The Evolution of Sheng during the last decade

Aurélia Ferrari (1)

1 Inalco - Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales

Sheng, popularly defined as an acronym for “Swahili-English slang”, emerged in the 1960s in the multicultural environment of Nairobi. It is an urban language which combines mainly Kiswahili and English but also other Kenyan languages such as Kikuyu, Luyha, Dholuo and Kikamba. Sheng is characterized by an important linguistic flexibility. It does not have any official status even if it is widely spoken, especially by the youth. Originally used as a vehicular language between people from different regions, it is becoming a vernacular language, some people born in the 1980s or later having Sheng as their first language.

Mots clés: Language & speech; Kenya

Domaines: Linguistique; Sciences de l'information et de la communication

Aurélia Ferrari. The Evolution of Sheng during the last decade. 2013. ⟨halshs-01206481⟩