Abstract/Overview Ulimwengu wa sasa wa utandawazi umesababisha kuzagaa kwa matumizi ya Teknolojia ya Habari na Mawasiliano (TEHAMA), hususani kompyuta na vitumi vyake. Kwa hali hiyo, maendeleo ya sayansi na teknolojia yamesababisha kuenea kwa lugha zinazotumika kwa wingi katika teknolojia hiyo kama vile Kiingereza na Kifaransa na kudumazwa kwa lugha za Kiafrika zinazotumiwa kwa nadra mno. Uwezo wa kutumia media na vitumi vipya vya teknolojia hii kwa ubunifu na uhakiki aghalabu hutegemea u...
Abstract/Overview Kiswahili, like all languages, is dynamic. It evolves to accommodate economic, scientific, technological and social changes. Such changes are evident in Kiswahili military terms. The changes can be traced back to the 16th century contacts with visitors from Asia and Europe to the East African Coast. The outcomes of these contacts were borrowed military terms which form relics of their impact on Kiswahili vocabulary. Moreover, with the advent of globalization and its atte...
Abstract/Overview This study investigated language attitudes of secondary school learners of Somali descent toward Kiswahili and their patterns of language use in various domains in a multilingual context as evidenced in Garissa Town. The target population was secondary school students in public and private schools within Garissa town, Garissa County, Kenya. Field data was collected through questionnaires. A total of 100 respondents were involved in this study. This sample was obtained th...
Abstract/Overview The role of language attitudes on language choice, development and policy in multilingual societies cannot be over emphasized (Adegbija, 1994; Batibo, 2005). Monolingual speakers have only one attitude towards their language because they have no other languages to compare it with. However, where speakers are bilingual or multilingual; there is a tendency to develop different attitudes to each of the languages used. These attitudes, whether positive or negative, will norm...
Abstract/Overview This study investigated changes of themes in Kamba circumcision songs with the aim of finding out the causes of these changes. The research was conducted at Nzyiitu, Kalimbui, Kaluilaa, Ngalange, Mwangea and Nzanzeni. The study was conducted in this area because the Kamba people living here still hold onto the practice of circumcision rites despite socialeconomic shifts in the ever changing society. The research was guided by the theory of ethnography of communication wh...
Abstract/Overview The phrase is an important unit of analysis in the grammar of languages. Other than the syntactic level, the phrase is also studied at the phonological, morphological, semantic and pragmatic level. The literature on the phrase in English identifies different types of syntactic phrases thus, noun phrase, verb phrase, adjectival phrase, adverb phrase, prepositional phrase (Aitchison, 1992; Aronoff & Reese-Miller, 2006; Crystal, 2010; Fromkin & Hyams, 2010; Lyons, 1992; O'G...
Abstract/Overview Nasal Consonant (NC) sequences, in Bantu languages, and the long vowels preceding them remains a puzzle in Bantu literature and research. This paper provides a descriptively oriented analysis of the relationship between long vowels and nasal consonant sequences in Kisa, a dialect of Luhya, a Bantu language spoken in Khwisero Constituency Western Province, Kenya. The data used in this paper was generated by the author as a native speaker of Kisa. The central descriptive f...
Abstract/Overview Academic writing is pertinent to postgraduate students because it is mandatory for them to write a research thesis as part of their degree programme. However, sometimes the theses that postgraduate students write do not communicate well or depict their professionalism. One of the problems these students face, as they write, is appropriate use of discourse markers. Discourse markers, when used appropriately, enhance coherence and signal the presence of particular relation...
Abstract/Overview The role of local government institution and especially institutional structures and political culture often shape government performance including livelihood supporting activities such as Urban Agriculture (UA). The changing population pattern orchestrated by the spread of urbanization has resulted into a rise in poverty and food demand, necessitating UA. However, there seem to be limited documentation with regard to how local governance institutions influence and promo...
Abstract/Overview One of the development agenda for Kenya is the achievement of universal healthcare. An assessment of the level at which this has been implemented reveals that Kenya is facing challenges in implementing this endeavor. Health professionals communicate with patients to build trust for more effective practice. Failure to communicate strains the relationship, leading to ineffective practice. One of the main obstacles that may lead to failure in communication is differences in...
Abstract/Overview The purpose of this sociolinguistic study was to investigate the effect of revitalization of indigenous language on preservation of African culture, a case of Terik language in Terik ward, Nandi south sub county, Terik Language is an indigenous language in Kenya that is spoken by Terik people of Nandi South, Terik language is seriously endangered and it’s at a risk of extinction thus endangering Terik culture. The study aimed to determine the evidence and nature of Ter...
Abstract/Overview This paper aims to evaluate the uses and significance of speech acts in Maragret Ogola’s two novels; The River and the Source (1994) and I swear by Apollo (2002). The researcher uses Austin (1962) and Searle 1969 Speech Act Theory. The findings shows that every utterance produced by a character in the novels could be categorized under one of the five major categories of speech acts proposed by Searle (1969). The study reveals that each major speech act contains a wide ...
Abstract/Overview Receptionists who work in government health facilities in Kenya are part of large state funded ministry, the Ministry of Medical Services. Their counterparts who work in private hospitals fall under the hospital management, the human resource department. Private hospitals in Kenya are represented by the Kenya healthcare federation. Their (receptionists) duties include registering patients, arranging appointments for them and checking them for consultations as well as adm...
Abstract/Overview The paper examines English and Kiswahili Code-switching (CS) in Kiss Fm and Easy Fm radio stations in Kenya.CS is a recently formed practice in Fm stations in Kenya. Liberalization of the air waves led to a shift in the language of broadcasting among the Fm anchors unlike the previous years when broadcasters used English exclusively .The new stations started switching language during their shows. Since then, several Fm stations have adopted CS during their programmes to ...
Abstract/Overview For long, it has been believed that song of abuse, as it has come to be called, is a preserve of west African communities. Early inroads into this oral subgenre were made by scholars who, more often than not, hailed from Ghana and Nigeria. A false impression of its locus was created to the effect that it was region-specific. This paper is an attempt to illustrate the pervasiveness of this verbal art, in disguised forms among the Swahili of East African. Drawing illustrat...