Interlingual variables in measuring and interpreting the degree of ethnicity in speech

Abstract

This article presents findings of a research into the way an ethnic language interacts sociolinguistically with two lingua francas in Kenya. Some of its major findings include how to set up inter-lingual variables and how to establish quantitatively the function of the variations and variable use of portions of the linguistic systems in contact. It presents an interpretation of the various variants and shows the way speakers use them as means of identifying with different social groups: the two main identities in Kenya being either ethnic group identities or extra-group ones. It is argued that the amounts of ethnic language features in the speech of an individual reflects the degree to which s/he has shifted from one set of norms to another: the less ethnic language features in speech the more a speaker has moved away from ethnic norms and ethnicity towards extra-group norms and an extra-group identity. Moreover, adequate explanations for language use phenomena in language contact situations require a clear understanding of the linguistic differences in the languages in contact, their social meanings and the way the complex social systems work to enforce the varied sets of norms in such communities.