KENYATTA UNVERSITY

INSTITUTE OF OPEN LEARNING

AEN 403
PART TWO
Examples of varieties of English based on ethnicity,
sex and geographical regions.

CALEB SHIVACHI

1
 Language and Gender

Introduction
According to Crawford (1997:17) language is viewed as a set of strategies
for negotiating the social landscape. It is an action-oriented medium. It
influences other people enlisting their help, companionship, protecting self
from demands, presenting self as having qualities worth admiring.

Topic Objectives
By the end of the topic you should realize that some cultures in the world
specify the kind of language women and men should use. However in the
English language, such differentiation is not there. One may note that
nevertheless there are limited areas in which the English language may
show some sex differentiation. At times varieties of English may reveal
more features based on the sex of the speaker as we shall see in some
examples.

1.1 Women’s Language

In some cultures such as Carib, Chukchi and Koasati, women use different
words for the same concept. In English there are no such considerations.
What is meant by women’s language in English are sex linked linguistic
signals, a set of features used by both sexes but more by women than men.
Researchers who have written on language of the sexes (Lakoff 1973);
(Crosby and Nyquist 1977); (Kramer 1977); (Mulac et al 1986) have shown
that there may be something of the language of the sexes even in English.
There are distinct features such as lexical, syntactic and pragmatic units
which distinguish the speech of women, as these examples show:

• Specialized Vocabulary
Women would use precise vocabulary when they refer to colours i.e.
mauve, plum. They are richer in vocabulary related to cooking, and
serving. Men are likely to have more explicit vocabulary in matters
related to mechanics or sports.
• Expletives
Women use milder expletives e.g. oh dear, or darn. But men may use
stronger expressions such as shit, damn.

2
 • Adjectives
Women tend to use adjectives that express emotions rather than facts
much more frequently e.g. Divine, adorable, great, terrific.

• Use of Tag questions

Women would use uncertainty markers in their statements by adding a
tag question e.g.
- The way prices are rising is something terrible, isn’t it?

• Super polite terms

Women tend to use super polite forms. They use hedges and other
apologetic constructions in their speech e.g. you know, sort of, kind of..

• Use of humour or Jokes

This is a speech strategy less used by women. They tend not to get the
joke and they are without a sense of humour.
It must be noted that these features cannot be empirically attested.

1.2 Indians and Gender

In the Chiapas, South of Mexico, there lives a community of Indians of the
Mayan group of Indians known as Tenejapa. It is reputed that in
conversation their women are more polite compared to the world
standard. The women are constrained to show any public display of
emotion or public confrontation. Self humbling, is the way women present
self. Sanctions against breaches of decorum include punishment from
fathers, elder brothers or husbands. In addition eye contact is forbidden for
the women.

1.3 Hindi Female Speakers

In Hindi and Indian English female speakers whether in spoken or written,
discourse use features of involvement. For example a female speaker from
time to time would exclaim:
• Tumhe maalum hai?
(Do you know?)
• Mu hää
(Yes)
• Acchaa
(ok)

3
Hindi women would in an exchange use additional personal involvement
clues such as self-referential remarks such as:
• Mää bhii
(me too)
• Bilkul
(absolutely)
• Ajab
(strange)
• Tum bilkul sac kahara rahii ho
(what you are saying is absolutely true)

Sometimes the female speakers would show agreement in English by

saying:
• That’s the point, define Tlii
• Imagine, haina, isn’t it?

In all Hindi female speakers would show involvement in an exchange by

use of literal repetitions of lexical items, statements, sentence completion
and intensifiers. All these are efforts to show support and endorse each
other’s talk in an exchange (D’Souza 1988).

1.4 Gender Issues

Attentions has been focused on the replacement of ‘male’ words with
generic (words without sex reference) or neutral words in English, for
example:

Word neutral word

Chairman chairperson
Salesman salesperson
Miss/Mrs Ms
He/She (s)he
His/him (their)?

4
 Things to do.

(1) Enumerate some of the typical linguistic features found in

women’s speech in your community
(2) Mention some of the social activities not allowed to women in
your society. Do women know what goes on in such activities?
Do they understand the vocabulary applied on such occasions?

Summary

In this topic we have surveyed some of the different forms of language

used both in English and other societies. Women may show differences in
speech from men because:
• Women may attempt to show politeness and decorum
• Society may insist that women show forms of politeness.
• Modern English speakers have revised the application of pronouns
in order to remove male dominance when referring to people.

