KINDLY as a polite request mitigator and more in Kenyan English usage

Evidence of its syntactic and pragmatic versatility

Abstract

The adverb kindly is little used as a polite request mitigator (Kindly close the door) in World Standard English (WSE). But it is a frequent occurrence in Kenyan English (KenE), where, unlike in WSE, it is not limited to a pre-verbal position: it can occur even without an accompanying verb whose illocutionary force it is supposed to mitigate, as in Kindly, I’m appealing to you and I’m appealing to you, kindly. Still unlike in WSE, kindly freely co-occurs with please (the other request mitigator), as in Kindly please listen to me or Please kindly listen to me. Also, kindly frequently premodifies the verb request, as in I’m kindly requesting you to listen to me. These various positions and pragmatic configurations in which kindly occurs in KenE are evidence of its syntactic and pragmatic versatility, as illustrated by the 105 SMS, WhatsApp and email messages used as data in this article.