Languages of Kenya
Encyclopedia
Kenya
is a multilingual country. The Bantu Swahili language
and English
are widely spoken as lingua franca
, and are the two official languages.
According to Ethnologue, there are a total of 69 languages spoken in Kenya. This variety is a reflection of the country's diverse population that includes most major ethnic, racial and linguistic groups found in Africa
(see Languages of Africa
).
The two major language families spoken in Kenya are the Bantu
and the Nilotic
groups.
There is also a Cushitic minority, besides Arab
, Hindustani
and British
immigrants.
SIL Ethnologue (2009) reports the largest communities of native speakers in Kenya as follows:
is a country where multilingualism
is profoundly practiced.
Next to over fifty indigenous languages and dialects, neither Swahili
nor English, both official languages, can be considered a true lingua franca
of Kenya. Swahili is also the national language while English is the international language, an otherwise common situation compared to the rest of the world.
Not everyone in Kenya can speak Swahili or English. In everyday communication, most people prefer using their mother tongue. People living along the coast speak better Swahili than people living in central highlands of Kenya. This can be attributed to the fact that some primary schools in Kenya (especially those in very rural Kikuyu land), teach vernacular in lower grades (1,2,3) and pupils are tested on it. The reason why they are taught vernacular is because all* the pupils come from surrounding regions and speak the same dialect.This is not the case with every school in Kenya. On the other hand, schools in western, Northern, and South Kenya don't do that normally because there are pupils who have different dialect
s and therefore not possible to teach the regional dialect. This could be the underlying factor of why people in Western and Coastal Kenya speak Swahili more fluently than any other part of the country.
There are forty different tribes in Kenya today and approximately the same number of dialects. Most of them are confined to specific regions. e.g., Kikuyu in central Kenya, Luo
in western and Nyanza
, Kamba
in eastern and so on.
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
is a multilingual country. The Bantu Swahili language
Swahili language
Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
are widely spoken as lingua franca
Lingua franca
A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...
, and are the two official languages.
According to Ethnologue, there are a total of 69 languages spoken in Kenya. This variety is a reflection of the country's diverse population that includes most major ethnic, racial and linguistic groups found in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
(see Languages of Africa
Languages of Africa
There are over 2100 and by some counts over 3000 languages spoken natively in Africa in several major language families:*Afro-Asiatic spread throughout the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of the Sahel...
).
The two major language families spoken in Kenya are the Bantu
Bantu languages
The Bantu languages constitute a traditional sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages. There are about 250 Bantu languages by the criterion of mutual intelligibility, though the distinction between language and dialect is often unclear, and Ethnologue counts 535 languages...
and the Nilotic
Nilotic
Nilotic people or Nilotes, in its contemporary usage, refers to some ethnic groups mainly in South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and northern Tanzania, who speak Nilotic languages, a large sub-group of the Nilo-Saharan languages...
groups.
There is also a Cushitic minority, besides Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
, Hindustani
Hindustani people
Hindustani people or Hindoostani people was a word often used in British India and also in 20th Century in India for the group of people whose native language was a variety of Hindi or persons using Hindustani language — mainly residing in present day Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh,...
and British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
immigrants.
SIL Ethnologue (2009) reports the largest communities of native speakers in Kenya as follows:
- Bantu
- Kikuyu 7.18 million
- Kamba 3.96 million
- Ekegusii 2.12 million (2006)
- Kimîîru 1.74 million
- Oluluyia (listed as a "macrolanguage") > 1 million
- Kigiryama 0.62 million (1994)
- Kiembu 0.43 million (1994)
- Nilotic
- Dholuo 4.27 million
- KalenjinKalenjin languageThe Nandi languages, or Kalenjin proper, are a dialect cluster of the Kalenjin branch of the Nilotic language family.In Kenya, where speakers make up 18% of the population, the name Kalenjin, a Nandi expression meaning "I say ", gained prominence in the late 1940s and the early 1950s, when several...
(listed as a "macrolanguage") > 1.5 million - MaasaiMaasaiThe Maasai are a Nilotic ethnic group of semi-nomadic people located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. They are among the best known of African ethnic groups, due to their distinctive customs and dress and residence near the many game parks of East Africa...
0.69 million - TurkanaTurkanaTurkana may refer to:* Turkana people of Kenya and Ethiopia* Turkana language of Kenya and Ethiopia* Lake Turkana in Kenya* Lake Turkana National Parks* Turkana District in Kenya* the fictional world of Turkana IV in a Star Trek Next Generation episode...
0.45 million (2006)
Multilingualism
KenyaKenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
is a country where multilingualism
Multilingualism
Multilingualism is the act of using, or promoting the use of, multiple languages, either by an individual speaker or by a community of speakers. Multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. Multilingualism is becoming a social phenomenon governed by the needs of...
is profoundly practiced.
Next to over fifty indigenous languages and dialects, neither Swahili
Swahili language
Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
nor English, both official languages, can be considered a true lingua franca
Lingua franca
A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...
of Kenya. Swahili is also the national language while English is the international language, an otherwise common situation compared to the rest of the world.
Not everyone in Kenya can speak Swahili or English. In everyday communication, most people prefer using their mother tongue. People living along the coast speak better Swahili than people living in central highlands of Kenya. This can be attributed to the fact that some primary schools in Kenya (especially those in very rural Kikuyu land), teach vernacular in lower grades (1,2,3) and pupils are tested on it. The reason why they are taught vernacular is because all* the pupils come from surrounding regions and speak the same dialect.This is not the case with every school in Kenya. On the other hand, schools in western, Northern, and South Kenya don't do that normally because there are pupils who have different dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
s and therefore not possible to teach the regional dialect. This could be the underlying factor of why people in Western and Coastal Kenya speak Swahili more fluently than any other part of the country.
There are forty different tribes in Kenya today and approximately the same number of dialects. Most of them are confined to specific regions. e.g., Kikuyu in central Kenya, Luo
Luo (family of ethnic groups)
The Luo are an ethnic linguistic group located in an area that stretches from South Sudan and Ethiopia through northern Uganda and eastern Congo , into western Kenya, and ending in the upper tip of Tanzania. These people speak an Eastern Sudanic language, a branch of the Nilo-Saharan language...
in western and Nyanza
Nyanza
Nyanza may refer to:*Nyanza, Rwanda**Nyanza District, the district surrounding Nyanza, Rwanda*Nyanza Province, Kenya*Nyanza Lac, Burundi*Nyanza, the Bantu word for lake, in particular:**Lake Albert **Lake Edward...
, Kamba
Kamba
The Kamba are a Bantu ethnic group who live in the semi-arid Eastern Province of Kenya stretching east from Nairobi to Tsavo and north up to Embu, Kenya. This land is called Ukambani. Sources vary on whether they are the third, fourth or the fifth largest ethnic group in Kenya...
in eastern and so on.
External links
- Ethnologue page for Kenya
- National Public Radio story about Kisii language from All Things Considered program, April 29, 2006
- PanAfriL10n page on Kenya