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Recent Submissions
Antibacterial Activities Investigation of Leucas calostachys Root Extracts
(CrossMark, 2021) Nicholas K. Kimutai, Philip A. Ogutu and Charles Mutai
Background and Objective: Traditional healers have long used plants to treat bacterial infections caused by resistant bacteria.
Hence, there is an increased interest in the ethnopharmacological approach to identify new novel compounds from plants to treat
these infections. The objective of this study, therefore, was to test successive extracts and their fractions. Materials and Methods:
The roots of Leucas calostachys were obtained, dried and ground. The total methanol extract was obtained and screen for antibacterial
activities. Successive extracts were extracted using four different solvents hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and methanol. The
bioactive solvent extracts were fractionated. Successive extracts and fractions were then screened for antibacterial activities against ten
pathogenic bacteria in vitro using the disk diffusion method. Results: The results indicated the solvent extracts and fractions were active
against both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria with the lowest MIC value of 3.15 mg mLG1 obtained from total methanol extract
against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Conclusion: This demonstrated that hexane extracts and fractions could be helpful
in the management of resistant bacterial infections. This work is the first attempt to fractionate and test fractions of L. calostachys, which
can be used for the development of phytomedicine
Acoustic Analysis of EkeGusii Vowel System
(The Learned Press, 2019) Peter Nyansera Otieno, Evans Gesura Mecha,
This study describes the vowel system of EkeGusii (“Bantu E.42”)(Guthrie,
1948) in an acoustic phonetics perspective using oral data got from purposively sampled
subjects: four adult males, four adult females and four children (two boys and two girls all
8 years old) equally from the two dialects of EkeGusii (EkeMaate and EkeRogoro Dialects).
In order to capture the distribution characteristics of the vowel acoustic concentration, the
group frequency means are normalized using Lobanov’s (1971) algorithm. Two view-
points are the subjects of analysis in EkeGusii vowels: (a) acoustic vowel space as
projected by the intersection of F2 vs. F1 or quadrilateral, and (b) spatial features of high,
low, front and back. These qualities are mainly influenced by the physiology of speakers
and social variability as occasioned by gender, age and dialect. The results indicate that
children have no gender difference in formants, and have the highest frequencies for all
formants, followed by adult females and then adult males. Furthermore, acoustic vowel
space and spatial features are affected by gender, age, and dialect. A vowel pattern,
replicated by all informants, is realized in the dispersion of the vowels within the chart
influenced by gender and age. This study found out that EkeGusii seems to adopt a
seven-vowel system of /i e ɛ a ɔ o u/ with a length contrast.
ACOUSTIC ANALYSIS OF EKEGUSII VOWELS AND STOPS
(2020-10) OTIENO NYANSERA PETER
Preceding a theoretical exploration of issues in a language is a basic research. Through such
basic descriptive study, the vitality of the language is aided and documented. This is vital
especially for the less studied languages such as EkeGusii that has not been phonetically studied
and documented especially using scientific methods. Following Peterson and Barney (1952), this
work is an acoustic study of the vowels and voiceless stops of Ekegusii. Its goal is to transcend
the impressionistic descriptions previously in the 1960s by Whiteley (1965) and Guthrie (1967).
Specifically, the work explores the seven vowels of Ekegusii /i e ɛ a ɔ o u/ along with the
intervening voiceless stops /p t k/ within the Source-Filter Theory of sound production. The
purpose of this study is to give a complete description of the vowels and stops and document
them for reference by various fields from linguistics to machine translation. The scope of
impressionistic phonetics is limited by capabilities of human senses and is not verifiable while
experimental phonetics like this present study extends and backs-up impressionistic description.
The main objective of this study is to give a complete description of the acoustic qualities of the
vowels and stop consonants from the oral data got from a purposively selected sample of twelve
(four males, four females and four children), bearing in mind their speech mannerisms,
geographical and dialectal considerations. Audio data was recorded as the informants read out
word lists and carrier phrases bearing target sounds into a microphone connected to a computer
running on Praat sampled at 44100 Hz. Analysis of audio data is primarily done using Praat
software. Further, quantitative data analyses were done using MS-Excel spread sheets and SPSS
with the results presented in tables, charts and written descriptions for each sound, each subject
and group. The study mainly found out that EkeGusii adopts a seven vowel system with length
contrast making the vowels to be phonologically fourteen. The vowels also display age, sex and
dialectal variations. Results for stop consonants show that stops can be discriminated by features
such as voice-onset-time, burst intensity and stop duration. Significantly, the research findings
provide useful basis for codification and documentation of EkeGusii phonetics for the two
dialects.
Ekegusii
(Minority-Minoritized Languages and Cultures Project. NEH Distinguished Professor. TXST University., 2022) OTIENO Peter Nyansera
Ekegusii is a Bantu language spoken by the Abagusii (translated as people of Gusii) who
reside in Kisii and Nyamira counties (see e.g. Nash, 2011; Omoke 2012; Basweti et. al.
2015). According to the 2019 National Census, Ekegusii has an estimated number of native
speakers totaling 2.7 million. The Abagusii are believed to have migrated from the Congo
forest through Uganda entering Kenya through the Western part of the country. In Gusii
folklore, their people’s origin is from a place called ‘Misiri,’ Egypt. The Abagusii community
is bordered to the East by the Kipsigis, to the West by the Luo, and to the South by the
Maasai, all of whom are Nilotic speakers. They do not neighbour any Bantu speakers.
Guthrie, (1971) in his zonal classification of languages classifies Ekegusii as a central Bantu
language part of the sub-family of the Kuria language labeled E. 42 (Maho, 2003). He relates
it to other languages including Lulogooli, Ameru (Kenya) Kuria (Kenya and Tanzania) Ware,
Ikizu, Ikoma, and Sanjo (Tanzania). Just like the majority of Bantu languages, Ekegusii is a
tone language. The following map situates Kisii and Nyamira counties of Kenya, where
Ekegusii is predomintly spoken.
Analysis of Second and Third Formant Locus Pattern and C-V Coarticulation in EkeGusii
(Researchgate, 2022-01) Peter Nyansera Otieno, Evans Gesura Mecha,
This study analyses locus equations and regression lines relating to second and
third formants as a measure of co-articulatory influence of vowels following stop
consonants in EkeGusii. Coarticulation can be represented statistically using a schematic
representation of locus equations by tracking consonant-vowel (CV) transition as a useful
tool in the discrimination of place of articulation. Acoustic data was collected using Praat
version 6.0 from four males and four females, native speakers of EkeGusii. Locus
equations for the eight speakers were derived from CV words with intervocalic voiceless
bilabial /p/, voiceless alveolar /t/ and voiceless velar /k/ preceding vowel /i/, /a/ and /o/
contexts. Scatter plots of locus equation of F2 and F3 onsets-F2 and F3 midpoints revealed
patterns for each of the three voiceless stops in EkeGusii. The strongest degree of
coarticulation is reported for velars then bilabials and the least degree of coarticulation with
alveolars.
