Kenya Languages
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Description
Kenya's various ethnic groups typically speak their mother tongues within their own communities. There are a total of 68 languages spoken in Kenya.
Kenya is a multilingual country. 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. There are more speakers of Swahili than English in Kenya. [1] [2]
Official Languages are:
- British English - primarily used in Kenya. [3]
- Swahili [4]
Largest Communities of Native Speakers in Kenya based on 2019 Census: [5]
- Bantu languages
- Nilotic languages
- Cushitic languages
- Somali - 2.8 million
Word List(s)
- Swahili Word List - 101languages
- Useful Swahili phrases - Omniglot
- Swahili Phrase list - WikiTravel
- Martin Benjamin & Elin Berglund, Swahili phrasebook & dictionary, Footscray, Victoria : Lonely Planet, 2014 - Available at WorldCat
- Useful phrases in Somali - Omniglot
Alphabet and Pronunciation
Alphabet
- Swahili Alphabet - Wikipedia
- Kikuyu alphabet - Omniglot
- Latin alphabet for Dholuo - Omniglot
- Latin alphabet for Dholuo - Omniglot
- Turkana alphabet - Omniglot
- Swahili Alphabet - Omniglot
Pronunciation
- Swahili Pronunciation - Omniglot
- Swahili Pronunciation guide - WikiTravel
- Maasai pronunciation - Omniglot
Language Aids and Dictionaries
Dictionaries
- D V Perrott, Swahili Dictionary, Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, 1965 - Available at WorldCat
- Willy A Kirkeby, English Swahili dictionary, Dar es Salaam : Kirkeby Publ., 2002 - Available at WorldCat
- A Ruffell Barlow & T G Benson, English-Kikuyu dictionary, Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1975 - Available at WorldCat
- Cabdulqaadir Xaaji Cali Xaaji Axmed, Nicholas Awde & Martin Orwin, Somali-English, English-Somali dictionary and phrasebook, New York : Hippocrene Books, 2012 - Available at WorldCat
Online Dictionaries
- Swahili dictionary - Lexilogos
- Swahili-English - Bab.la
- Dictionary English - Swahili - Glosbe
- Dictionary English - Kikuyu - Glosbe
- Dictionary English - Kamba - Glosbe
- Dictionary English - Kalenjin - Glosbe
- Dictionary English - Masai - Glosbe
- Dictionary English - Turkana - Glosbe
- Dictionary English - Somali - Glosbe
Language Aids
- Swahili Grammar - ilanguages
- Swahili Grammar - Wikipedia
- Fidèle Mpiranya, Swahili grammar and workbook, New York : Routledge, 2015 - Available at WorldCat
- F Burt, Swahili Grammar and Vocabulary, München : Lincom Europa, 2011 - Available at WorldCat
- E O Ashton, Swahili grammar : (including intonation), London Longman 1977 - Available at WorldCat
Additional Resources
- Edward Steere, A Handbook of the Swahili Language, Norderstedt Hansebooks GmbH 2017 - Available at WorldCat
References
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Kenya," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya#Languages, accessed 3 Feb 2022.
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Languages of Kenya," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Kenya, accessed 3 Feb 2022.
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "British English," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_English, accessed 4 Feb 2022.
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Swahili language," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swahili_language, accessed 3 Feb 2022.
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Languages of Kenya," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Kenya, accessed 4 Feb 2022.