DIFFERENCES IN ENGLISH BASED ON GEOGRAPHY

American English

2.0 Introduction
According to Crystal (1995:132), The scientific study of the US regional
variations in spoken English is over a century old, having started with the
formulation of the American Dialect Society in 1889. A series of Linguistic
Atlases were planned. The first appeared in 1939 then 1943. Those studies
established the existence of three broad dialect areas i.e. Northern,
Southern and Midland.

5
2.1 Objectives
This topic traces the establishment of the American English as a distinct
language from the British English. By the end of the topic the student
should be able to:
• Understand that there are differences within American English in
America
• American English contains vocabulary from many other languages
• American English differs from British English in:
- Spelling
- Vocabulary
- Pronunciation

2.2 Northern
This area should not be confused with the ‘North’ during the Civil War
(1861-5). But this is an area which covers New England, Vermont, New
York and across all States in the North all the way to the Pacific. The
Eastern section of the Northern Dialect has sections within it where the
final post vocalic /r/ sound is lost. This area is roughly to the east of the
Connecticut River.

Southern

The southern dialect area covers Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, the

Carolinas, Georgia, the Gulf States; Florida, Alabama, Mississippi,
Louisiana, Texas, all forming another American English dialect area.

Midland

The Midland dialect area extends across the whole country from Ohio and
Western Virginia to the Pacific. It includes states like Washington, Oregon,
California, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico,
Colorado, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, parts of Oklahoma, Illinois
and Indiana.
It is the vast size of the American Midland dialect that gives the
impression of the American English sounding the same.
Some of the pronunciation features of the Midland dialect is found in the
pronunciation of the short and long /o/sound. For example the short

6
sound /o/as in cot and the long sound /o:/ as in nought have no
distinction and are pronounced as if the sound is the same.

2.3 Spelling
The Dictionary of American English is the official Dictionary of American
Dialect Society based at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
It was started in 1907 and projected to be in five volumes; A and H finally
appeared in 1991. On the whole the American English differs less in terms
of Region than is the case in Britain.

It is common for speakers of English in Britain having to learn quickly an

unfamiliar dialect within Britain in order to communicate effectively and
to be understood. The same case applies to Englishes spoken in other parts
of the world as some hearers may experience lack of comprehension with
unfamiliar Dialects.
Remember, if people start listening to how you are saying something
instead of what you are saying, then you are losing effectiveness.

American and British English compared

The spelling differences between American English and British English are
noteworthy. They rank as one of the major differences between the two
Englishes as shown here:

British American
Aeroplane airplane
Aesthetics esthetics
Manoeuvre maneuver
Amoeba amebia
Anaemia anemia
Archaeology archeology
Axe ax
Bsc BS
Buses busses
Caesarian cesarian
Carat (gold) karat
Cauldron caldron
Cheque check
Chequer checker
Cigarette cigaret
Chilli chili

7
Connexion connection
Councilor counselor
Defence defense
Disc disk
Draughtsman draftsman
Draughty drafty
Encyclopaedia encyclopedia
Enquire inquire
Ensure insure
Faeces feces
Foetus fetus
Floatation flotation
Inflextion inflection
Instil instill
Jeweller jeweler
Kilogramme kilogram
Licence license
Moustache mustache
Msc Ms
Oedema edema
Oesuphagus esophagus
Offence offense
Pedlar peddler
Plough plou
Practice practise
Pretence pretense
Primaeval primeval
Programme program
Pyjamas pajamas
Sanatorium sanitorium
Scallywag scalawag
Sceptical skeptical
Smoulder smolder
Throughway thruway
Titbit tidbit
Traveller traveler
Tyre tire
Vice (tool) vise
Woollen woollen

8
 (Crystal p. 307).

2.4 Lexical Differences

There are differences between American English and British English in

terms of vocabulary use as the following examples illustrate:

British English American English

Sweets Candy
Coffin casket
Tomato ketchup catsup
Credit account charge account
Bill check
Clothes peg clothes pin
Maize corn
Cot crib
Railway station depot
Reception clerk desk clerk
Dialing tone dial tone
Diversion detour
Hall of residence dormitory
Conscription draft
Curtains drapes
Jumper sweater/pullover
Mudguard fender
Mum/mummy mom/mommy
Nail varnish nail polish
Nightdress nightgown
Nil zero
Naught zero
Number plate license plate
Pants underpants
Paraffin kerosene
Pavement sidewalk
Post mail
Post code zip code
Puncture flat
Queue line
Railway railroad

9
Rise (salary) raise
Sailing boat sailboat
Rubber eraser
Solicitor lawyer
Motorway expressway
Autumn fall
Tap faucet
Fire-brigade fire department
Ground floor first floor
Torch flashlight
Motorway freeway
Goods-train freight train
French windows French doors
Chips French fries
Rubbish/refuse garbage
Petrol gasoline
Girl guild girl scout
Level crossing grade crossing
Underground subway
Trouser pants
Vest undershirt
Wc restroom
Whisky scotch
Third party insurance liability insurance
Spanner wrench
Fruit stone pit

(Crystal p. 309)

2.5 Pronunciation

One of the features easily noticed between the British and American
Englishes is in the area of pronunciation.

