Investigating Language Death

This study is an investigation of the sociolinguistic
status of Kiamu and Kimvita dialects of Kiswahili
language in Kenya. The assumption is that the
dialects are threatened with death due to various
factors such as the onslaught of Kiswahili, Sheng,
and English. The position held is that it would not
be desirable for the dialects die because they are
vital linguistic, historical and socio-cultural
reservoirs of the Swahili Speech Community.

Kiswahili is a lingua franca in Eastern and Central
Africa and is spoken by over 80 million people and is
the national Language of Kenya and Tanzania. It
has over 15 dialects including the standard
Kiswahili. It is also one of the official languages
of the African Union. Kiswahili experts rely heavily
on Kiswahili dialects for its development of
terminology. At the same time, given that dialects
are "sub-cultures" of the language family they
belong, the development of Kiswahili cannot be
complete without the development of its dialects.
Their vitality is, therefore, crucial. Yet, using a
language attitude and use survey; individual and
focus group interviews; and participant observations,
this study reveals that the dialects are threatened.