ASPECTS OF THE VOCABULARY OF KENYAN ENGLISH: AN OVERVIEW

Abstract

From a variety of sources, this paper has gleaned a substantial amount of
information on specific aspects of the vocabulary of the Kenyan English
variety. This information provides evidence that as a second language
variety Kenyan English has developed its vocabulary through the main
processes of a) borrowing from indigenous languages, b) coining its own
words and phrases, and c) giving, to a number of international English
words, additional meanings that are specific to it. The loan words from
indigenous languages are no doubt more visible than the other two
components of Kenyan English vocabulary, but they are numerically much
less important than these two.