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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

Sheng en · PROPN

Etymology

Blend of Swahili + English.

Meanings

  1. A Kenyan cant based on Swahili and English.
    • English and Kiswahili might be Kenya’s official languages, but pupils tumbling out of school and students in the university canteens chatter to each other in Sheng, to their teachers’ despair. A witty, cheeky, freewheeling Clockwork Orange-style brew of Kiswahili, English and indigenous Kenyan languages, with added dollops of reggae jargon, American slang, French and Spanish, Sheng originated in Nairobi’s Eastlands slums in the 1980s. 2009, Michela Wrong, It’s Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistle Blower:

Relateds

Engsh