techniques were used to pick respondents for the study. Using Hooper’s (1976) Generative phonology theory that seeks to explain the mental processes underlying language production and perception, the study identified and described the phonological changes that loan words from Dholuo undergo to fit into EkeGusii phonological system. The study confirmed that borrowed Dholuo words are integrated into EkeGusii phonological system through stop weakening, devoicing of Dholuo consonants, consonant substitution, vowel epenthesis, and vowel substitution. The findings from this study will contribute to the existing literature on African languages in relation to borrowing within generative phonology. Based on the findings of the study, more studies are recommended on other African languages to give a clear picture on how EkeGusii language adapts words borrowed from other Nilotic groups, considering that the Gusii people are bordered with Nilotic speakers. Keywords: Assimilation, Devoicing,Pphonological processes, Linguistic borrowing, Loanwords Magara, D. K., Anyona, G. & Aberi, G. (2024). How to cite this work (APA): Phonological adaptation of Dholuo verbs and nouns borrowed into Ekegusii. Journal of Research Innovation and Implications in Education, 8(1), 151 – 158. https://doi.org/10.59765/vri938fsb. 1. Introduction Phonological adaptation entails the process by which sounds in a language change or adapt over time. It is a natural phenomenon that occurs as languages evolve and speakers modify their pronunciation patterns (Anyona, 2017, Mecha, 2006). Phonological adaptation can occur at various levels, including individual sounds, sound combinations, and even entire phonological systems. One common type of phonological adaptation is assimilation, where a sound becomes more similar to adjacent/neighboring sounds, as in the case of English where the word “in” is usually pronounced as “im,” before bilabial consonants like “p” or “b” in words such as “input” or “impossible.” In this context, most linguistic scholars such as Kinyia, 2008, Miriungi, 2013, and Mose, 2021 agree that when languages come into contact, they tend to transfer linguistic features to each other, hence the concept of borrowing. According to Ogot (2018), borrowing entails the process by which one language takes words or lexical items from another and makes them part of its own vocabulary. It is important to note here that apart from lexical borrowing, there are a number of linguistic items that can be borrowed at phonological, morphological, syntactic or semantic levels. Here, true borrowed words are typically regarded as