In these examples we are comparing the RP and the General American.

Word RP GA
Ant (against) anti: antai
Asthma asmƏ azmƏ

10
Ate eit et
Capsule kapsju:l kapsƏl
Chassis ∫asi: t∫asi:
Clerk kla:k klз:rk
Clique kli:k klik
Erase ireiz ireis
Fracas fraka: freikƏs
Geyser gƏizƏ geizƏr
Gooseberry guzbƏri gu:zeberi
Herb h3:b h3:rb
Leisure le3Ə le3Ər
Lieutenant leftenƏnt lu:tenƏt
Medicine medsin medisin
Missile misail misƏl
Progress prƏugres progres
Rout ru:t rƏut
Schedule ∫edju:l sked3Əl
Tissue ti∫u:/tis∫u: ti∫u:
Tomato tƏmatƏu tƏmeitƏu
Wrath roθ ra θ

(Crystal p. 307).

2.6 History of American English

- It started with Mayflower immigrants

- The differences between American English and British English seem
to originate from developments in the Englishes in both countries
after Mayflower.
- The people who went to America from Britain themselves spoke
different varieties, which now have undergone changes within
Britain itself.
- There were in America many white immigrants who did not speak
English and so were African American blacks who didn’t.
- Shakespearian English at the same time may sound different from
today’s British speakers, i.e.

11
 Clown: Indeed sir she the Sweete Margeron of the ballet or rather the
hearbe of grace
Lafew: They are not hearbes you knave, they are nose hearbes
Clown: I am no great Nebuchadnezar, sir, I have not much skill in
grace.

- American English speakers borrowed from various sources while

forming their language. Some of their borrowings have found their
way into international English:

From American Indians

Canoe, tobacco hammock, hickory, squash; chipmunk, moose, muskrat,

raccoon, skunk, woodchuk;

Culture: Squaw,moccasin, tomahawk, igloo, kayak, wigwam.

- Many of the borrowings are disappearing from AME i.e. powwow,

skookum, chautam, qua .
- The list of borrowing made in 1902 contained 132 words from the
Algonquian language alone and by 1958 not more than 37 were in
use.

• French Influence:

Plants/animals Food
Caribou chowder
Gopher alamode (pie)
Pumpkin
Carry-all

• Portuguese
Toponymics:
Furniture/buildings
Rapids depot
Prairie armor (armoire)
Levee shanty
Crevasse bureau
Chute

12
• Spanish
Plants/animals Ranch life
Alfalfa chaparral
Marijuana cinch
Armadillo corral
Burro hacienda
Barracuda peon
Cockroach lasso
Chigger jigger
Coyote ranch
Mustang stampede
Wrangler
Sombrero
Desperado
Incommunicado
Vigilante
Toponymics
Sierra
Mesa
Canyon
Key

Spanish Races/nationalities Miscellaneous

Dago fiesta
Creole filibuster
Mulutto hombre
Octoroon rumba
Pickaninny stevedore
Quadroon tornado
Vamoose
• Dutch influence

Food Farm/buildings Social

Cookie stoop (porch) boss
Waffle patron
Yankee
Transport Miscellaneous
Span dope
Sleigh dump

13
Cuboose (of horses) poppycock
Santa Claus
Snoop
Spook

• German Influence

Educational Food/Drink social

Semester frankfurter beer garden
Seminar hamburger Christmas tree
Larger beer bum
Noodle

Things to do

• Consider the vocabulary items from both Standard English and

American English and indicate which words have found currency in
Kenyan English.
• Look at the pronunciation of American words and show which
words are pronounced in Kenyan English the same way as found in
American English.

14
Summary: American English

Within this topic we have surveyed these factors as having been

instrumental in the formation of American English.
• Its root in Shakespearian England
• Contributions from languages spoken in Europe and Indian speech
within America itself.
• Establishment of the American English with its own spelling, accent
and even grammar as distinct from the British English.

Indian English

3.0 Introduction

This variety may be categorized as South Asian English. It is a variety

spoken on the Indian sub-continent with varieties stretching in a
continuum which extends from Pidgin forms of English known as Babu
English to educated varieties which are indistinguishable from British
English.

