National and subnational features in Kenyan English

This paper focuses on acoustic analysis of African English (AfrE) vowels produced by a controlled sample of speakers from Kenya, Ghana, and Zimbabwe. Adopting quantitative methods of data sampling and analysis, and holding dialectal factors as homogeneous as possible, this exploratory study subjects Schmied's (1991a) claim -that a major source of regional variation is the 'deviation' in the production of RP central vowel [‰] (as in bird) -to empirical scrutiny. Schmied contends that [‰] backs and lowers to [Å] in West African English, fronts and lowers to [a] or fronts to [e] in East African English, while in (Black) South African English it fronts to [e]. However, analysis of acoustic waveforms of AfrE vowels, produced by educated speakers of Bantu and Kwa languages, partially corroborate Schmied's contention. For instance, Ghanaian and Zimbabwean respondents in this study front the RP vowel [‰] to [e], while Kenyans lower it to [a]. The paper provides a methodological framework that will at least address some research concerns voiced over the years: lack of "objective, systematic study" (Abdulaziz 1991: 393), "deficiency in methodology" (Adegbija 1994: 53), and "overgeneralization" (Simo Bobda 2000: 264). Sustained empirical studies could eventually lead to a fresh perspective on AfrE's phonological variation.

Section: African Englishesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…4 4 Certain phonological segments have a higher rate of Africanization among Kenyan men (see Schmied 1991b: 428). …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

African Englishes: acoustic analysis of vowels

Mutonya¹

2008

“…Thus, Sey (1973) presents a well-known study of Ghanaian English, a variety of studies concentrate on Nigerian English (e.g. Bamgbos : e, 1992;Jibril, 1991), or Kenyan English (Schmied, 1991a), or even Swaziland English (Kamwangamalu, 1996). In general, Simo Bobda (2000) refers to broad regional categories (West, South or East African Englishes) as well as national and sub-national varieties.…”

Section: Notes On Labelling Practices For World Englishesmentioning

confidence: 99%

South African English: labels, comprehensibility and status

Rooy¹,

Rooy²

2005

Racial or ethnic labels are common practice in South African English, but in recent years some criticism has been levelled against this practice, particularly as far as the label Black South African English is concerned. This article investigates the labelling practices of ordinary, non-linguist South Africans to determine what may be acceptable to them, following a bottom-up approach to categorisation. Data were elicited from 167 black first year students in a survey designed to compare the labels they assigned to six different forms of South African English, alongside their attitudes towards these varieties, their perception of the proximity of these varieties to their own English and a measure of the comprehensibility of these varieties. The results indicate that the participants do avail themselves of ethnic and racial labels, but their main categorisation strategy is the national label South African English, used for all varieties, but more frequently for the varieties of Black and Indian speakers than White speakers. Furthermore, the acrolect form of Black South African English emerges as the variety that enjoys the highest status amongst the participants, on the basis of the most favourable attitudes, the sense of greatest proximity and the highest degree of comprehensibility.

“…English is yet to be done. The use of English in East Africa receives some attention in Abdulaziz (1991), Hancock and Angogo (1984), Zuengler (1982), and Schmied (1991). Other research on Kenyan English has focused on the sociolinguistics of East African English (Kanyoro, 1991) or on language attitudes (Sure, 1991).…”

Section: A Comprehensive Description Of Kenyanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Competing motivations for NP order in Kenyan English

Kuha

1998

Constituent order in Kenyan English is influenced by two motivations: the animacy hierarchy, which results in a tendency to give prominence to noun phrases referring to people, and the discourse pressure to place given information before new information. In this study, the competition between these two conflicting principles in Kenyan English is used as a case study illustrating the application of some typological concepts to the study of new varieties of English. The analysis of spoken Kenyan English in Nyaggah (1990) is extended to Kenyan English news discourse. Some differences between spoken and written Kenyan English point to a tendency towards a more standard native-speaker variety in news discourse. The results also suggest that the animacy hierarchy is the most important determinant of constituent order in Kenyan English. The animacy hierarchy causes the [+human] NP to be placed first in most cases. However, if a [7human] NP competing for the first position is one whose referent is mentioned in the immediately preceding sentence, it becomes more topicworthy and is less easily shunted into a secondary position. Other possible factors influencing constituent order are outlined.