Kenyan English

Kenyan Englishis alocal dialectof theEnglish languagespoken by several communities and individuals inKenya, and among some Kenyan expatriates in other countries. The dialect contains features unique to it that were derived from localBantu languages, such asSwahili.
The English language was introduced toKenyaalong with theUnited Kingdom'scolonisation of Kenyain 1895, when theEast Africa Protectoratewas set up before becoming a colony in 1920.Swahilihad been established as a trade language in most parts of theSwahili Coastat the time of colonization, and it was also used in education. The British reduced the influence of Swahili and made English themedium of instructionin Kenyan schools. English remained in official use after Kenya's independence on 12 December 1963. The official languages of Kenya are English and Swahili, with the latter also recognised as thenational language.While English is not used as commonly as other native languages in Kenya, it is the primary language spoken in areas such as media, government and schools.Due to this, almost all Kenyans who have an educational background know some level of English.
LikeEnglish in most of England, Kenyan English isnon-rhotic. Major phonological features include the loss of length contrast in vowels, the lack ofmidcentral vowelsas withBritish English, themonophthongisationofdiphthongsand the dissolving ofconsonant clusters.Thetrap-bath splitdoes not exist in Kenyan English.
Those who don't speak English as a first language and/or live in rural areas in Kenya may also participate in "code mixing," which is the process of using words from a local language while speaking English. A common example of this in Kenya comes from using the wordandyuwhile speaking English, which is used to agree with someone.
Non-standard pronunciation of English words due to the interference of local Kenyan languages is popularly known in the country as "shrubbing", a word which in all its forms is itself prone to this occurrence. It has been noted that "shrubbing" is less likely with upper-middle and upper class citizens, or citizens who do not speak indigenous Kenyan languages and learned English as a first language. Therefore, people living in rural areas and/or those who learned English as a second language and are likely to have a heavier accent are more likely to "shrub"."Shrubbing" is done by replacing a word's consonant sound(s) with another or others of a similarplace of articulation.
For example, pronouncingriverasliverand vice versa or pronunciation of 'sh' insugaras 's'.
Since English is commonly spoken as a second language in Kenya, Kenyans tend to follow the Swahili five-vowel system rather than the twenty-vowel system of English. The five-vowel system mainly consists of /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, and /u/ and these vowels are never diphthongized like some English vowel sounds can be. An example of this can be seen between the wordshat,hut,heartandhurt. In Kenyan English, these words all sound very similar due to substituting all of them with the same vowel sound /a/.
The most evident grammatical features of Kenyan English are the omission ofarticles, the pluralisation ofuncountable nouns, the avoidance of using therelative pronoun"whose" and usingadjectivesas nouns.
In Kenyan English, a large number of speakers tend to omit articles in words that would otherwise need them. For example, when ordering at a fast food restaurant, a person may say "give me burger" or "I want burger" instead of "give me a burger" or "I want a burger". Similarly, the article "the" in Kenyan English is often used in cases that would otherwise be deemed inappropriate, especially with uncountable nouns. A good example would be adding the article "the" to the uncountable noun "mud" (for example,I stepped in the mud on my way home.)
Some uncountable nouns such as "data", "equipment", "money", "property" and "software" are also often pluralised in Kenyan English, but this is especially prevalent in the rural areas and among the lower and lower-middle classes.
A very large number of Kenyan English speakers often use "My names are…" when introducing themselves instead of "My name is…". For example, a person named John Omondi would introduce himself by saying "My names are John Omondi" instead of "My name is John Omondi". Again, this is especially prevalent in the rural areas and among the lower and lower-middle classes, but also depends on the ethnic origin of the speaker.
As mentioned before, there is a tendency to avoid the use of the relativepronoun"whose" in Kenyan English, where the use of the word would usually be replaced with "that". For example:
In written English, Kenyans often use British English spellings instead of those in American English, such as–ourinstead of–or(e.g. "colour", "flavour"),–reinstead of–er(e.g. "metre", "theatre"),–ogueinstead of–og(e.g. "prologue", "catalogue") and–ceinstead of–se(e.g. "defence", "offence"; noun/verb distinction between words such as "advice" / "advise" or "licence" / "license" is maintained). However, the use of–izeand–yzehas become more frequent instead of–iseand–yse, although the latter is still more common. For example, more Kenyans have been known to write "criticize" and "paralyze" as well as "criticise" and "paralyse".
As Kenyans generally use British English, vocabulary in Kenyan English is very similar to that of British English. Common examples are "chips" ("french fries" and "fries" in American English), "crisps" ("chips" in American English) and "football" ("soccer" in American English, although the use of the American term has become increasingly common).
Kenyan English often borrows vocabulary from local languages which would otherwise be difficult to translate to English, such as the Bantu term "ugali", the Swahili term "sukuma wiki" (collard greens) and Swahili term "matatu". The wide use ofShengin Kenya has also affected the vocabulary of Kenyan English speakers.White peoplein Kenya are often referred to as "mzungus" or "wazungus" (the word "mzungu" isSwahilifor "white person"; its plural form is "wazungu"). Other borrowed terms include "pole pole" (Swahili for "slowly"; as a result some people also say "slowly slowly"), "Harambee", "nyama choma" (barbecued meat) and "nini" (used when one forgets the name of something; equivalent to the word "thingy", which is itself also widely used). Finally, most people in Kenya speak English as a third or fourth language, leading to the majority of individuals using a lot ofdirect translation.
Some Kenyan English speakers occasionally useproverbsborrowed from Swahili and other languages, as well as English proverbs, when conveying the moral of a story or giving advice, and sometimes translate these proverbs to English. For example, when advising someone to take his/her time when doing something, a person may use the proverb "Haraka haraka haina baraka" (roughly translates to "more haste, less speed") andliterally translateit to "Hurry hurry has no blessings".
Distinguished Kenyan novelistNgũgĩ wa Thiong’o, when asked in 2023 if Kenyan English or Nigerian English were now local languages, responded "It's like the enslaved being happy that theirs is a local version of enslavement. English is not an African language. French is not. Spanish is not. Kenyan or Nigerian English is nonsense. That's an example of normalised abnormality. The colonised trying to claim the coloniser's language is a sign of the success of enslavement."