15
Objectives
By the end of the lesson the student should be able to assess similarities
and contrasts between the Indian English and the varieties they speak in
the following areas:
• Sounds
• Vocabulary
• Grammar
• Interactive Linguistic Features

The following forces have influenced South Asia English:

• Geographical- geographical varieties which may show differences

in Indian,Malay, Burmese Singaporean,Englishes
• Local languages – local languages too have influenced the kind of
English spoken in these areas. Therefore there are varieties based on:
Marathi, Hindi, Gujerati, Punjabi and Urdu languages.
• Class – the highly stratified Indian society also gives rise to varieties
of English spoken by their members.

3.1 Difficulties and Differences

There are difficulties in understanding or comprehending English spoken

throughout South Asia as these examples show.

• Syllable Timed Speech

English spoken in South Asia is generally syllable timed English as

contrasted to British English which is stress timed. By syllable timed
speech we imply that all syllables in an utterance are pronounced in
equal stretches of time. Each syllable is therefore given equal
prominence. However in stress timed speech, prominence is not given
to the syllables between the beats and some of the syllables may be
elided or ‘swallowed’ altogether. Kiswahili language like the Indian
languages is syllable timed unlike English. For Indian or Kiswahili
speakers who pronounce every syllable in an utterance, their accent

16
 may sound different and at times this may affect comprehension for
those speakers who are not used to this kind of accent.

• Retroflex
Also distinctive in South Asian speech are the retroflex plosive sounds
which are not found in the English language. A retroflex plosive sound
is made when instead of making a puff with air coming out forcefully
from the lungs and mouth cavity the air moves in the opposite direction
i.e. from the outside and then into the lungs. For example the two
sounds below are contrasted showing the plosive as well as their
corresponding retroflexed sounds:
Plosive Retroflex
/t/ /ţ/
/d/ /ɗ/

Therefore English sounds which contain such plosive sounds tend to be

pronounced with a retroflex sound. For example today, do, teach, tell..

3.2 Grammar

The following grammatical constructions are found in the South Asian

English:
• The use of progressive in ‘static’ verbs i.e.
- I am understanding it;
- she is knowing the answer.
• The use of Tag Questions. Tag questions usually are constructed as
additional elements that are affixed at the end of a statement. For
example; You are going. No?; They are here. Isn’t it?
• Word order. Some of the sentences have altered word order or at
times they may have some elements removed, i.e.
Who you come for. Yes?
What you want.
When you go?

3.3 Vocabulary
There are some vocabulary items that have developed and are used by
South Asian speakers. The vocabulary items have been developed on
regional basis as shown:

17
 • Pakistan Gloss

Weekly off day off

Affectee someone affected
Bearer waiter
Boots shoes, tennis shoes
Cent percent a hundred percent
Conveyance means of transport
Evininger evening paper
Flying coach a type of bus
Freeship scholarship
Hotel eating house
Moot meeting
Opticals eyes glasses

(Crystal 1997:360)

• Indian Gloss
Allotee a person allotted property
Ayah nurse
Chapatti type of flat bread
Cow-worship religious practice
Core 10 million
Dhobi washerman
Eve-teasing harassment of women
Godown warehouse
Goonda hooligan
Headbath hair washing
Himalayan blunder grave mistake
Intermarriage marriage between religious castes
Issueless childless
Jawan soldier
Kaccha road dirt road
Lakh hundred thousand
Lathi policemen’s baton
Makan housing
Nose-screw woman’s nose ornaments

18
Paisa 100th of a rupee
Ryot farmer
Schedule caste lowest Hindu class
Stepney spare wheel
Swadeshi hotel native restaurant

(Kachru 1986)

3.4 Politeness in Indian English

• Fictive kinship

Kinship terms are sometimes used for people unrelated to the speaker. In
order to address a stranger or soften a refusal, a speaker may call the
hearer ‘brother’ (bhai) or sister; this was noted by Kachru 1983.
Kinship terms may not be found not only within the confines of the village
in the neighbourhood but extend to all kinds of social interaction in any
setting. A man may address a stranger of about the same age as:
• Bhai (for almost any male)
• Dãdã/bãbã (for grandfather figure)
• Bhaiyã (for a younger addressee)
• Babu/babuji: (the equivalent of Mr. Or Hon.)
• Beti (when addressing a daughter or young girl)
• Bahanji; ‘sister’ – used when women address one another.
• Dadi ‘grandmother’ – used to address an old woman.

(From D Souza 1988)

• Non-naming

Fictive names are used in Indian English in order to soften the differences
by establishing a more familiar relation in an exchange, as shown in the
following examples:

A wife may not use kinship terms when naming her husband or when
referring to him. This therefore gives rise to Linguistic devices often heard
in Indian English.

