Immigrant Identity: Code Switching among Kenyans in Upstate New York Mokaya Bosire University at Albany, State University of New York 1. Introduction There are a substantial number of Kenyans in the US scattered across the many cities of the country although there are thought to be particular concentrations in Minnesota, Texas, New Jersey and Delaware. Many of these have come to the US as students, for business, as permanent residents and as employees of multinational companies (Kahura 2003). Entering the US is a big experience for many and part of their adaptation strategy to a new way of life in the US has been a tendency to stay close to other Kenyans hence the concentration in particular states and also the use of community networks like social gatherings, informal Kenyan clubs and fraternities, umbrella groups like the Kenyan Community Abroad (KCA) and internet websites set up by Kenyans for topical discussions among themselves. These forums seem to serve as a reification of common interests, heritage and identity. While it would appear, outwardly at least, that membership in these informal Kenyan groups and networks, indexes a Kenyan identity, my interest in this inquiry focuses on the role of language in this identification project. There are over forty languages in Kenya with Swahili and English being co- official. As such, most of these first generation Kenyans in the US are trilingual in Swahili, English and some other Kenyan language. In addition, they come with a tradition of code switching that has been shown to be second nature to them in their home country (Myers-Scotton 1993, Ogechi 2001). Indeed, according to Mazrui (1995), code switching finds its most overt structure in Sheng, an urban vernacular in Kenya that Mazrui and others consider to be based on code switching. Outside of the home country, far away in America, is there code switching and how does it manifest itself? What role does it play in the new context of Kenyans living as a minority in a dominant US cultural setting? Definitions: Following Myers-Scotton (1993), code switching is defined here as the mixing of different codes by speakers in the same conversation. The switch may take place at any level of language differentiation (languages, dialects, styles/registers) and can involve units from the morpheme to the sentence. Consequently, code mixing and code switching are identical for our purposes. Kenyan American: the term is purely descriptive – it refers to Kenyans in America, any Kenyan, born in Kenya but domiciled in the US, whatever their purpose or length of stay. A distinction is made between first and second generation Kenyan Americans whereby first generation refers to those born in Kenya and second generation refers to those born and raised in the US1. 2. Data Data were collected from a mixed group of individuals identifying as Kenyans in and around Albany, New York, an area commonly referred to as the capital region in upstate New York, although an online survey that was conducted for a specific part of the study included individuals from out of the area. Consultants were identified by personal contacts made through friends and acquaintances since no specific sample frame existed that would be used. Because of the exploratory nature of this 1 The Swahili term “Mwamerika/Waamerika” meaning “American’ is commonly used in conversations by people in Kenya to describe Kenyan Americans when used in relevant contexts. © 2006 Mokaya Bosire. Selected Proceedings of the 35th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, ed. John Mugane et al., 44-52. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project. 45 study, only first generation Kenyans were interviewed. Most respondents were trilingual in English, Swahili and one other Kenyan language. Participant-observer sessions were digitally recorded and then transcribed. A combination of approaches including conversational analysis (CA), sociolinguistics (Gumperz and Hymes) and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) will be used to transcribe and interpret the data collected and arrive at tentative conclusions on code switching among this group in particular and Kenyan Americans generally. (Note: non-English material is in italics as a stylistic device only. Names have been changed to preserve anonymity) 1) <English ~ Ekegusii switches> ~ friends looking at pictures. Setting: home a. Moraa Gaki eeeh, eye ero tinkoorokia ONDE! (Oh please, I can’t show this one to anybody!) b. Maria Ntango, ntango eyio torore (let, let us see that one) c. Moraa I think baba Sally, chibicha chinde ntobwenerete gochibeka