On a quest to satisfy the need for acoustic documentation of pronunciation norms of Standard Kenyan English, there were predominant deviations which identify users of Ethnically Marked Varieties of Kenyan English. The study documents findings on tenets of Ethnic Markedness by two groups that revealed maximally distinct pronunciation. Data collection and analysis encompassed systematic recording, annotation and acoustic scrutiny. Moreover, attitudes that other Kenyans hold toward the selected varieties are exposed. The study is a primary source in the genres of World Englishes, speech science, prosody and interlanguage pronunciation.
Kenyan English: Domains of Use, Forms, and Users' Attitudesfocuses on the unique issues that concern language researchers in Kenya and elsewhere. Edited by Martha M. MichiekaandEvans Gesura Mecha, the collection examines the English language forms and usages to describe the reality of Kenyan English use. The contributors address questions such as: What are the characteristics that distinguish Kenyan English from other national varieties? How is English taught, and what impact does that kind of teaching have on learner proficiency? What is the place of English in mass media, in politics, in the churches, and in multilingual homes? The contributors, all experienced language practitioners based in Kenya or currently conducting language-related research in Kenya, bring fresh perspectives to the topic at hand and give readers a glance into contexts that have not yet been addressed in this way. They highlight the sociolinguistic reality of the English language in present-day Kenya and raise questions that will prompt further research.
This handbook presents detailed accounts of current research in all aspects of language prosody, written by leading experts from different disciplines. The volume's comprehensive coverage and multidisciplinary approach will make it an invaluable resource for all researchers, students, and practitioners interested in prosody.
"This book is the first in-depth treatment from a linguistic perspective of the Chinese presence in Africa. It is essentially a detailed study on communication in various domains between Chinese immigrants in Cameroon and the local community with whom they interact. In eight chapters this well-organized book is able to give a relatively detailed sociolinguistic description of the host country, Cameroon, provide a good theoretical background of the study, outline the methodology used for the study which involved mainly a questionnaire survey, semi-structured interviews, and field observations before drawing conclusions to the study. This is a brilliant contribution to a growing literature on the global Chinese diaspora." - Adams Bodomo, Professor of African Studies (Chair of Linguistics and Literatures) at the University of Vienna, Austria
Zusammenfassung This book investigates the speech of non-ethnic Fulfulde speakers in Maroua, Northern Cameroon, focussed on the Christian community, where the language is adopted as evangelistic instrument beside French. Three key reasons motivate our investigation. First: Context - Fulfulde is embedded in a multilingual contact situation with Indo-European languages (French, English) and many other local languages belonging to Afro-Asiatic, Nilo-Saharan and Niger-Congo phyla. Second: Fulfulde as lingua franca in the region. This status is unique compared to the situation in other countries such as Senegal, Chad or Sudan where it is mainly an intraethnic medium of communication. Third: In contrast to the common perception of Fulfulde as the language of a Muslim community - here we are targeting the Christian Fulfulde speakers who share the language as well as the Bible (translated into Fulfulde) as common goods for interethnic communication in their religious activities.
Sub-Saharan Africa is considered the last region in the world where women still give birth to presumably too many children. However, within large cities such as Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, the average number of children per woman varies greatly. What is extraordinary, as this book shows, is that childbearing is a social action. Parenting allows one to consider different action alternatives, or rather, opportunities to act. These actions are not the same for everyone in different contexts. The book highlights that macro level socio- demographic changes, namely intraurban reproductive disparities are brought up by micro level (individual) actions.
English in Kenya is a stable post-colonial variety that is used as an inter-ethnic lingua franca in private domains, is the medium of instruction as well as the language spoken in parliament and court rooms. Yet so far no comprehensive research monograph on Kenyan English has been published that surveys its characteristic linguistic features. The present book closes this gap by giving a full description of the characteristic linguistic features of Kenyan English. The book provides an in-depth overview of Kenyan English phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics and also gives a meticulous account of the diachronic evolution of this post-colonial variety.
A collection of articles dealing with African, in particular West African, varieties of English, including English-based Pidgins and Creole languages, some of which have received only scant attention so far.
Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,0 (A), University of Hamburg (IAA), 16 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: When considering the linguistic situation in Kenya, it becomes quite obvious that it is anything but homogenous. Not only the large variety of different ethnic groups, but also British colonial influences have left their marks on this diverse region. With English as the official language and Kiswahili as the national language, it seems that the language situation in Kenya should be clear cut and well defined. Yet, the search for a national identity, feelings of inferiority towards the "colonial" language English and the strive for a better political and economic life in Kenya confront the population with many challenges and problems. Kenyan society is shaped by 40 to 60 African ethnic languages, such as Maasai or Dholuo. The main means of communication among these different ethnic groups has become Kiswahili. But Kiswahili itself has seven dialects and several sub-dialects. In addition, several European languages were left behind by the colonial era and Arabic and Asian merchants have brought their languages with them too. Thus, the language situation in Kenya is extremely complex and considered to be a 3 + 1 language country. That means that most Kenyan citizens speak three languages (plus or minus one): the mother tongue (in most cases an African ethnic language), Kiswahili - the national language and most often also lingua franca, and English - the official language and therefore used for all educational and governmental purposes. But the competence and use of these communication systems varies largely. Like citizens of other imposed multilingual environment situations, Kenyans have developed their very own way to communicate with each other. But language is not only a pure means of communication - it carries different identities depending on social contex