19
A husband similarly avoids his wife’s name and those of her older
consanguine but can use them if necessary. He therefore does not have to
resort to extreme measures as his wife does. For example:

• Teknonymy

The husband is referred to by his relationship to someone else by using

special terms. This may also extend to the women of the house.
• Lallukepitaji (Lallu’s father)
• Ramukima (Ramu’s mother)
• Omikibahu (Om’s mother)
• Opke bhai (your (PI) brother used when talking about the
husband’s sister).

• Use of Vocatives

In Bengali English one may attract the attention of a stranger by saying:

• ‘Sunun’ (Please listen) or
• “Dekhun (please see)
In Hindi in order to draw her husband’s attention, a wife may say;
• mai ne kaha (I said) or
• sunte ho (do you hear)

3.4.2 The Magic word

Magic words here refer to politeness terms such as ‘thank you’, ‘please’
which are common place in British or American English. Such words may
have no equivalents in local south Asian languages. Nevertheless as a way
of using politeness, South Asian English speakers may revert to the near
politeness terms found in their languages. For example:
• ‘Please’ in Bengali is (dayakore) or literally ‘have mercy’. If this term
is used with intimate people it tends to have sarcastic connotation.
• An equivalent of ‘thank you’ in Marathi is ‘dhanyavad’.
• In Hindi ‘thank you’ is ‘shukriya’.
All these examples of the magic word equivalents which are taken for
granted among the British or American speakers are usually not said to
members of one’s family whether Marathi, Hindi or Bengali as they may
increase distance between members of a family.

20
Distance is negative in societies such as these where family ties are
paramount. Gratitude therefore is expressed by non verbal gestures.

Things to do
• Enumerate politeness terms as used in your variety of English.
• What are the equivalents of these words in your first language:
thank you, I am sorry, please.

Summary
In this topic we have noted the regional and ethnic influences on the
Indian English in terms of:
• Pronunciation
• Vocabulary
• Interactive structures
• Grammar
We have noted the areas where in Indian English comprehension with
speakers of other Englishes might be affected.

4.0 Nigerian English

Topic Objectives

By the end of this topic you are expected to understand the differences and
similarities within the West African English. Also, you should be able to
compare West African English elements such as vocabulary and grammar
with elements in Kenyan English.

Introduction
In West Africa there are emerging distinct varieties of English namely;
Nigerian, Ghanaian and Gambian Englishes. But in many cases there is a
tendency for international overlap showing features common to these
varieties. This is especially so in relation to accent and grammar.

21
The lexicon of West African English shows similarities. Examples of these
supranational linguistic features follow:
• Chop-food (Sierra Leone English, Ghanaian English, Gambian
English and Nigerian English)
• Delayance – delay (SL, GH)
• Kola – fruit used as a stimulant, traditional symbol of friendship also
bribery (Gambian English); bribe (Nigerian English).
• Lappa – a large piece of cloth worn by women around the waist
down to the feet (SL) cloth used as a wrap around skirt (Gambian
English).
• Stranger – guest (SL, Nigeria)
• Aunt, anti – female friend of family (SL English, Gambian English)

Vocabulary
Lexical borrowings from African sources into standard English commonly
known as Africanism has had an impact on English as a world language.
The Nigerian indigenous languages have contributed a number of lexical
items as shown in these examples (Note Y= Yoruba, H = Housa and I =
Ibo)
• Food
Okra (Y)
Amala (yam flour – Y)
Dodo (fried plantains – Y)
Eba (cooked gari - Y)
Egusi (melon seed soup – I)
Fufu (yam ugali – I )
Gari (cassava ugali – Y)

• People
Babalawo (diviner – Y)
Dandoko (Porter – H)
Dogo (Tall person – H)
Ogboni (Secret society – Y)
Oba (king – Y)
Dibia (diviner – I)

22
 • Clothing
Ogbada (male gown – Y)
Lappa (women’s clothing – Y)

• Custom
Calabash (container from fruit skin – Y)
Gangan (traditional drum – Y)
Sharia (Islamic law)

Things to do.

The following is a sample of Nigerian and West African English. Isolate

and correct the errors:
(1) The fire incident can be traceable to a live cigarette end.
(2) The election was by secret ballot
(3) We shall succeed if we pool our resources together.
(4) This perhaps may be so.
(5) When did you return back home.
(6) The teacher broke off for a few minutes during the course of his
lecture.
(7) Where do you expect to spend your sabbatical leave.
(8) The articles in the drawer included books, pens and so on.
(9) The reason why he came is because I invited him.
(10) If you really mean what you are saying, write it down in black
and white.

