By Agnes Wangari
The construction of the Kenya-Uganda Railway is credited for expanding metropolitan areas in Kenya since 1900.
The railway, constructed from the eastern Kenyan coast of Mombasa to the western part of the country in Kisumu by the British, was officially known as the Uganda Railway and later renamed the Kenya-Uganda Railway.
These areas began to draw a consistent rural-urban movement of people from different regions and ethnicities.
A lingua franca was required in cities and plantations built by colonial settlers. A mixed code, possibly a pidgin, may have developed at this
time. It’s possible that creative community members began to apply the resulting code to niche applications and unintentionally gave birth to Sheng.
Sheng, often used to refer to Swahili-English slang, first appeared in Nairobi’s multiracial setting in the 1960s.
Adaptability of Sheng
In addition to English and Kiswahili, other Kenyan languages like Kikuyu, Luyha, Dholuo, and Kikamba are also mixed into this urban vernacular.
Sheng, which has no official recognition, is distinguished by significant grammatical adaptability. Sheng was first used to communicate between people from different areas.
It is now evolving into a common tongue. Some people born in the 1980s or later speak Sheng as their first language.
Examples of such words include motii (car), Muarabe: An Arab, and bien (okay).
Sheng has drawn more and more notice from academics around the world. About ten years ago, the study of Sheng was primarily concerned with categorising and describing its linguistic features.
They include complex linguistic explanations of Sheng and a re-evaluation of its classification and effects on urban society.
Sheng was once accused of contaminating “pure” languages like English, Swahili, and other Kenyan tongues, as well as having a negative effect on children studying Swahili in schools.
Opponents' views
But today, Sheng is regarded as neutralising ethnicity and forming a linguistic, national identity component. It falls under the category of a Swahili vernacular or youth language.
While earlier studies focused on extreme registers of Sheng, the term Sheng is now used to refer to all mixed codes in Nairobi that are founded on Swahili.
Diverse viewpoints exist regarding the Sheng code. Sheng supporters contend it is crucial for youth dialogue because it dissolves racial barriers.
Opponents of Sheng lament the disappearance of pure languages, a gripe that Sheng is difficult for non-experts to understand, and sharply criticised its detrimental effects on academic achievement.
However, there is a vast difference between actual linguistic behaviours and discourses.
Some people, particularly in slum areas of Nairobi, devalue this
Therefore, if Sheng hasn’t changed much over the past ten years,
Sheng is spreading outside of Kenya through the sizeable Kenyan
(Agnes Wangari is a part-time lecturer of History and Language at
