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Kenyan English


Kenyan English is a local dialect of the English language spoken by several communities and individuals in Kenya, and among some Kenyan expatriates in other countries. The dialect contains features unique to it that were derived from local Bantu languages, such as Swahili.

The English language was introduced to Kenya along with Great Britain's colonisation of Kenya in 1895, when the East Africa Protectorate was set up before becoming a colony in 1920. Swahili had been established as a trade language in most parts of the Swahili Coast at the time of colonization, and it was also used in education. The British reduced the influence of Swahili and made English the medium of instruction in 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 the national language.

Like English in southern England, Kenyan English is non-rhotic. Major phonological features include the loss of length contrast in vowels, the lack of central vowels as with British English, the monophthongisation of diphthongs and the dissolving of consonant clusters. The trap-bath split does not exist in Kenyan English.

A good phonological indicator of Kenyan English would be the behaviour of the vowels in "kit" and "bath". The "kit" vowel would generally be pronounced with the close, front /ɪ/. The "bath" vowel would generally be pronounced with an /ɑː/ sound. The /aɪ/ as in "ride" is generally pronounced as /ɑɪ/. The vowels in "go" and "John" are monophthongised from /oʊ/ and /ɒ/ to /o/ and /ɔ/ respectively, and as such the pronunciation of the /ɔː/ sound in words such as "thought" or "straw" does not vary greatly with other dialects of English.


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