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Lexicography in Kenya: a Historical Survey M.D http://lexikos.journals.ac.za Lexicography in Kenya: A Historical Survey M.D. Mageria, Department of Linguistics, University of Nairobi, Kenya Abstract: This paper traces the historical development of lexicography in Kenya. Attempts are made to show that although Kenya's linguistic landscape boasts with about SO indigenous African languages, very little has been done in the field of compiling their dictionaries, especially by Kenyans themselves. Particular attention has been paid to the works done so far on the main African languages spoken in Kenya. It, is argued that in the past five years Kenyan scholars have started to take considerable notice of lexicography as an academic subject. I have briefly focused on the language situation in Kenya, Swahili lexicography, professional literature and seminars. It is proposed that more efforts need to be advanced, in updating the already existing dictionaries as well as venturing into specific genres of lexicography like dictionary criticism and dictionary use. Keywords: KENYA, DICTIONARY, SWAIDLI, LEXICOGRAPHY, DICTIONARY USE, LINGUISTS Muhtasari: Katika kazi Ni, tu~jaribu kumulika maendeleo ya taaluma ya leksikografia nchini Kenya. Ingawa kuna takriban lugha zaidi ya hamsini nchini Kenya, hakujakuwepo na ) jitihada madhubuti za kutungia kiIa lugha kamusi yake hususan na Wakenya wenyewe. Baadaye 1 1 0 makala yanaonyesha kuwa kumekuwepo na mwamko fulani kwani wataalam wengi wa Isimu 2 d sasa wameanza kutambua taaluma hii nchini Kenya. Kwa ufupi tumetajahistoria ya leksikografia e t a ya kiswahili, semina na hali ya utungaji kamusi kwa sasa hapa nchini. d ( r e h Maneno muhimu: KENYA, KAMUSI, I<ISWAIDLI, LEKSIKOGRAFIA ISIMU, s i l b MA TUMlZl YA KAMUSI u P e h t y b Introduction d e t n Lexicography has witnessed tremendous changes particularly in the past two a r g decades. In Europe and America, for example, there have been deliberate e c n endeavours to improve it academically and as a profesSional discipline. e c i Unfortunately, apart from the past five years or so, the s'ame efforts have not l r e been registered in Africa. Hartmann (1990: 71,72) catches this mood in Africa d n when he writes that there are still very few monolingual dictionaries for the u y official and national languages, very few African nationals are engaged in dic­ a w tionary making and a negligible number of countries have a professional body e t a specializing in lexicography. ' G t This is the same picture in the Kenyan scene. Most dictionaries available e n i b a S Lexilws 6 (AFRILEX-reeks/series 6: 1996): 330-337 y b d e c u d o r p e R http://lexikos.journals.ac.za Lexicography in Kenya: A Historical Survey 331 noW were written by mlSsIonaries and colonial administrators initially as wordlists, glossaries and supplements to grammars. The national policy on lan­ guage is to a great extent dependent on the one inherited from the colonial government. In this regard, English as the official language remains the domi­ nant language at the expense of the innumerable indigenous languages in Kenya. This means that there have been very little efforts connected with the general improvement and researching of the "local" languages, both in terms of compilation of their vocabulary as well as designing their grammars. On the other hand there is the Swahili language. This is the national lan­ guage of communication. There have been discernible attempts to map it as a lingua franca in East and Central Africa. It has benefited more from the Tanza­ nian scene than from Kenya. Most of the works available in Swahili now are as a result of the input from the Institute of Kiswahili Research in Dar es Salaam University in Tanzania. This is why this paper occasionally will traverse and enter into the Tanzanian scene. Language Situation in Kenya Kenya is a multilingual country. It is not yet very clear how many languages are spoken in Kenya. Estimates put the figures at about 40-50 languages. These languages can broadly be categorized into 3 elaborate groups: Foreign lan­ ) 1 1 guages, e.g. English, French, German, Lingala, Swahili, and indigenous lan­ 0 2 guages, such as Kikuyu, Luo, Kalenjin and Luhya. d e t As mentioned earlier, English is the official language. It is becoming a d ( increasingly important for our communication needs. This is because it is the r e sole language of .instruction in the schools, the language of communication in h s i l the courts and a language through which government business is conducted. It b u is also seen as the language of the elite. Ironically, most of the young people in P e Kenya today would like to associate themselves with the English language