THE CAMOUFLAGING OF SHENG' LANGUAGE IN KENYA SINCE ITS EMERGENCE (original) (raw)

This paper reviews the growth and development of Sheng' language as a lingua franca in the regions where it is spoken in Kenya since its emergence. Languages do grow and develop as time passes by and this is evident by the way today's language is somewhat different from yesterday's language. On the other hand, other 'new languages' spring up from the main languages to cater for different linguistic needs at a given period of time as is the case of sheng' in Kenya. To catch up with the ever fast development in the world, these languages, including sheng', have come up with new terminologies and or vocabulary so as to continue being relevant. This has seen a rise in the 'new languages' springing up from the main ones – and being very popular amongst the youth – they have even developed to an extend of being recognized as lingua franca in the regions where they are spoken. This paper affirms that with the passage of time; new ideas, structures, terminologies and or vocabulary have been and continue being coined in these languages. Origin and meaning of Sheng Sheng began it's life as a slang largely used by gangs in the poorest corners of Nairobi. There is no widely agreed upon origin of sheng though most scholars believe that it could have started due to massive migration of people from their villages to the city which resulted in large numbers of young people living in close quarters with their families in low-income neighborhoods in Nairobi. These people came from varying ethnic groups speaking different vernacular languages, mainly Kikuyu, Luo and Kamba, along with Kiswahili and English. Jowal, J. (2015) says, " Nobody can accurately put a finger on when the language came to be, but an undeniable fact is that Sheng is on its course to overtaking all languages in Kenya as the most used language of communication…Although it borrows vocabulary widely, its grammar and syntax remains predominantly Swahili. " Bosire M. (2006) says that children of the different ethnic groups are of two worlds and they want a way to express this duality, this new 'ethnicity'. Sheng is a way to break away and give them a global urban ethnicity; the urbanite: sophisticated, streetsmart, new generation, tough.