Abstract:
Phonemes have been identified by linguists as the main phonological inputs of all human spoken
languages. These phonemes are divided mainly into two-consonants and vowels. Each language
has selected from the universal phonetic pool its own type and number of phonemes for its
communicative purposes. Most of them have more consonants than vowels. Several languages
share the same phonemes but use them differently to perform a variety of language specific
linguistic functions. Kiswahili being one of these languages that has been studied extensively
presents an interesting, scenario with regard to its use of phonemes. Kiswahili has over thirty
phonemes. Traditional Kiswahili phonologists have identified five as vowels (Current linguists
have identified more vowels), yet any consonant with the exception of syllabic C, cannot be used
alone without it forming syllabicity with a vowel. Any user (speaker or reader) of Kiswahili
language will notice that vowels though fewer than consonants have the highest use frequency.
This indicates that its habitual users creatively use them to perform a variety of linguistic
functions. This paper then, seeks to discuss and analyze the nature and functions of Kiswahili
vowels.