h t y more than Swahili or their first languages (mother-tongues). This therefore b d means that the indigenous languages are being sidelined further and further. e t In the same breath, a new scene is developing in Kenya. Due to the insur­ n a r mountable dependence of our economy on foreign aid, languages such as g e c German, French, Japanese and Italian are now taking the centre stage. Most n e people are enrolling in foreign cultural centres like Goethe Institute, French c i l r Cultural Centre, Alliance Franc;ais and Japanese School. This is as a result of e d seeking employment in multinational firms, tourist companies or migrating to n u those countries, which necessary means ushering in better living standards. y a Although Swahili should historically be grouped with the other indige­ w e t nous languages, synchronically it deserves a special mention. It is the fastest a G growing language that has continued to serve as a viable political vehicle for t e n nation building. i b a It is spoken extensively in Kenya as well as the whole of the East and S y b d e c u d o r p e R http://lexikos.journals.ac.za 332 M.D. Mageria Central Africa region. In 1969, the ruling party in Kenya declared Swahili the official language of the country. But there were no concrete policy actions that supported this decision. Recently the government has realised the importance of Swahili and it has been given a higher status in the new educational system. It is a compulsory subject examinable up to the secondary level. It is also used in parliament and political public meetings. According to Heine and Mohlig (1982: 61) Swahili is the most widely used spoken language in Kenya with a 65.3% figure compared to English 16.1% and vernacular second lan­ guages 13.7%. With the advent of multiparty politics in Kenya ethnicity has continually threatened the unity that was hitherto seen in the country. This means that the government is not very keen on supporting the indigenous languages that exist. Numerically, the number of speakers of each of these languages corre­ sponds to the demographic size of the ethnic community where they are spo­ ken as first languages. In this regard Kikuyu, Luo, Kalenjin and Luhya are the largest in this category. Very little deliberate efforts are being made to augment their status in the country. As it is now, these languages are seen as the most divisive catalysts in the country. This is the reason we find a negligible number of recent publications that cover their vocabularies or grammars. These lan­ guages are therefore threatened with extinction since the younger generation is no longer interested in their acquisition nor are the policy makers enthusiastic about dealing with them. ) 1 1 0 2 Swahili Lexicography d e t a d ( Swahili has few monolingual dictionaries but many bilingual ones. This is r e because the avant-garde of Swahili lexicography were foreigners who came to h s i l East Africa as missionaries or colonizers. Basically they needed bilingual dic­ b u tionaries which would help them to communicate with Africans. Kabalimu P e (1993: 1) writes: h t y b d Swahili lexicography can be traced back to the year 1811 when e t travellers and adventurers were compiling English-Swahili word n a r lists. These works were fragmented and lacked linguistic sophisti­ g e c cation and standard orthography. n e c i l r As Swahili was used more and more in business administration and Christian e d evangelism, there was need to compile its lexicon and in 1882 Krapf published n u his collection of extensive Swahili vocabulary and grammar for missionary use. y a Later we find works by Madan (1894, 1903), SacIeux (1890, 1939 and 1959), w e t Velten (1910), Johnson (1939). [See Kabalimu (1993) for full bibliographical a G details of these references]. t e n Recent lexicographic pursuits have recorded works done by Africans i b a S y b d e c u d o r p e R http://lexikos.journals.ac.za Lexicography in Kenya: A Historical Survey 333 themselves. Of great significance is the monolingual Standard Swahili Dictionary (1981) published by Oxford University Press and compiled in Tanzania by Kiswahili scholars at the lexicography section of the Institute of Kiswahili Research, Dar es Salaam University. This monumental step in Swahili lexicography was motivated by prag­ matic reasons. After independence, Tanzania placed a lot of importance on self-reliance. Swahili was declared the official language. This meant that there was need for updating the existing Kiswahili literature. Khamis (1987: 194) claims that this dictionary, initially meant to be a bilingual piece, was compiled in order to "help supplement its (Tanzania's) egalitarian adult programme".
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