Summary
In this topic we have seen examples of West African English where local
linguistic influences have played a part in the resultant languages. We
have noted:
• That some vocabulary items from West African sources have found
their way into standard English.
• We have seen elements of language omitted in syntactic structures,
as a feature common with Kenyan English speakers as well.

23
5.0 Kenyan English.

Introduction
A number of linguistic features distinguish Kenyan English from other
varieties. At the same time some of these features may be found in other
varieties such as Zambian or even South Asian Englishes. Majority of these
linguistic items are omitted both in the speech and written forms of the
majority of educated Kenyan speakers. Samples of these forms are from
newspapers, written texts by Post-Graduate students and other educated
speakers in Kenya.

Topic Objectives

By the end of the topic you should be aware of the differences found in
Kenyan English which may be absent or considered substandard in
Standard British English. There are differences in Kenyan English based on
the following:
• Grammar
• Vocabulary
• Pronunciation
• Meaning
At times such differences may be the source of misunderstanding and
your awareness may improve matters where necessary.

5.1 Differences in Kenyan English

As stated these examples were taken from the production of various

Kenyan speakers and writers.

• Person
Third person singular is often omitted:
- he walk home daily
- she go to school
Among the less educated Kenyans one would come across a situation
where the third person singular is used in first person singular position,
i.e.
- Take this, I takes the other
- When I wakes I fell good.

24
 • The Copula
At times speakers may not use the copula in their construction.
- If you interested I will take you there
- I going to the shop.
• Have
The perfective ‘have’ may also be omitted
- we done the examination
- the girl she done the examination

• Regularizing Irregular or strong verbs

Irregular verbs may also be made regular by adding the past form marker
ed at the end.
- The thief was catched
- He has eated
- He was beated
• Topicalisation
Topicalisation is a feature one may find even in the British English as a
form of politeness i.e
- if you don’t mind me asking, where did you get this?
On the other hand topicalisation in Kenyan English is a form of emphasis
where the subject pronoun is at times reinforced by the object pronoun, or
just repeated.
- Us we are happy
- We ourselves are going
- My mother she is unwell
- Them they are happy
- Me I don’t like that teacher
- Them I saw yesterday.
• Double Negative
In some constructions, one may come across double negatives, especially
in conversational English.
- there wasn’t nobody who came
- no one wasn’t beaten.

• Lack of concord between noun or pronoun and verb

Relative pronouns must be of the same person and number ; its antecedent
and number, must agree.
- The police is here
- Darts are enjoyable game

25
 - This is one of the best cows that has been winning prizes at
the show.
• The genitive
In writing the genitive is not marked
- The boys dormitory is nearby
- The mans cow was stolen
When it comes to speech the genitive marker – s is avoided.
- The car of my father
- The house of my aunt
- The pen is for Mary
- The bag is for me.

• Invariable nouns regularized for number

Equipments Luggages Childrens
Furnitures firewoods three dozens
Beddings charcoals
Sheeps grasses

• In a sentence nouns which usually remain singular are pluralized.

- He was given five thousands shillings.
- He was give a five shillings note
- She has no hairs on her head
On the other hand, nouns which remain in plural form are given singular
notation.
- He gave me a trouser.
- Cut it with that scissor.

• Direct translations and transfer of concepts from first language

- You were such a strong, cheerful joker. The family will miss
you. (from an obituary)
- I am hearing cold.
- He is drinking cigarettes.
- My dog has a child called Toni.
- He complained strongly.
- I stopped a car and it stood near me.
- Greet me your mother.
- This car slept in the road.
- I slept like that.

26
 - Borrow me some money.

• Gender
There is lack of feminne and masculine contrast in Kenyan English; a case
of transfer of local languages’ lack of gender differentiation in their
pronouns.
- The girl himself did the work.
- John took her family away.
- Mary he is very harsh.
- Her wife is a typist.

• Prepositions
At times prepositions are deleted in constructions. Alternatively an
inappropriate preposition may be used. This is the case as African
languages tend to have few prepositions.
- We are interested with the story.
- He preferred tea than porridge.
- You must see the teacher for duty.
- Pick me that book.
- In that time I was unwell.
- With me I am sorry.

• Articles
Articles and other determiners tend to be omitted before nouns.
Sometimes the wrong article is applied.
- I am going to office.
- She remained at home while others went on holiday.
- I went for wedding.
- It was encouragement to me.
- Give me meat.
- He has African background.
- He was the educated boy.
- He gave me egg.
- Television is spoilt (out of order).

