Sheng

E773371

Sheng is an urban Kenyan slang language that blends Swahili, English, and various local languages, widely spoken in Nairobi’s informal settlements and youth culture.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Sheng canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (51)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Kenyan cultural phenomenon ⓘ
contact language ⓘ
slang language ⓘ
urban youth language ⓘ
countryOfOrigin Kenya ⓘ
culturalRole bridge between ethnic groups in Nairobi ⓘ
marker of in-group membership among youth ⓘ
symbol of urban Kenyan identity ⓘ
developedIn Nairobi estates such as Eastlands ⓘ
late 20th century ⓘ
hasCharacteristic code-switching between Swahili and English ⓘ
high lexical innovation ⓘ
informal usage context ⓘ
non-standardized grammar ⓘ
rapid vocabulary change ⓘ
strong youth identity marker ⓘ
use of metaphor and wordplay ⓘ
hasVariant Ushago Sheng ⓘ
estate-specific Sheng varieties ⓘ
influencedByLanguage English ⓘ
Kamba ⓘ
Kikuyu ⓘ
Luhya ⓘ
Luo ⓘ
other Kenyan local languages ⓘ
influences Kenyan advertising language ⓘ
Kenyan hip hop and gengetone lyrics ⓘ
Kenyan popular culture ⓘ
languageFamily mixed language ⓘ
mainLexifierLanguage Swahili ⓘ
linked to: Swahili language
primaryCityOfUse Nairobi ⓘ
regionOfUse Nairobi informal settlements ⓘ
Nairobi metropolitan area ⓘ
urban Kenya ⓘ
spokenAlongside English ⓘ
Swahili ⓘ
linked to: Swahili language

local ethnic languages ⓘ
status informal language ⓘ
not an official language of Kenya ⓘ
typicalScript Latin script ⓘ
usedBy Kenyan popular musicians ⓘ
Kenyan youth ⓘ
matatu touts in Nairobi ⓘ
street vendors in Nairobi ⓘ
students in Kenyan schools ⓘ
urban working-class communities ⓘ
usedInDomain Kenyan popular music ⓘ
advertising targeting Kenyan youth ⓘ
radio shows targeting youth ⓘ
social media in Kenya ⓘ
street communication ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Mathare → languageUsed → Sheng ⓘ