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The nationalization of Swahili in Kenya

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2008

Lyndon Harries
Lyndon Harries
Affiliation:
Department of African Languages and Literature, University of Wisconsin, Madison
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Abstract

The decree of 4 July, 1974, by President Kenyatta, proclaiming Swahili as the national language of Kenya is discussed with reference to questions of feasibility and expediency. The alternatives to the President's decree are considered, and reasons for the decision are suggested.

Comparison of the status of Swahili in the capital cities of Kenya (Nairobi) and Tanzania (Dar es Salaam) is made to illustrate the special difficulties confronting the Kenya government in making the President's decree effective. The parliamentary response is crucial, but the dominance of English in Nairobi, the capital city, where Swahili has not always been much valued, indicates a wider gap between intention and the possibility of fulfilment than in Dar es Salaam.

The need for proficiency in Swahili is viewed in the Kenya situation, and this is related to what is linguistically appropriate. The nationalization of Swahili results in secularization of a language that found its normal expression in the setting of Islam. What is linguistically appropriate in Swahili on the national level is often inappropriate to members of the Swahili coastal community. Kenyans are likely to opt for their own modifications of Standard Swahili, basing this on the Mombasa dialect, but up-country Swahili is the foundation upon which greater proficiency can be achieved. (Language planning, language policy, regional and social stratification of varieties, Swahili; Kenya, Tanzania.)

Type
Articles
Information
Language in Society , Volume 5 , Issue 2 , August 1976 , pp. 153 - 164
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1976

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References

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