• Adjectives
Adjective forms tend to be used as if they were verbs.
- I can obtain the food easy.
- I can do it proper.
- She ran fastly.

27
 - I jumped highly.

• Yes, No questions
The response to these questions is usually to the form but not logic of the
question.
- He isn’t good. No he is……
- You don’t know this. Do you? Yes I don’t.
- So you did not get what you wanted? Yes. I did not get it.

• Pronouns
Pronouns may be inappropriately used in both written and spoken
discourse. These pronouns are easily misapplied:
Somebody, someone, something, anything, each, no one.

- Is there somebody in that classroom?

- Do you have something for me?
- He thinks he is someone.
- Something easily annoys him.
- I am a no one in this home.

• Reduplication
Verbs tend to be reduplicated in order to indicate continuity.
- The people were just shouting shouting.
- As I talked to him he continued digging digging.
- I have really thought, thought about you.
- He has been doing doing those things.
- He lived and lived for many years.

• Continuous Tense

Continuous tense marked by ‘static’ verbs.

- I am understanding what you are saying.
- I am hearing that the university will be closed.

• Use of ‘there’ ‘they’

The pronoun and the locative are interchanged.
- They are three books here.
- There are mine.

28
 - There are absent.

• Tag Questions

Question tags tend to occur in invariant form. Tag questions are usually
complex in Standard English. The gender of the subject and whether it is
negative or affirmative matters when dealing in tags in Standard English.

Kenyan variety of English tends to generalize the tag, being neither

adapted to the verb form nor to the subject of the main clause. Often
particles are added.
- He came here. Isn’t it?
- That doesn’t matter. Isn’t it?
- You wanted to leave for Nairobi. Isn’t it?
- He is an old man, si ndiyo?
- He came late, ama?

• Lack of punctuation
Punctuation markers are often avoided in written Kenyan English.
- I did not come to school yesterday I went to the market.
- Our continent africa is developing slowly.
- It was ann who did it.

• Vocabulary
Africanisms are lexical items taken from indigenous languages and
extended and used in the English language either locally or
internationally, as shown:

Food
Sweet potato, sweet banana, ugali, posho, supu, githeri, mandazi, uji,
omena, pombe, chai, bare tea, tea escort.

Politics
Uhuru, ndugu, askari, watchman, magendo, bunge, chama, harambee,
umoja.

People.
Manamba, mzee, fundi, mama, mzungu, baba, bwana, daktari, mwalimu,
mwananchi

29
Clothing
Buibui, khanzu, kitenge, khanga, kaunda suit.

Others.
Dawa, debe, duka, kiondo, kikapu, mabati, sufuria, jembe, panga, kijiko,
polepole, zerograzing, boma, something small, matatu, isikuti.

Things to do

• Give your own sentences to illustrate the following features of

Kenyan English:
- Tag questions
- Reduplication
- Regularized invariable nouns
- Regularized invariable verbs

Summary
You have seen various ways in which the Kenyan English may differ from
the standard British English. You also have noted that some of these
differences are indeed sources of similarities between Kenyan English and
other Englishes such as West African or Indian Englishes.

6.0 Ethnicity

Introduction
Accent is perhaps the single most important marker of ethnicity in Kenyan
English. Accent here refers to features of pronunciation which convey a
speaker’s ethnic background. At times accent may reveal a person’s
geographical place of origin.

30
Objectives
In this topic learners should be able to appreciate the reasons behind the
numerous differences in the spoken English in this country. Differences
occur in Kenyan English on the basis of:
• There being missing consonant sounds in ethnic languages but
available in Standard English.
• There being common syntactic omissions which are mandatory in
the standard English.
• In spoken educated Kenyan English, such ethnicity markers are not
found.

Standard Kenyan English approximates closely with the British Standard

English.

6.1 Maasai
In Maasai phonological inventory the following consonants phonemes are
missing: /f v θ ð z/. Consequently when a Maasai pronounces an English
word which has these consonant sounds he/she is bound to makeup an
equivalent consonant for use in the position of the missing one. The
resultant word may be a source of incomprehension to those not familiar
with this linguistic process.
English Maa English
Francis Prancis
Fool Pool
Very feri/beri
Van fan/ban
Theft teft
Three trii
Think tink
Zebra sebura
Zoo suu
Buzz baas

6.2 Kipsigis

31
The Kipsigis speakers on the other hand do not have the following
consonant sounds in their first language /dƷ, g,v, z, b, h, k, d, f, w/.
The English words containing these consonants sounds are pronounced as
shown.

