Linguistic variations in spoken Kiswahili: a case of form one students from Bungoma east sub county

Abstract

The research paper identified and described phonological, morphological and grammatical variations in Kiswahili spoken by form one students selected from private/boarding primary schools and public day schools. The research then correlated the variations observed with the student’s exposure to the standard Kiswahili. This study made use of the sociolinguistic interview and participant observer technique as methods of data collection and judgemental sampling technique to select a sample size for the study. We came to the conclusion that Swahili spoken by students from local public day schools from Bungoma East Sub County varies from the standard Swahili. This variation cuts across all the social variables investigated.