Morphological features of Kiswahili youth language(s): Evidence from Dar es Salaam, Goma, Lubumbashi and Nairobi

Abstract

AbstractSince the late 1980s, linguists’ analyses of Sheng, the urban youth language from Nairobi, have led to the growth of a considerable body of literature. In contrast, only a few studies are available that cover other youth registers from the Kiswahili-speaking parts of Africa. While most of the available studies either deal with techniques of manipulation or with adolescents’ identity constructions, our paper intends to give a comparative overview of specific morphological features of Kiswahili-based youth languages. While certain characteristics of Sheng (Nairobi/Kenya), Lugha ya Mitaani (Dar es Salaam/Tanzania), Kindubile (Lubumbashi/DR Congo) and Yabacrâne (Goma/DR Congo) largely diverge from East Coast Swahili (hereafter ECS) in regard to their nominal and verbal morphology, they all share specific features. Focusing on (apparent) supra-regional developments and changes in Kiswahili, this preliminary description of some structural features that transcend all four youth language practices aims to provide comparative insights into urban register variation, approaching East African youth languages from a micro-typological perspective.