English Kipsigis English

Judge chach
Go ko
Good kut
Girl kal
Dig tik
Do tu
Dog tok
Home oom
Arm harm
Hear ear
Heed iid
Zip sip
Zoo suu
Boy poy
Bring pring
Buy pai
Pay bay
Vote /βot/
Very /βeri/
Vine /βain/
Week /βi:k/

In both Kipsigis and Maasai Englishes it may be noted that voice in

consonant sounds is not a feature of contrast between consonants. As a
result the consonant sound /p/ for example has variants or non-
distinctive allophones such as /b, β/ and even the fricatives /f/,/v/ serve
as variants of the bilabial fricative /β/. consequently one would say the
phonemes /p, β/ may have allophones /f,v,b/ which are independent
phonemes in the Standard British English. Notice that in standard English
the bilabial fricative /β/ is not available.

32
 6.3 Gikuyu English
Altogether eleven consonants found in standard English are missing in
Gikuyu language. These are /p b f I g d s t ʃ dƷ v s/. Sometimes a
replacement for one of these consonant sounds may be more than one
variant as shown in the following table.

Sound Gikuyu variety English G.E Phonological

representation
P Φ Packet Mbagiti Φa:Ɣiti
mb Pin Mbini Mbini
b Φ Book Ibuku IΦuku
mb Bilo Mbairu mbairo
m Bicycle Muithikiri moθikiri
Biscuit Muthiguiti moiθiƔuiti
f Φ Chief Cibu siΦo
Form Boomu Φ⊃:mu
Scarf Thikaabu θikaΦu
I r Lunch Ranji raŋji
g ŋ Gallon Ngereni ŋgrni
ŋg Guard Ngaati ŋga:ti
Jug Njagi ŋjaƔe
d nd Drawer Ndoroo ndir⊃:
t Guard Ngaati ŋga:ti
s θ Socks Thogithi θ⊃: Ɣiθi
Scarf Thikaabu θika:Φu
Cement Thimiti θimiti
t∫ ŋj Lunch Ranji raŋji
Inch Inji inji
V Φ Vest Bethiti Φeθiti
Vetinary Betinari Φtinar
Z θ Dozen ndaathani ndaθani

33
 6.4 Tachoni English

The Tachoni speak one of the eighteen dialects of the Bantu Luhyia. As
there are numerous dialects of this language, there is no uniform variety of
English spoken by the people concerned. Some of the consonant sounds
found in Tachoni English may not be found in other varieties of the same
language.
In common with other Kenyan language groups, the Tachoni do not have
the following voiced consonant sounds: /b d g v ð dз/ and the voiceless
fricative /θ/.
The following is a sample of Tachoni English.

Missing consonant Word Tachoni English

b Boy Poy (Orthography)
Buy /pai/
Abroad apraot
d Down Town
Done Tone
Dare Tare
g Go Ko
Girl /ka:i)
Get ket
Z Zinc /tsiŋ/
Zoo /tsu:/
Zero /tsiro/
Zeal /tsi:I)
v Love /laβu/
Very /βeri/
Volleyball /βolepol/
Vein /βein/
Than tsan
ð Those /tsosi/
Them /tsem/
Thin tsin
θ Things /tsŋsi/

dз Judge Chachi
Joy Choi
Jail Cheil
Jump champu

34
Things to do

(i) Consider all the missing consonant sounds in your first language
and with examples show how this phenomenon may affect
speakers of English from this community.
(ii) In your view which English words:
(a) are difficult to handle by speakers in your ethnic group
(b) are incomprehensible to other speakers from other
communities

Summary
In this topic we have suggested some of the reasons behind ethnically
controlled forms of regional Kenyan English. The main marker of this
variety of English is accent based on missing consonant sounds in the
speaker’s first languages. Standard educated Kenyan English does not
show ethnic accent. Similarly ethnic accent identifies the speaker’s
ethnicity and ethnicity in Kenya has wide ranging political and social
implications. It may be noted that ethnicity is not marked by vowel sounds
as most Kenyan Speakers seem to use similar vowel sounds in their variety
of English.

35
 FURTHER READING

Chishimba M.M 1984, Zambian English. PhD Thesis.

University of Illinois.

Crawford M. 1997, Gender and Language.

Sage Publications

Crosby, F. and Nyquist C. 1997, The female Register: an empirical study of

Lakoff’s hypothesis, Language in Society
6, 331 – 322.

Crystal, D. 1987, The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Language.

Cambridge University Press.

D’Souza, J. 1988 Interactional Strategies in South Asia Languages.

World Englishes.
Vo. 7 No. 2

Giles, H. and Saint-Jacques, B (eds) 1979 language and Ethnic Relations.

36