Folklinguistic Perceptions and Attitudes towards Kenyan Varieties of Swahili
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Date
2017
Authors
Githinji, Peter
Njoroge, Martin
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Quality Content of Saxony [Qucosa]
Abstract
This paper examines the perceptions of Kenyans towards the way other Kenyans speak Swahili from a
Folklinguistic perspective. The study involved two main tasks. In the first task, informants were
provided with blank maps of the country and asked to identify areas where they thought there was a
distinct way of speaking Swahili. In the second task, they were provided with the same map showing
Kenyan’s eight provinces and asked to rank them in terms of correctness, attractiveness and closeness
to the way they speak Swahili. The results show little or no difference between the rankings of
correctness versus pleasantness of Swahili varieties. The study also shows that Kenyans do not identify
with the normative variety modeled on the standardized or Kenyan coastal Swahili which is used in the
schools or mass media. Similar to other studies in perceptual dialectology, the informants’ judgments
were influenced by their background knowledge and stereotypes about different regions that have little
or no relationship with linguistics factors per se. Unlike other studies in perceptual dialectology
however, languages that are not the object of study have a strong influence on respondents’
perceptions. Beside the ethnic stereotypes that characterize Kenya’s multilingual discourse, Kenyans’
attitudes towards varieties of Swahili seem to be filtered through the lens of a competitive hegemonic
language that has enjoyed historical advantage. As a result, the promotion of an idealized variety of
Swahili in light of the dominance of English and the continued use of local languages is not likely to
increase its acceptability as a national and official language.
Description
Article
Keywords
Folklinguistics, perceptual dialectology, Swahili accents, Swahili dialectology
Citation
Githinji, P., & Njoroge, M. (2017, January). FOLKLINGUISTIC PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS KENYAN VARIETIES OF SWAHILI. In Swahili Forum (Vol. 24).