Languages of Kenya

Languages of Kenya
Official languages	English and Swahili[1]
Main languages	Swahili (Lingua Franca)
Regional languages	Kikuyu, Luhya, Luo
Sign languages	Kenyan Sign Language
Common keyboard layouts	QWERTY

Kenya is a multilingual country. The Bantu Swahili language and English, the latter being inherited from colonial rule (see British Kenya), are widely spoken as lingua franca. They serve as the two official working languages. Including second-language speakers, there are more speakers of Swahili than English in Kenya .

Overview

Page from the Kikuyu publication Muigwithania (1929).

According to Ethnologue, there are a total of 68 languages spoken in Kenya. This variety is a reflection of the country's diverse population that includes most major ethnoracial and linguistic groups found in Africa (see Languages of Africa).

Most languages spoken locally belong to two broad language families: Niger-Congo (Bantu branch) and Nilo-Saharan (Nilotic branch), spoken by the country's Bantu and Nilotic populations, respectively. The Cushitic and Arab ethnic minorities speak languages belonging to the separate Afroasiatic family, with the Hindustani and British residents speaking languages from the Indo-European family.^[2]

Kenya's various ethnic groups typically speak their mother tongues within their own communities. The two official languages, English and Swahili, are used in varying degrees of fluency for communication with other populations. English is widely spoken in commerce, schooling and government.^[3] Peri-urban and rural dwellers are less multilingual, with many in rural areas speaking only their native languages.^[4]

Language families

Major languages

Lord's Prayer in Swahili, a Bantu language that alongside English serves as a lingua franca for many in Kenya.

SIL Ethnologue (2009) reports the largest communities of native speakers in Kenya as follows:

• Niger-Congo
  • Bantu
    • Kikuyu 8 million
    • Kamba 3.9 million
    • Ekegusii 2.12 million (2006)
    • Kimîîru 1.74 million
    • Oluluhyia
    • Kipokomo
    • Kigiryama 0.62 million (1994)
    • Kiembu 0.43 million (1994)
• Nilo-Saharan
  • Nilotic
    • Dholuo 4.27 million
    • Kalenjin > 1.6 million
    • Maasai 0.59 million
    • Turkana 0.45 million (2009)

Minor languages

Languages spoken by the country's ethnic minorities include:

• Afroasiatic
  • Cushitic
    • Oromo
    • Rendille
    • Somali
  • Semitic
    • Arabic
• Indo-European
  • Indo-Iranian
    • Hindustani
  • Germanic
    • English

Notes

1. "The Constitution of Kenya" (PDF). Kenya Law Reports. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
2. Ethnologue - Languages of Kenya
3. Proquest Info & Learning (COR) (2009). Culturegrams: World Edition. Proquest/Csa Journal Div. p. 98. ISBN 0977809161.
4. E. K. Brown, R. E. Asher, J. M. Y. Simpson (2006). Encyclopedia of language & linguistics, Volume 1, Edition 2. Elsevier. p. 181. ISBN 0080442994.

References

• Ethnologue page for Kenya

External links

• Linguistic map of Kenya at Muturzikin.com
• Ethnologue page for Kenya
• National Public Radio story about Kisii language from All Things Considered program, April 29, 2006
• PanAfriL10n page on Kenya