chi-frame, at least for memory. Gaki okwo tai okongusana kwobosoku gaki? (I think that father-of-Sally, we need to frame some of these pictures. Isn’t that tagging naughty?) d. Moraa ↓nche tintageti (mimicking an adolescent on a date) ‘I, I don’t like this…’ e. Okari Ogotora ebinagu kabisa! ‘Totally shy’ f. Maria Inche tokombwata igo… ‘I, I don’t like being touched like that… g. Moraa Inki okombori? ‘What do you want from me’ 2) <Ekegusii ~ English switches> ~ talking about computers. Setting: home a. R The commands okoa e-computer they don’t make it have a problem (the commands you put into a computer don’t give it a problem) b. Monda No c. R e-problem e-gocha when you install things ‘the problem comes when you install things’ d. Monda Because even when you put e-command etari acceptable ‘because when you put a command that is not acceptable’ 3) < English ~ Swahili switches> ~ cost of living. Setting: in a restaurant a. Kiti Wait, you can do away with cable b. R That’s right c. Kiti Ok? You don’t really have to have cable. You know what I am saying d. R =hmm e. Kiti =if it gets down to that point f. R If… g. Okori [mbinu za kuweka akiba… ‘Strategies of saving money…’ h. Kiti Yes, you can cut a few things here and there. Of course these are things we – they are not you know like “must have things” 46 i. R That is, that’s right mzee and you know… ‘elder’ 4) <English only> ~ Conversational Interview situation. Setting: home a. R Have you ever felt that you are being either discriminated against in the sense that huh – have you ever felt that people look at you differently because you spoke with an accent? b. Ciku I don’t think, in a way, depending. I have had my education which if I was in Kenya I wouldn’t have, so America gave me something…I know there is an area, job wise, that you don’t get into ‘cause you have an accent but that also depends with whoever is interviewing you or whoever you are going to encounter. If they are ignorant, if they have never left their domain, so it is harder for them to understand. Because they do not know what you can offer. And they are many. Once you get into a field, into a job set, they know. Once they know what you can do, then they appreciate you, they want to keep you longer. We are hard working, we are patient, we are very cooperative given a chance. But an accent is one thing that opposes you from getting what you really want unless it is a dirty job 5) (English ~ Swahili switches) setting: over the phone a. R Do you feel funny ukitumia Swahili among watu ambao ni wa huku – like kwa store, shule? ‘do you ever feel funny when you speak Swahili among local people?’ b. Sara No, I just talk. The more they don’t understand me the better. Lakini najua my boyfriend, tukiwa kwa plane, naanza kupata misomo nitumie English ‘No, I just talk. But when I am with my boyfriend in the plane, he starts lecturing me that I should not code switch and that I should stick to English’ c. R Your boyfriend, anakijua Kiswahili vizuri? ‘Does your boyfriend speak Swahili well?’ d. Sara Yeah, anajua. He even stayed at the coast for some time. I don’t know, akiamka on the wrong side, naanza kusikia “can you speak in English and stop mixing?” Like in the plane, I can speak to him in Swahili but he will never answer in Swahili. Hata one word. Something about not drawing attention to himself. But me, I don’t care, I don’t want to be controlled, I just speak Swahili. I show them I have yangu… ‘He does. He even stayed at the Coast2 for some time. I don’t know, if he wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, he starts saying things like “can you speak English and stop mixing?” Like in the plane, I can speak to him in Swahili but he won’t answer me in Swahili at all. Something about not drawing attention to himself. But me, I don’t care, I don’t want to be controlled, I just speak Swahili. I show them I have my own (language)’ 6) (English paper questionnaire) Q5. R What do you think of Kenyans in the US who speak with an American accent? 2 “Coast” here refers to the Kenya/Indian Ocean coastline that is the cradle of Swahili. 47 Stano I hate anybody speaking to me with a twang3. I also get more annoyed if somebody speaks Swahili or Ekegusii with a twang to me. In fact, I keep quiet. Why? Why does a person need to speak like a foreigner to me? That means the person despises our culture 3. A nalysis In the first session (1), the setting is at a home in the evening after dinner, with children playing in the background. Two couples, trilingual in Ekegusii, Swahili and English, are seated in the living room of Moraa, looking at some family photos.